Help ! Torn Between Sonos Five and Era 300 ?

I have had both and with a Sub.  For Music the Fives are the better choice and better bass, but the sub solves that issue for both. 

Get the Era 300s if you think you may want them as surrounds, maybe in the future. I currently have an Arc Ultra, SUb and Era 300 rear surrounds and they are perfect for my listening case which include a lot of Surround and Atmos music.

You didn’t list budget as a concern, so I would definitely agree that the Era 300s + sub is the better option for what you described. 

The ‘punchy’  sound you described sound like the difference between ported and sealed bass. The full Sonos subs are ported, which will give you more volume, but they generally won’t sound as tight (neither good or bad).  The sub mini is a sealed design, which will have less volume but it will feel tighter.  The Fives are not technically a sub, but it is sealed and probably also fall under the sealed category.

You can research ported/sealed sub to see what people general think is best for each use case, but it’s ultimately up to your ears.

Also, you mentioned you wanted a smart speaker, but didn’t specify what features specifically you’re looking for.  You can’t talk to Siri through Sonos mics currently, but it is Alexa enabled as well as it’s own local voice control.  Sonos has stated they will be bring in a cloud based/AI version of SVC this fall.  You may want to look into that and see if it’s what you need.   I would also say that I think having a separate device for smart control and speakers for music is a reasonable option.

As I see it you’re not interested in surround use with either the Era 300 nor Five. However, you want speakers that will double duty for TV audio and Music which neither Sonos speaker is designed for that use. They are strictly limited to music or as surrounds with a Sonos soundbar.

Also, don’t let anyone inside or outside of this community suggest using Era 300’s via Bluetooth with a TV. They are not intended for such use.

My suggestion is to listen to the newer HomePods to see if there is an improvement over your current model. I’m not sure but investigate if you can use four full size HomePods with your TV ( two front/two rear).

However, if you are set on going with Sonos for TV audio you’ll have to purchase a Sonos soundbar and (although not required) a sub if you want bass to shake your house😂.

Also know that if you want to use either of the Sonos speakers you mentioned once setup as surrounds they cannot be used independently as a stereo pair.

It’s not impossible to use Fives or Eras as tv speakers: but it’s not ideal.
 

Sonos devices were developed to support synchronised multi-room audio, and achieves this by creating a 70msec delay when starting streaming audio to a speaker. This delay is also present if using line-in, which is probably how you were planning to play your tv audio through Fives or Eras? (The delay is reduced when TVs are connected to a soundbar.)

Some users have said they use Fives/Eras in this way and find the delay too much - speech lags behind lip movement - but others say the effect is acceptable. 

Hey Guys,

I am surprised no one suggested this option: if I need a speaker whether a soundbar or a standard unit that handles music and movies in Dolby Atmos while serving as a smart speaker, the Sonos Arc Ultra with a subwoofer seems to make more sense. Although moving it between the living room and bedroom adds a minor inconvenience, but just plugging and unplugging should not be a major issue. I believe the Arc Ultra is a smart speaker with Dolby Atmos that meets my current need for dual use, and I might add the Era 300 later. No one mentioned this. What do you think about this solution?

​@augustya, The Arc Ultra is Sonos’ flagship soundbar. Moving it around would be EXTREMELY inconvenient.

https://www.sonos.com/shop/arc-ultra

​@augustya, So... new try -- this time without a URL to the Sonos shop.

If you purchase a hometheater set, you are not obligated to configure the soundbar together with a Sub Mini and Era 100s as a surround bond, for instance. Sonos is a multi-room audio system where you can place up to 32 components across your home. Within the same physical room, you could/can connect the soundbar to the television while pairing two Era speakers as a standalone stereo pair with a Sub. Each setup, the soundbar and the stereo pair with Sub, is defined as its own virtual Sonos 'room'.

so guys let me understand this except for speaking directly into the Sonos five everything else can be controlled via the Sonos app in the phone, not being able to speak directly into the speaker is the only smart feature that will be missing if I am looking at the five, but wanted it to be a smart speaker ?

You’ll find all that kind of information on Sonos’ web site. 

The web site also covers the option to try the speakers, and return for a refund if you don’t like them. If you can’t audition them at a facility near you, buy them and try them at home.