Hi @MattBianco 

The room appears to be designed more so for ambient/conversational listening. Maybe an occasional party.

My suggestion would be a Five on the Table and the Sideboard angled toward the couch and 4 seats. For dining and/or a party you could reposition the Five’s to face each other. If that’s too much hassle...for dining...then place a single Sonos One or One SL in that area. 

Each speaker would be a zone to group and ungroup as you see fit. I recommend against setting the Five’s in stereo pair.

I see no need to have a speaker in the seating area.

Cheers!

You mentioned “shock” with the NAIM unit. Could this be a static electricity discharge? Is the room carpeted? Do you experience a shock when touching other electronic units in that room?

With respect to the audio: Typically, where is the listener? I think that you would appreciate a stereo image at that location. During a party a stereo image is not so important.

I”m not attempting to be mean, how do you think that multiple SONOS speakers will improve the sound vs the single Mu-so? Are you attempting to fix a problem by changing systems?

Thanks for replying.  Other electronics don’t have this problem.  There is carpet and hardwood floor and that is the only thing that shocks people.    The carpets are silk/wool mix  -no nylon. 

The whole room is a large entertaining area.  There is no listening area by itself.  That is a challenge.   The Mu So sounds like a single point speaker and is not room filling, not to mention no one wants to touch it.   The idea was to create a richer sound that is omnipresent without making you look to a point.   Thank you. 

If the shock is a once and done for each individual, unless the individual moves on the carpet again, then it is a static discharge. There will probably be a ‘snap’ and maybe a visible spark for a static discharge. There are carpet treatments that will minimize static build-up. Be sure to check that the treatment chemistry is compatible with your carpet. Actually, treating with a dilute dishwashing liquid solution works as well as most of the treatments.

If this is a steady shock while touching the unit, then there may be a safety concern. I will not go into the details, but some units use an aggressive approach to suppress wireless interference with other nearby units. These aggressive units can create some uncomfortable interactions with humans when touched, but the current is below the human danger threshold. Of course, I can’t know from here if you have an uncomfortable unit or a dangerous unit. Sometimes, if possible, reversing the power plug in its socket will reduce this current -- it’s a 50-50 probability. For reference, a SONOS CONNECT:AMP is one of these “uncomfortable” units.

With respect to your speaker layout in this room, we often attempt to create a sonic “image” of the original performance. Stereo speaker and listener placement as an equilateral triangle is a good starting point for arranging a formal listening room. In your case, no one is likely to sit and listen, the room will be filled with bodies, and ambiance is the point. In this sort of application more speakers is better. Placing the speakers at a single point will annoy everyone because the music will be too loud near the speaker(s) and not loud enough for listeners on the other side of the room. Multiple speakers will satisfy more listeners.

Overall, I don’t like setup #3. because it lacks symmetry.

I like #1 best, however, someone who is sitting near that speaker might be annoyed. If you want to create a ‘disco’ sort of environment, use FIVE’s instead of ONE SL. A disadvantage of all FIVE’s is that Alexa will not be directly supported, but you could add a DOT. A trick is to use the ONE’s or FIVE’s as stereo pairs and alternate the L/R around the room. With this arrangement everyone will be between a Left and Right speaker, however, the sense of Left and Right will flip flop as a listener walks the room. Since this is not a critical listening area, this flip flop is not a significant issue.

Each SONOS speaker or pair is a “Room”. SUB is “bonded” to a Room and one would adjust the Volume of SUB as part if that Room. For your application you would Group all of the speakers and you’ll need to fuss with Group member relative Volume and the Bass and SUB level of its Room. This will take a few minutes of fussing to work out the balance, then the operator would use Group Volume for routine adjustments.

Thank you so much for a detail explanation, even for my minor footnote.   The specific area is wood floors.  I will have them reverse the plug.  It feels much stronger than static.  The unit is operated at 220v (not the US), but I don’t think that would have anything to do with it.   And, this home is pretty much smack on the equator where I have noticed in general there is less static vs higher latitudes.  I don’t know the science, but I know we get static shock when we go skiing, and in high elevation, but never at sea level, especially in the tropics.  

You are in deed sending me to the direction I am thinking,  The Ones are also cheaper than multiple Sonos Fives, though budget is not an issue.  The microphones will be off.  In fact, might switch to SL units.  Five One SLs could be really interesting.   

The only reason I am hoping to squeeze a Sonos FIVE in there is that it is the only one with an Aux / 3.5mm input, for people not adapting quickly enough . They might have to get used to not doing that.  

Thank you again.  

This might be a good place to use ceiling speakers.  It will likely cost a bit more, and you would need to do some wiring in the walls, but since there aren’t any distinct focus area in the room, ceiling speakers may provide the best even coverage.   You could do a single Sonos amp with 2 pairs of speakers, 3 pair of you use the Sonance speakers matched with the amp.

Perhaps that doesn’t make the best gift though.

Hahah.   You are spot on.  The home is in south east Asia, I am in the US and this is a gift.  Having a crew show up to wire would be something else, but not something I could do.  There is a lot of lighting and AC ducts up there too, which could make placement a challenge.

I am guessing having One SLs mounted from the ceiling is something that could be done after they receive it.   Thank you Melvimbe.

I thought of ceiling speakers as well but decided against them as @MattBianco said the room is largely glass with spattering of wood panels (at least by my interpretation). 
 

I still prefer the two Fives I suggested. IMO even angled as I suggested for everyday listening they would provide indirect sound for dining if repositioned to face each other ( and possibly without re-adjustments). As @buzz suggested a Echo dot or GH mini could be used for voice interaction.

This would also be the simplest arrangment.   I have never heard two Five units set up as a Room.  I have a Play:5 myself, and know there will be synergy when you double it.  I have even thought of sending four Fives there. 

I agree that static discharge in the tropics is not likely -- unless the air conditioning is very aggressive. It’s the low winter humidity that favors static discharge. Also, if this is a barefoot living situation, there will not be a static problem and bare feet and humidity would enhance the likelihood of shock for the other reason that I described.

The justification for FIVE’s would be that they’ll play louder with less effort and they intrinsically have more bass than ONE’s. Overall, FIVE is an improved PLAY:5. Your PLAY:5 experience can give you some guidance relative to the need for SUB or not. Regardless, in my opinion SUB’s are fun. If the point of this system is to provide some ambient music, probably you don’t need a SUB. I’m not familiar with that Mu-so unit. Just looking at it I suspect that it will provide similar or slightly more bass than a PLAY:5. 

Yes, I agree that ceiling speakers would be best for this application, but a gift wrapped construction crew would probably be a stretch of your friendship and blunt the surprise somewhat. However, it seems that this ceiling is very hollow. If this is the case adding an AMP or two would not require running any wires up to the ceiling and speaker wires would be relatively easy to run in the hollow space.

The utility of Line-In of the FIVE depends on the crowd and what sort of devices are likely to show up. If this is an APPLE crowd, Airplay 2 should suffice. If necessary you could add PORT for the Line-In, but this would add the clutter of another “box”.Bluetooth fans will be disappointed in any case.

It is barefoot. I suspect there is a short somewhere.  Any device that has a touch sensitivity feature is generally more susceptible.  The Naim sounds great, but is lost in that space.  One good thing about the problem there is that it is making the family less likely to plug in and connect wireless. NO one wants to touch it.

Friendship … (to disclose, brother), would not tolerate construction or wiring.  hahaha

Mostly an AirPlay crowd. Spouse and some relatives are used to plugging in something.  They have to adjust.

Thank you for being so precise in your responses.