New Play 5 with Sub. Recommendations

Personally, if you are going to get a Sub, I'd pair it with two Play:1s. Better/equal performance and much, much better stereo separation.

Based on extensive use of a 1 pair + Sub, I expect that to run the new play 5 pair( minus Sub) very close on sound quality. I am sure we will see actual use reports/comparisons of that soon after the new 5 is available.

As to using a new 5 for music, I suspect a pair of those will not need the support of a Sub at all.

I think i would be worried about my house falling down with all that bass.

From personally using a SUB for over a year now I would have to say that ANY SONOS player you add it to it will bring a dramatic increase to the mix.

The PLAY:5 (gen2)'s are very, very impressive on their own but the SUB is designed for one thing, and that is to deliver you a room filling extra dimension of bass.
By adding the SUB to the mix your PLAY:5's will also be able to play louder and wider, so there are many advantages to adding a SUB.

The PLAY:5 (gen2) has great bass and it is well above what the original PLAY:5 had, but due to enclosure constraints I'm highly doubtful that it will reach the lowest of the lows like SUB (35Hz and lower), or completely fill out a room with thick bass. I'm sure it will do a very good job but personally I feel there is no match for a real subwoofer. - My SUB makes my house shake, I can feel it in the walls, the roof, the windows, the couch, everything. It really is a powerful subwoofer, but if you aren't worried too much about bass then the PLAY:5's will be fine on their own, if you feel like they lack bass then grab a SUB, it will definitely make a difference.

I agree with kmjy and others (although have not heard the new Play:5 just going by specs of it).

The recommended approach for Subs with music - which also works for me - is that it should not be noticed when it is playing but it should be missed when it isn't. It should not draw attention to itself.

By that criteria, I suggest trying the new 5 pair without a Sub is the way to go. By all accounts, they don't need a Sub, and certainly not as much as a 1 pair does, but if you must feel thumping bass energy physically, the Sub can be added later.

The only question then though is whether the same sound can be had for a much lower price via a 1 pair+ Sub.

I can 100% confirm from hearing these PLAY:5's myself that two PLAY:1's + SUB, and even two PLAY:3's + SUB will absolutely not even come close to the kind of sound that two PLAY:5 (Gen2's) + SUB will offer. These things are a MASSIVE step up and with SUB they sound like they turn into a different speaker again. The volume levels on these things are also RIDICULOUSLY LOUD, all while being 100% clear with one of the biggest sound-stages I've ever heard from speakers that size. Makes my PLAY:1's sound kind of flat in comparison, even though in reality the PLAY:1's are exceptionally sounding when paired with a SUB, just not a match for the huge step forward these new PLAY:5's offer. This really is next generation stuff.

I would definitely determine what to buy based on the room size and uses. All the players have a place somewhere, it's just a matter of finding the right one for you.

Good morning,
this is a very interesting topic, I was wondering about this myself (Play5 gen2 and Sub).
I was wondering, has any of you seen a measurment of the Play5 gen2 frequency response?
thank you,
Eric

ericmotordu,

In my opinion the measured frequency response of a speaker is not a very good predictor of ultimate enjoyment, but the PLAY:5 gen2 is very uniform. I don't have a certified measurement system or the time to post, but I was impressed with the smoothness of the PLAY:5's graph. If I can find the time, I might post my results, but don't hold your breath. And, my measurement was done in a "home" listening environment and would not correlate well with any industry standard techniques.

In addition to the obvious improvement in bass handling, a subwoofer improves the overall midrange clarity of a speaker system by offloading the bass (reducing the overall complexity of the main speaker's job).

And, in case you are wondering, in this particular room there is no significant difference, measured or listening, between Trueplay or not. In other rooms there is a profound difference between Trueplay or not. (No, I don't have suite of measurements to illustrate this)

Currently have two new 2nd generation Play5's in stereo pair with a PlaySub and its sounds incredible. Turn the sub off and its great turn it back on and it sounds so so much better dos more depth, have paired some Play1s with the sub and it works very nicely but 12 speakers plus sub is always going to give more detail than 4 speakers plus the sub and it does the detail is outstanding, have a splurge you won't regret it