NEW TO THE WORLD OF SONOS - PLAYBAR AND 2 PLAY 3s or 2 Play 3s and SUB

2 Play 1s and a SUB
or Play 5s and no SuB

I am not a TV addict but I like nice sound and love to listen my music pretty loud but mostly only medium.
Not sure about the 800 sq foot - that is a large room - but for similar spends, from the two above I would go with the 1 pair with Sub. It will not give even sound levels across the room, no stereo pair can, but in listening positions up to 20 feet away, it will be excellent for music.

The one point in favour of a 5 pair is that you can use it via the line in jacks for improving TV sound quality as well.

Personally I prefer 2 Play:5s no Sub to a pair of Play:1s + Sub. But that is subjective and either set up would sound good. For that size of room I think the 5s might be a better bet.

Thank you guys

So forget the playbar?

I ordered the playbar and two 3s

Now that I have done some reading I'm thinking forget the playbar and get two 5s instead .. or replace the playbar with a sub

Can they still be used with TV too? Even without a playbar if I don't need 5.1 ?

The downside to using any Sonos speaker for TV, other than the Playbar/base is audio lag. And you might need a DAC. It sounds to me that TV is very secondary to music for you. You should consider spending considerably less on TV sound by buying a conventional soundbar and keeping Sonos just for music. And I would go two Play:5s. IMO much better for music than a Playbar and two Play:3s

HI John

That sounds like a good plan.... before reading your reply I was actually thinking about ordering the playbar and just one Play 5 and then later on getting an extra Play 5 ... and then ruling out the need for a SUB.. what do you think? Would that work?

The thing is..... and this may just be personal preference..... I like to listen to music through one pair of stereo speakers (if I am listening properly, not just as background). I don't really like it coming from front and back. If you are the same, and you plan to set up the 5s as surround speakers, you will have to unbond them from the Playbar every time you want to listen just to them, and re-Trueplay.

There might be a case for having the Playbar and 2 Play:5s (eventually), however, given the size of your room, so that you could keep the Play:5s as a music pair and group in the Playbar to fill the room for background music. It depends how you expect to use the gear, layout of room etc.

Personally I would get the pair of 5s, try them out in the room, see if they are sufficient to fill the room. Maybe try them out as TV speakers if you have suitable connections. Then decide whether to get a Playbar for TV sound + additional music, or a conventional soundbar (eBay?) just to improve on TV's internal speakers.

I can't really urge you to do anything though, because your priorities and situation are different from mine.