Newbie advice needed for flexible multi-Sonos config

  • 28 June 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 984 views

I’m intending to purchase a Beam, a Sub and a Play:5 to try and cover a variety of audio needs in my living room and adjoining outdoor terrace. Would it be trivial to switch between the use cases below (like just selecting pre-configured pairings from a drop down menu) or would it involve lots of button-pressing and re-calibrations...

1) Beam and Sub playing TV content, Play:5 silent
2) Play:5 and Sub playing Spotify etc, Beam silent
3) Play:5 moved out to the terrace playing Spotify, Sub and Beam remain silent indoors
4) All 3 Sonos speakers playing Spotify at the same time
5) All 3 Sonos speakers playing TV content at the same time

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

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4 replies

The Sub has to be bonded to another unit (your Beam or Play:5) which is a semi-permanent setting...or a lot of button pressing and time to switch it. So you would pretty much need to decide whether you want the sub to play:5 and stick with that. So I'll talk about your scenarios below with that in mind.

1 - Yes, with sub bonded to beam
2- Yes, with sub bonded to play:5 (1 & 2 are not realistically compatible)
3 - Yes, with sub bonded to beam (2 & 3 are not realistically compatible)
4 - Yes, beam and play:5 would be grouped together, the sub bonded to either player.
5- Yes, but the play:5 is not designed to work with the tv and will have a slight delay behind video in this mode. Probably not an issue if the play:5 is not in the same room as the beam, but would create an echo effect if they are near each other.
The Sub has to be bonded to another unit (your Beam or Play:5) which is a semi-permanent setting...or a lot of button pressing and time to switch it. So you would pretty much need to decide whether you want the sub to play:5 and stick with that. So I'll talk about your scenarios below with that in mind.

1 - Yes, with sub bonded to beam
2- Yes, with sub bonded to play:5 (1 & 2 are not realistically compatible)
3 - Yes, with sub bonded to beam (2 & 3 are not realistically compatible)
4 - Yes, beam and play:5 would be grouped together, the sub bonded to either player.
5- Yes, but the play:5 is not designed to work with the tv and will have a slight delay behind video in this mode. Probably not an issue if the play:5 is not in the same room as the beam, but would create an echo effect if they are near each other.



Thanks so much for your reply Danny! So if I understand you correctly, would the following be true?

- keep Sub bonded to Beam (coz Beam probably needs bass more than Play:5)
- keep Play:5 for music only, whether indoors or outdoors
- when need arises, all 3 can play music (but not TV content) and this would be easy to do via grouping (is that the right term?) without have to do any unbonding and rebonding of the Sub?
Not to answer for Danny, but your summary and terminology is correct.
Not to answer for Danny, but your summary and terminology is correct.

Awesome... thanks much!