Newbie - Two Play:1 Vs. one Play:5

Depends on your needs. Play:1s have better stereo separation, the 5 has better bass and overall sound. Personally, I would start with the 1s. You can easily move them elsewhere if you decide to upgrade.

Thanks. It was pretty tempting to get the 5 since the reviews have been so great but i'd like to start out getting the stereo sound. Not up for two 5's at this point.

If stereo sound is important to you AND you have a largish room you want to fill with sound, the 5 pair will give you sound quality as good as any hifi system of up to twice the price of the 5 pair, and maybe even higher price points with some systems I can think of. One way to get there is to start with one 5 unit, live with that for a few months while saving to buy the second. At up to 6-8 feet listening distances, the single 5 isn't a big compromise over a 1 pair. But a 1 pair needs a Sub to approach what a 5 pair will deliver.

Moving up to a 5 pair, or adding a Sub, after finding a 1 pair to be inadequate for a large room, will be a bigger financial stretch.

I would go the play:5 as first building block of system. Especially as it gives you flexibility with he audio input in addition to the great sound.

Ok, I think I am sold on starting with a single Play:5. I appreciate your insights!

Hi all,

Great to hear everyone´s opinion! What would your opinion be in a smaller room (7*4 meters and only 2,2 meters high). Also 1 Play 5 or in this situation perhaps 2 Play 1's? Thanks up front!

Play:5 is probably overkill as well as two play 1s. I still like the sound of a single play:3 over a single play:1 and would sound good there. I still like play:5 as the entry speaker because of the input.

Play:5 is probably overkill as well as two play 1s.
Not sure I would agree on this - 7x4m (21 x 12ft) is still a pretty big room, at least it is here in the UK! I've seen far smaller "listening rooms", and much bigger systems in smaller rooms.

HaikoK, if you just want to have radio or music in the room, as a background./incidental thing, then a single Play:1 or Play:3 might suffice. But if you want to listen to music as a primary activity, I think the same advice as given to peterb47 would apply.

I agree with Chris that the Play:5 is a great entry point because of the flexibility the line-in gives you, eg to add Airplay, bluetooth or a Chromecast Audio etc. The trade-off is the more limited stereo imaging you will get compared to a pair of Play:1s.

If you can buy direct from Sonos in your country, then why not try both options? Their 100-day trial means it's zero-risk (apart from the risk of deciding to keep both...)

That is a big risk withanee

And withanee is right. If critical listening of course you want more power. I'm still not a fan of 2 play:1s for critical listening without a sub. I would lean toward 2 play:3 or 2 play:5. Or connect:amp and own speakers.

Thanks all, good suggestion that I should start thinking whether it is 4 background tunes or active listening. Personally I am totally not a fan of the play 3. It in my perspective gives too little improvement compared to the Play 1. Not the cheapest nor the best, so neither fish nor fowl.

Hi all, a little update which could help others: I have tried two Play 1's and two Play 5's at the same time and compared them. The difference is really huge and I have treated myself with the Play 5's:) If you listen to the play 1's by themselves the sound is ok. But if you compare it with the Play 5's the 5's give far more depth to the music. As soon as I changed the music to the play 5's I started to smile;)

I have two pairs of second gen play:5s and I couldn't agree more. But for more than twice the price of a play:1 pair I would hope they would sound much better 😛

"because of the flexibility, the line-in gives you, eg to add Airplay, Bluetooth or a Chromecast Audio etc."

Where and when has AirPlay been added? I was under the impression it is coming in 2018...perhaps even this month.

You have always been able plug an airplay express into input to get airplay. Airplay2 native in speaker is coming 2018.