On the fence: Playbase or 2x Sonos 5 for TV sound?

  • 28 June 2017
  • 5 replies
  • 792 views

Userlevel 4
Badge +2
Hi!

I'm on the fence about what Sonos system I want to build for the living room and TV sound (or drop Sonos all together). For me 5.1 surround isn't important, but I'm more fond of a good stereo pair speakers than a soundbar. And because it's Sonos I'm not really going for hi fidelity sound, but it's more about the ease of putting on music and getting somewhere close to good TV sound.

So my three quick questions are:

1. Anyone have any experience with this setup?

2. With a pair of Sonos 5, there is obvisously only an auxiliary input so any 5.1 is a no-go, but could you still hook a sonos sub woofer to this setup to receive the same stereo signal?

3. Will the Sonos 5 left speaker (that gets the physical aux cable) be able to forward the right channel signal from the aux cable through wifi to the other Sonos 5 speaker (right channel)?

I'm hoping to go with a much more richer sound with the Sonos 5 pair, and hopefully one day Sonos will put out a CONNECT with optical in or something.

Or can anyone give me a good solid reason for going with the Playbase. My TV is on a TV stand. I like the design of the playbase now, but I think I will grow really tired of the big bulky box on my TV cabinet quickly.

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5 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +22
If you connect a line-in to a Play 5 that is part of a stereo pair then you will indeed get proper stereo from that line in and if you have other Play units in other Rooms you can play that auxiliary input on them if you like.

In terms of playing TV sound through a pair of Play 5s you should be aware that there will be a 70 ms delay on the audio stream - You may find this delay is tolerable or you may not (personally I wouldn't be able to live with it)
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
Thnk you for your reply Stuart_W

You wouldn't by any chance know if the 70ms delay also applies to CONNECT AMP?
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
Yes it does. The only way to minimise the lag is to connect optically to the Playbase/Playbar.
Userlevel 4
Badge +2
Alright, thank you bockersjv!
Userlevel 6
Badge +15
I did something similar when I was in a temporary living arrangement (renting a room while waiting to buy) - I had a TV connected to a cheap DAC, then to a Connect (Zp80) with the output sent to a pair of powered speakers. I then added a couple of Play:1 (stereo pair) in a group. I could play TV sound through all of them, and it worked. The delay wasn't noticeable with just the connect and the powered speaker. I don't remember adding in the Play:1s beting noteceably better. I couldn't hear the delay, but my backbrain may have been rebelling against it.