Pairing two Play:1 and a Play Five in the same area

You can pair two PLAY:1s, for sure. Since you can place them separately, you can create a much greater stereo image than you can with a PLAY:5.

Using Sonos software, you can't stereo pair a PLAY:5 with a PLAY:1, although people report that the iOS app Sonosequencr does allow that. I wouldn't do it, they're such completely different sounds.

But I'm confused as to what you mean by "Should the five a mono central speaker".

And don't sweat being a newbie. Ask all the questions you want. There's a few of us here who enjoy helping. We may occasionally be terse, but it's the data transfer that's important. 🙂 Oh, and feel free to search for answers here in the forum. My experience with this forum's search function suggests it's flawed, so I often use Google to search for the information I want out of these forums.

The way that the stereo illusion is created in the brain, music will seem to emanate from between the two speakers as well, without there being a speaker actually present there; indeed, if present, it will almost alway vitiate the effect of the illusion.

If you want more power as in higher sound levels than what a 1 pair will deliver, you have two options:
1. A Sub added to anchor the 1 pair.
2. A 5 pair.

You could go the full monty in having a 5 pair + Sub of course as an expensive third option.

I suggest starting with a 1 pair because in up to moderate sized spaces, it can go quite loud. I have never had the chance or the courage to run mine anywhere close to 100%.

You can pair two PLAY:1s, for sure. Since you can place them separately, you can create a much greater stereo image than you can with a PLAY:5.

Using Sonos software, you can't stereo pair a PLAY:5 with a PLAY:1, although people report that the iOS app Sonosequencr does allow that. I wouldn't do it, they're such completely different sounds.

But I'm confused as to what you mean by "Should the five a mono central speaker".

And don't sweat being a newbie. Ask all the questions you want. There's a few of us here who enjoy helping. We may occasionally be terse, but it's the data transfer that's important. 🙂 Oh, and feel free to search for answers here in the forum. My experience with this forum's search function suggests it's flawed, so I often use Google to search for the information I want out of these forums.

Maybe I can elaborate a this a little bit more. My idea is if I can have a pair of play:1 in order to get a better stereo effect, while the play:5 enforces the sound power and response in an analog way a home theater does. I don't know if this gives you a better idea of what I'm trying to do.

I'm not trying to "mount" a home theater, I'm looking for an "enhanced" music appreciation.

On the other hand, thank you for your kind welcome to this forum. 🙂

The way that the stereo illusion is created in the brain, music will seem to emanate from between the two speakers as well, without there being a speaker actually present there; indeed, if present, it will almost alway vitiate the effect of the illusion.

If you want more power as in higher sound levels than what a 1 pair will deliver, you have two options:
1. A Sub added to anchor the 1 pair.
2. A 5 pair.

You could go the full monty in having a 5 pair + Sub of course as an expensive third option.

I suggest starting with a 1 pair because in up to moderate sized spaces, it can go quite loud. I have never had the chance or the courage to run mine anywhere close to 100%.

Hello Kumar, thanks a lot for your answer. As a matter of fact, I have a play:5, but the stereo effect could be a little difficult, that's why I came with the idea of a couple of play:1.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.:)

Hello Kumar, thanks a lot for your answer. As a matter of fact, I have a play:5, but the stereo effect could be a little difficult, that's why I came with the idea of a couple of play:1.

The stereo effect is an illusion created in your brain when it hears different things from your two ears, the same way it perceives depth using two eyes - a principle behind 3D movies as well.

For the stereo illusion to arise in the human brain, the distance between the speakers has to be about the same as the distance from each to you; the two speakers and you have to be the three points of a triangle with equal sides. Approximately. But with a single play 5 unit, the distance between the left and right speakers is limited by the size of the box. So the stereo illusion arises only when you are listening from less than a few feet away from it. Since you can keep a 1 pair - or 5 pair for that matter - with say a 15 feet distance between the two units, the stereo effect can be heard 15 feet away from them. Sit much closer than that to them or a lot further away from them and the stereo effect will disappear here as well.

I have a wedding banquet in a long rectangular shaped hall (sorry don't have the dimensions) and would like to know how best to deploy one play 5 and 1 to 2 play 1s. I have read in the forum of using one play 5 at one end and two play 1s at the other. Appreciate any recommendations or suggestions. TIA.

First, for something like that, I would absolutely not set up the speakers as a stereo pair. Set them up as 3 rooms, and group them all together.

That being said, you're likely going to have issues with wifi connections, unless you run ethernet cables to each speaker, humans are big bags of water, and stifle wifi when they're in large numbers, such as on a dance floor.

Also, you're not really able to use the speakers as PA speakers for any announcements....the delay on the line in on the PLAY:5 will make it sound like you're in a large stadium, with the delay mandatory on the analog line in.

I'd honestly recommend going with a true PA system, rather than trying to force Sonos into this kind of situation. It just isn't what the Sonos is designed for.

Thank you for the suggestions. The restaurant has a PA system. However, to play music through it it has to be on a CD or USB drive format, not even aux connection?! An alternative would be to put the PA microphone against the iPhone running Spotify Premium.