Cross posted from /r/Sonos
I'd like to make the most out of my 30% upgrade from my Play: 5 (1st gen) purchased in mid 2015. I currently use it in my dining room primarily - it sits atop a bookshelf - but also will use it outdoors when entertaining due to its superior volume over my Sonos One and more portable than my Beam.
I considered upgrading my Beam to a more full HT setup, but as my living room isn't square, setting up surround sound wouldn't work nicely even using in ceiling or wall speakers, in relation to where people sit.
Adding to that the fact my wife would rather I not spend more than what the Play: 5 was, I am leaning towards something of a hybrid approach that I would like insight into: Connect Amp + hard switch speaker selection. I know it’s possible but I have yet to find a switch that would let me alternate one set vs another so I might just unplug/plug the other speakers when needed, so I don’t turn up the outdoor speakers and blast the indoor way too much. Less of an issue as the Beam in the room over can easily give sound to the dining room in the event I’m entertaining people who are roaming between indoors/outdoors.
While I would love to just get the entire package with the Sonance speakers, they blow the budget quickly, so I am considering instead picking up two pair of 3rd party speakers.
Putting two in ceiling speakers in my dining room would replace the use case of the current play: 5, and as it opens via sliding doors to the deck and backyard we normally entertain in, placing a wall selector switch could allow us to - in theory - switch between 'indoor' and 'outdoor' speakers which would be easy to mount and connect. Additionally, I already have ethernet run to my Access Point in the ceiling there with an enterprise AP that allows full passthrough ethernet, which would provide hard wired connectivity to the Sonos.
My main question at this point:
Sound quality of a stereo pair of in ceiling speakers (and outdoor speakers) at 8 ohm vs the Play:5 - Crutchfield has a ‘listen’ option and the couple I listened to sounded not nearly as good as what a Play:5 does - should I instead consider in wall or on wall?
The outdoor speakers I know won’t sound amazing per se but they do seem to be built for more distance and loudness than the in ceiling
OR - do I just say screw it, get a Roam/Move kit, or something similar with the 30%?
Would love to have some thoughts/advice/conversation around this. I know it’s not a huge investment compared to what many on here spend, but making the best investment will make the CFO happy.
This is what I am thinking visually - note that the Play:5 is what's being replaced:
