The Playbar is pretty good for music and comparable to a couple of Play Ones.

If you are already adding a sub, I would try that out first.

Not sure you would get any better “sound quality” using play ones over a Playbar… you can certainly place them wider apart, increasing the soundstage.

I have not tried Play Three’s so can’t comment on them.

but Playbar is certainly capable vs play ones for music

I’m a fan (probably to Sonos’ delight) of separating the music and TV duties between a PLAYBAR and other speakers, for exactly the reason BMF highlighted….separation. The PLAYBAR was great, but the additional separation of another set of speakers for music purposes only sweetens the sound, IMHO.

I currently have a pair of PLAY:3s and a pair of Sonos PLAY:5 gen 2s flanking my soundbars. The soundbars are for TV, the other speakers are for music.

That being said, sometimes I do use the sound bars as music players, and have the surrounds set in as “full” rather than “ambient”, and it’s a great sound. But most frequently, I use the other speakers for music.

I pretty much agree with Bruce on this one.  I have a kitchen right behind the living room in an open concept space, and I originally started off with the a playbar up front, sub, and 2 play:3s in the kitchen.  Sounded good for TV and music (w/surrounds on full).  When I upgraded to an Arc, I set the play:3s as their own room, and added 2 Sonos Ones as surrounds.  And I find that I prefer the 3s for music over the Arc +sub.  I have since added two Fives up front and it’s no contest.  The 3s will likely go on the market soon, if I don’t relocate them elsewhere.

That said, I used to have a pair of Sonos Ones in my bedroom, then added a beam and sub there as a single room.  For that room, I don’t think I need separate systems for music and TV quite as much...although I may end up moving the 3s there.