I have a pair of Fives that are used exclusively for listening to music. They’re hooked up to a turntable and a dedicated CD player.
The Fives can go really low. That said, would I gain much if I added a subwoofer into the mix?
Thoughts?
Sonos Fives and a Sub for Music?
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I’ve tried both ways. I currently don’t have the SUB attached to my PLAY:5s, but then the music I listen to isn’t heavyish on the bass. It’s more of a personal thing than anything else. But it does “filter” the sound coming from the Fives so that they don’t try to reproduce below a certain frequency, which can sometimes make the mids and highs a slight be clearer. (I wasn’t really able to hear this myself, but I don’t have “golden” ears, either).
Fortunately, if you buy from Sonos, you get a “returns, no questions asked” for a certain amount of time, so you can test it yourself, and see if it makes sense for you. Some other dealers may have similar trial periods.
I use a Sonos Sub with two ‘Fives’ in the Lounge. My own preference has been to set the Fives in the vertical orientation, with the tweeters on the outside for a slightly wider/diffused soundstage. The Sub gives that added dimension of depth that you might normally experience when closely positioned centre stage at a live event - so my view is the Sub is rather essential. It makes quite a huge difference to any immersive stereo listening experience IMHO.
The Fives can go really low. That said, would I gain much if I added a subwoofer into the mix?
IMO, the biggest benefit you will see is if you do a lot of moderate to low level listening, when the presence of the Sub prevents the music from sounding thin on account of attenuated bass. For such kind of listening, this is a big benefit. At louder levels the Sub is less of a value add to a 5 pair than it is to a One pair.
If you do test the Sub, note that Trueplay tuning the set up is pretty much essential to allow it to deliver the sound it is designed to deliver.
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