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Two Play 5s and Beam for music and TV

  • 12 April 2020
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Hi everyone. It’s my first post and since I have 2 Play 5s and Beam in the basket and the support guy is fluffy on details, I wanted to check few things here. Thanks in advance.

I want a setup to be able to play music with decent stereo separation: streaming + vinyl; and to watch TV/movies. I don’t need 5.1, just solid stereo with balanced bass would be fine atm. This is a reason why I ditched Beam + Sub.

Few things…

  1. I heard I can’t have Play 5s acting as a stereo group and linked with Beam at the same time. How long does it take to switch the grouping?
  2. Alternatively - can Play 5s be paired with Beam and act as far front, so the stereo separation would be there for TV and music (with Beam possibly playing as the central speaker)? Any delay to expect?
  3. How long does it take to switch the input to aux, to listen to vinyl records on 5s (or with Beam)? Any special way to do it? Yeah… the turntable comes with a phono EQ built-in.
  4. My home is google-based. I don’t expect a tight integration as these guys fight, but just wanted to confirm… I can cast to Play 5s from Google Home devices, correct? :slight_smile:

Thank you for reading that far. Appreciate if you have any tips re. similar setup. I’m trying not to go the Google Home Max way :smiley:

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Best answer by AjTrek1 13 April 2020, 00:09

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7 replies

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi @notmecrip 

 

  1. I heard I can’t have Play 5s acting as a stereo group and linked with Beam at the same time. How long does it take to switch the grouping?

Let’s clarify your wording. Two Play 5’s can be setup as a Stereo Pair. Those Play 5’s can be Grouped to the Beam. You would start the music on either the Beam or Play 5 stereo pair then press the play/pause button on the speaker you want to Group to the originating speaker. You can also accomplish the same in the Sonos app. The Grouping can be broken in the Sonos App or by pressing the play/pause on the speaker(s) that were joined to the originating speaker.

 

 

  1. Alternatively - can Play 5s be paired with Beam and act as far front, so the stereo separation would be there for TV and music (with Beam possibly playing as the central speaker)? Any delay to expect?

By Pairing I assume you mean Bonded to the Beam to act as left and right speakers with the Beam acting as Center. The answer is No.

 

 

  1. How long does it take to switch the input to aux, to listen to vinyl records on 5s (or with Beam)? Any special way to do it? Yeah… the turntable comes with a phono EQ built-in.

You can permanently attach a TT to a single Play 5 or the Left Play 5 if a stereo pair via the 3.5mm input. In the Sonos app you designate the Play 5 or Play 5 stereo pair as the auto-play room. As soon as the Play 5 (or stereo pair) detects a signal from the TT the audio would start.

You would want to adjust the auto-play volume down to at least 50% so as not to shatter your ears or damage the speaker(s) upon initial play.

The Play 5’s could still be used normally when not receiving a signal from the TT

The Beam could be grouped to the Play 5(s) to output the same audio sent by the TT

If you wanted to use the Beam as the auto-play room instead of the Play 5(s) you would need to purchase a Sonos Port and connect the TT to it and then designate the Beam as the auto-play room.

Also, your TT needs to have a built-in or outboard Pre-Amp. I assume that is what you meant by EQ.

 

 

  1. My home is google-based. I don’t expect a tight integration as these guys fight, but just wanted to confirm… I can cast to Play 5s from Google Home devices, correct? :slight_smile:

 

Yes. Follow the integration setup in the link: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3486?language=en_US

 

Note: You may want to re-consider using a Sonos Sub with the Beam. I own a Beam and can testify that the Beam sounds a lot better (especially for dialog) if it doesn’t have to handle the low-end.  JMO.

Feel free to post back with additional questions.

Cheers!

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
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Hi @AjTrek1;

This is extremely helpful. Appreciate it.

Two follow up questions :-)

You may want to re-consider using a Sonos Sub with the Beam.

I read Beam is not that powerful. Wouldn’t two Play 5s give enough bass for Beam when grouped and playing from TV connected to Beam?

 

By Pairing I assume you mean Bonded to the Beam to act as left and right speakers with the Beam acting as Center. The answer is No.

Wouldn’t “Full stereo” surround setup act as L/R stereo? Note that I may have a slight idea what I’m talking about, as I just read that here: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3335?language=en_US

Thanks again.

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

 

I read Beam is not that powerful. Wouldn’t two Play 5s give enough bass for Beam when grouped and playing from TV connected to Beam?

Regardless of perceived bass response there is another reason why your suggestion is not something you want to do. Rather than re-write a novella I’m going to interject this link with an answer given by @Airgetlam that explains why Grouping any Sonos speaker with a Sonos Home Theater speaker for TV audio is not recommended due to sync issues (75ms delay). Note: The explanation does not apply for when Grouping for Music.

https://en.community.sonos.com/setting-up-sonos-228990/delay-in-5-1-systems-and-grouped-rooms-6833095

 

 

Wouldn’t “Full stereo” surround setup act as L/R stereo? Note that I may have a slight idea what I’m talking about, as I just read that here: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/3335?language=en_US

The link is referring to using Sonos speakers as surrounds which means they are behind the listener thus creating a SURROUND effect in conjunction with a Beam, Playbar, Playbase or Sonos Amp using 3rd party speakers upfront.

In the Sonos app you can set the rear (surround) speakers to play as a FULL Stereo Pair as if they were not bonded to a Sonos Home theater speaker for music only The end result for music is no longer a discrete Stereo sound stage. The music apperars to come from all directions. If you’re not a purist when it comes to music listening then the effect may be pleasing. They would auto-switch to the quieter surround mode for movies when the music stops. 

 I hope this clears things up. Let us know.

Cheers!

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This is getting interesting. I have all the info and it sounds like I won’t be able to get what I need w/o Beam + Sub + Play 5s. And this way too much for the budget and overkill for the room to be honest. Beam alone is just too short to bring right sound stage.

Thanks for all the links. If I’m reading it right, having Beam and Play 5s in “one room”, would use 5GHz network, so low latency and at the cost of “simulated” stereo.

Maybe I’ll just give it a try and return if needed. Thanks again @AjTrek1 .

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Hi @notmecrip 

I know all this talk about bonding and grouping plus 2.4Ghz vs 5Ghz can be somewhat overwhelming. Let do this by the numbers>

Sonos Home Theater

Front Speaker:

  • Beam, Playbar or Playbase (either one contains the Left/Center/Right speakers in one component)
  • Cannot use Play 5’s as Left/Right and one of the previously mentioned speakers as the Center speaker

Surround Speakers (rear)

  • Sonos One x 2 or Sonos One SL x 2 or Sonos One and Sonos One SL or Play 5 x 2.

Low-End Speaker

  • Sonos Sub_this makes the system DD5.1 (the .1 being the sub)

2.4Ghz vs 5Ghz

  • All Sonos operates over the 2.4Ghz band. 
  • In a Home Theater setup the Beam, Playbase or Playbar is the main speaker that sends information such as low-end to the Sub and/or surround material to the rear/surround speakers as mentioned above via the 5Ghz band.
  • Sonos only uses the 5Ghz band in the manner mentioned when used in a Home Theater setup. Sonos does not utilize the 5Ghz band in any other manner.

Play 5 as surrounds

IMO they are overkill (waste of money) when used as surrounds speakers. It’s true they can be set to play as Full Stereo speakers for music and perform as surrounds for movies. What you have to understand is that the Beam, Playbar or Playbase used up front as Left/Center/Right speakers will play music but it will not be in discrete two channel stereo. The Play 5’s (in the rear used as surround) will be in two channel stereo (for music) but will be unnoticeable as such due to the Beam, Playbar or Playbase sending the same material from the front.   

Bottom line

Stop worrying (i.e over thinking) about how Sonos uses the 5Ghz band when playing music in a Home Theater setup. In fact forget about the 5Ghz band completely as it really doesn’t impact the overall performance of Sonos. Rarely is the 5Ghz band a factor for Sonos overall enjoyment.

Think of the 5Ghz band in the same manner as one does their Appendix. Unless one has Appendicitis the Appendix is not given a second thought.

 

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No more questions ;-)

<emptying the basket>

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

No more questions ;-)

<emptying the basket>

No worries. Feel free to ask questions. I just want to be sure I haven’t left you with more confusion vs resolution :relaxed:

Cheers!

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
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