I'm thinking about buying a stereo pair of either Play:3 or Play:5 & eventually adding a Sonos Sub. For best fidelity, is it necessary to go with the Play:5, or will the Play:3 suffice with the Sub handling the bass?
Thanks,
billiam
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Most user experience indicates that the difference between a play 5 pair+Sub and play 3 pair+Sub is very subtle. As long as you are sure you will get a Sub, a play 3 pair would be the higher VFM route. On the other hand, if your tastes in music don't run to loud and bass heavy music - for instance if you listen to jazz/acoustic vocals, a play 5 pair without a sub may do just fine for a lot less spend.
What would be interesting to hear is user reports of a play 1 pair + Sub, on the SQ front compared to alternatives. Given the discreet form factor of the play 1 unit, that sounds like it would be a very interesting set up.
What would be interesting to hear is user reports of a play 1 pair + Sub, on the SQ front compared to alternatives. Given the discreet form factor of the play 1 unit, that sounds like it would be a very interesting set up.
Volker Weber recently updated his sound quality chart: http://vowe.net/archives/014033.html
He has Play:1 pair + SUB only just behind Play:3s + SUB. As Playbar surrounds P:1s are on a par with P:3s.
From my perspective Play:1s are actually the better surrounds: more economical, and smaller hence easier to place. Of course if Sonos implement full music stereo through the rear speakers the balance may be different for some folks.
He has Play:1 pair + SUB only just behind Play:3s + SUB. As Playbar surrounds P:1s are on a par with P:3s.
From my perspective Play:1s are actually the better surrounds: more economical, and smaller hence easier to place. Of course if Sonos implement full music stereo through the rear speakers the balance may be different for some folks.
Thanks for all the "sound" advice. I am now thoroughly enjoying my play:3 stereo pair. All I can say is, "WoW!"
Userlevel 4
+5
Hi,
My family area is relatively large. Started with a single Play5 Gen2 then upgraded to a Stereo pair and recently added a sub.
Each upgrade definitely had a noticeable improvement. Although many recommend 1’s pair and sub as the best combination I personally never got the chance to test that setup but am certainly very happy and impressed by the 5’s Pair and sub.
My family area is relatively large. Started with a single Play5 Gen2 then upgraded to a Stereo pair and recently added a sub.
Each upgrade definitely had a noticeable improvement. Although many recommend 1’s pair and sub as the best combination I personally never got the chance to test that setup but am certainly very happy and impressed by the 5’s Pair and sub.
The recommendation you refer to is from a value perspective; in adding a Sub to the 5 pair, you are losing a lot of the paid for 5 capability for low frequencies - that the 1 does not have - by transferring that duty to the Sub. In terms of sound quality, there is little dispute over the 5 plus Sub sounding better than a 1 plus Sub, but the difference will be a lot less than that between a 5 pair and 1 pair, both minus Sub.
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