Hello all,
I'm new around here (though not to Sonos) and, given the discussions I've seen in the community, I thought some of you might be interested in my experience of replacing a stereo pair of Play:1 speakers with a single 2nd generation Play:5 as the main music source in my small apartment:
Owing to a small and very awkward living space (windows everywhere, bookshelves where there are no windows), I've been looking for a good sounding one-box audio solution forever. A while ago I went a listened to the first generation Play:5 and was able to compare it quite extensively to a stereo pair of Play:1s (the same price, at the time). Whilst I was personally underwhelmed by the original Play:5, I was very impressed by the Play:1s when stereo paired; so much so that I bought them, even though I was really looking for a single sound source. The months that followed confirmed my impression that the Play:1s are excellent little speakers with a nice broad stereo sound but placement remained an issue (the right speaker was next to an armchair and thus someone's ear when occupied) and I felt I was missing out on deep bass with some music.
I thought about adding the Sub to my Play:1s but the cost and the thought of my neighbours' reactions put me off. Then the new Play:5 came out to rave reviews and I became very interested. Checking the resale value of the Play:1s and listening to the new Play:5 in a store sold me on the idea and I bought the new unit this weekend. Having listened to it solidly for two days, here are my impressions relative to the stereo Play:1s:
Starting with the negative, the Play:5 cannot fully emulate the broad soundstage that two physically separate speakers produce. The Play:1s were great in this respect and instrumental separation is not as good. Having said that, for a single box, the sound is much more spacious than you would expect and does give some impression of stereo imaging (those sideways firing tweeters doing their job, presumably). The positives? Everything else, basically. The Play:5 has a lovely, detailed, very full sound with terrific, deep, bass (I actually had to dial this down a notch in the EQ, in addition to switching off loudness, I feel it's just a little too bassy out of the box). The mid-range also sounds very good, better than the Play:1s, and the speaker is notably better at presenting massed voices in things like Tallis choral works, the Allegri Miserere, some Sigur Ros tracks etc. I haven't played around with the Trueplay room tuning yet, but will be doing so as soon as I can borrow an iThing so may update this if it makes a significant difference.
At the risk of causing certain enthusiasts heart attacks, the new Play:5 reminds me very strongly of my first attempt to get great sound from a single box: The Meridian F80. Like the Meridian, it's a (relatively) compact, weighty thing with a very powerful sound that does a decent impression of stereo and can legitimately replace a 'proper' HiFi in a space constrained situation. In conclusion, it seems I may have finally got what I've been wanting for years: One music box that sounds great, fits in my limited space and does everything I want in terms of streaming music from my own collection and the internet. Colour me happy, so far. 😉
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Wait till you hear a stereo pair of play 5s!!
Better not... I really don't have space for that! 😉
Once you use Trueplay the bass will be more balanced. Before I did it, I had the bass turned all the way down.
Ah, I was wondering about that. Should be able to borrow an iThing in a few days...
I had to borrow an iPad as well. In my experience, it allowed me to lower the bass more than before it was calibrated.
So I tried the Trueplay tuning... and it was a bit of a surprise, but not in a positive way. The app reported only making minor adjustments, which was probably to be expected given my Play:5 is in a pretty good position with no walls or furniture blocking the speaker to the front or sides, yet I was surprised to hear a distinct difference in the sound when I toggled Trueplay on and off. Switched on, it seemed to be toning down both mids and bass quite a lot: Voices and things like cymbals sounded more prominent but the fullness of the sound that I liked so much was much reduced. Going back to my original chosen EQ settings (loudness off, bass turned down a little, the rest at default) resulted in a more pleasing sound IMO.
Nothing lost from the attempt of course but thought it might be interesting to note.
Nothing lost from the attempt of course but thought it might be interesting to note.
I initially had the Play5.2 in my living room, but couldn't get the sound quite right -- put back the stereo Play3s. It's now in the Kitchen, vertical and trueplay on.
Wait till you hear two play:5 stereo pair-you would never move that from your living room
Sorry to resurrect this old thread of mine but, having seen it referenced elsewhere, I feel obliged to add a coda. You see, almost a year after waxing lyrical about the 2nd gen. Play 5 as a replacement for my stereo Play 1 pair, the Play 5 has (long) gone to a new owner and I now (again) have a stereo pair of Play 1's.
The funny thing is, reading my own comments from almost a year ago, I actually still stand by what I wrote. Though I may have been a touch too enthusiastic about the Play 5's mid range, what has changed is not really my opinion of the speakers' performance, but what aspects of that performance I find important: After a few months of living with the Play 5, I realised how much I was missing a broad, stereo, sound stage and that this was more important to me than the superior power and bass of the Play 5. I've now accepted that the price of this is accommodating two physically separate speakers (made easier by the diminutive size of the Play 1).
The funny thing is, reading my own comments from almost a year ago, I actually still stand by what I wrote. Though I may have been a touch too enthusiastic about the Play 5's mid range, what has changed is not really my opinion of the speakers' performance, but what aspects of that performance I find important: After a few months of living with the Play 5, I realised how much I was missing a broad, stereo, sound stage and that this was more important to me than the superior power and bass of the Play 5. I've now accepted that the price of this is accommodating two physically separate speakers (made easier by the diminutive size of the Play 1).
What didn't you just buy a second PLAY:5, and bond the two as a stereo pair?
Good question. I didn't go straight from the Play 5 back to the Play 1 pair but used the money from selling it to buy a Denon Mini seperates system (D F109C) and a Chromecast Audio for streaming. I was very happy with the Denon's sound quality but streaming via the Chromecast worked less well (mainly thanks to my poor WiFi reception at home) and I missed the Sonos software for accessing my own music library. 6 months later, when I saw I could get a Play 1 twin pack at a very good price, I jumped at it... and so I'm now back where I started. 😉 I did think about a pair of Play 5 speakers but, aside from the cost, think that would be visually and sonically overpowered for my small living room, in which the speakers are necessarily near to two chairs. The Play 1's fit the room better I think.
Incidentally, I had the Play 1 pair and the Denon mini system running next to one another for a little while so could compare them quite extensively. I'll post about that if I get time, as I was quite (pleasantly) surprised at the results.
Incidentally, I had the Play 1 pair and the Denon mini system running next to one another for a little while so could compare them quite extensively. I'll post about that if I get time, as I was quite (pleasantly) surprised at the results.
Good feedback in all your posts, thank you!
To the quoted. find some way to accommodate a Sub now if you can. It will be truly a best of both worlds solution for you, I believe, from my experience. Ideally placed between the two, but anywhere close to their plane, and not on the other side of either, is all that is needed. It need not even be visible; it is enough if bending down, you can see an open port on it.
Thanks. I have been wondering about this... my concern is for my neighbours 😉 as I live in an apartment with neighbours above, below and to one side. Sound insulation in our building is not great in any case and I'm worried about vibration from the Sub travelling. Does anyone have experience of such a situation?
Don't worry about it unless the music you play is the boom boom style EDM and you like head banging levels.
I play jazz almost exclusively and my listening levels are usually moderate to low, in a similarly located apartment. Few appreciate how the Sub also shines in low level listening by allowing the music to still remain rich sounding, better than any loudness switch can do.
For low level listening, I would be very surprised to hear that even a 5 pair is better than 1 pair + Sub. The latter yields sound quality on par with any good legacy HiFi stereo set up, while remaining a lot more discreet with high WAF.
I play jazz almost exclusively and my listening levels are usually moderate to low, in a similarly located apartment. Few appreciate how the Sub also shines in low level listening by allowing the music to still remain rich sounding, better than any loudness switch can do.
For low level listening, I would be very surprised to hear that even a 5 pair is better than 1 pair + Sub. The latter yields sound quality on par with any good legacy HiFi stereo set up, while remaining a lot more discreet with high WAF.
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Good feedback thanks.
Strange GCA gave you problems. I do find it clunky, having to wait for everything to come alive in its own time, but then its ok.
It works on 5Ghz where as sonos is 2.4Ghz which is more crowded with microwave ovens, phones & stuff. I have read somewhere else that someone changed to GCA because sonos was always dropping out, even on sonosnet. Guess all homes are different, get what ever works best for you ;O)
Strange GCA gave you problems. I do find it clunky, having to wait for everything to come alive in its own time, but then its ok.
It works on 5Ghz where as sonos is 2.4Ghz which is more crowded with microwave ovens, phones & stuff. I have read somewhere else that someone changed to GCA because sonos was always dropping out, even on sonosnet. Guess all homes are different, get what ever works best for you ;O)
Firstly, Kumar: Thanks for the feedback and advice. Good to know that about the Sub.
Secondly, Paulw123: The problems with using the Chromecast Audio were, I'm pretty sure, purely the result of my poor WiFi and the fact that the Chromecast was at the other end of the apartment from the wireless router. The Chromecast Audio itself is a device I would still happily recommend, certainly for its price.
Thirdly... I need to apologise to you all for resurrecting this thread because... I was wrong.
In my defence, I hadn't heard a 2nd gen. Play 5 since selling mine about 7 months ago and so could only directly compare the Play 1 stereo pair to the Denon mini system I had been using in the interim and to my memory of the Play 5. I genuinely thought I preferred the pair of Play 1's but... Today I was able to listen to a 2nd gen. Play 5 again and compare it to the Play 1 pair. Briefly: I should have left my original conclusion unchanged. The Play 1 pair is great, and does have the edge on stereo image of course, but overall I preferred the more powerful, fuller sound of a single 2nd gen. Play 5. Sorry everyone, should have been more circumspect in adding to my previous experience.
Secondly, Paulw123: The problems with using the Chromecast Audio were, I'm pretty sure, purely the result of my poor WiFi and the fact that the Chromecast was at the other end of the apartment from the wireless router. The Chromecast Audio itself is a device I would still happily recommend, certainly for its price.
Thirdly... I need to apologise to you all for resurrecting this thread because... I was wrong.
In my defence, I hadn't heard a 2nd gen. Play 5 since selling mine about 7 months ago and so could only directly compare the Play 1 stereo pair to the Denon mini system I had been using in the interim and to my memory of the Play 5. I genuinely thought I preferred the pair of Play 1's but... Today I was able to listen to a 2nd gen. Play 5 again and compare it to the Play 1 pair. Briefly: I should have left my original conclusion unchanged. The Play 1 pair is great, and does have the edge on stereo image of course, but overall I preferred the more powerful, fuller sound of a single 2nd gen. Play 5. Sorry everyone, should have been more circumspect in adding to my previous experience.
Lol. A classic example of how defective and unreliable audio memory is - in all humans. Double blind tests for audio kit comparison now recognise this and in addition to precise level matching also require close to instantaneous switching across the kits being compared, because it takes just a few seconds for audio memory issues to affect the quality of the outcomes.
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