mixing Sonos Play 1 and sonos 1 speakers

  • 25 October 2017
  • 14 replies
  • 1076 views

Userlevel 2
Currently have two Play 1's in one room and Playbar and sub attached to TV in another , looking to get two of the new Sono's 1 to go with the play bar and sub as the new speakers have Alexa built in is their any reason i cant split the two new speakers , so i have a Play 1 and a sonos 1 in one room and the other Play 1 and sonos 1 in the another room and have Alexa in both rooms , is their any technical reason why this wont work or am looking for a problem which isn't there

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14 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +22
You can't make a stereo pair from a Play:1 and Sonos:1. So in your room with 2 x Play;1s (currently) if you swap a Play:1 for a Sonos:1 you can GROUP them but NOT make a stereo pair. Furthermore you CANNOT have surrounds using a mix of Play:1/Sonos:1
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Like you I wanted to replace just one of my Play 1 speakers with a new play one. Dissapointing as I got the impression from the marketing that this Play One was the same speaker but with added Alexa. Tried for a couple of hours to connect last night but just would not happen. Now I know we need to buy two One's, very dissapointing.
Userlevel 3
Badge +6
Getting an echo dot for one of the rooms would be a suitable work around. Which would explain why Sonos is offering a 50% discount for a device the Sonos 1 just made redundant.
Userlevel 7
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Actually the Sonos:1 only makes the echo Dot redundant in so much as it deals with control of Sonos. There are plenty of things the Alexa inside a Play:1 cannot do that the Dot can. Some of those (eg Flash briefings) will be available at some point but i would be probably unwise to assume the Sonos:1 could replace a Dot
Userlevel 3
Badge +2
Was looking to do the same thing myself, little disappointing that it's not possible. Only thing that stopped me ordering one. No point having two in the room as surrounds. I'm using a Dot in there at the minute but would have been nice to swap one of the Play:1s out and use the dot in another room.
I'm very disappointed in Sonos at this too! I have had a playbase for a while and was looking forward to turning it into a surround sound system, and was even more excited when ths One came out!

I get a Play:1 and a Sonos One for Christmas, only to come home and find out they wont work together!? If I want alexa on my sonos I either need 2x alexa enabled sonos ones (which may get confusing) or 2x Play:1 and an echo device in the room? How dumb is that? Why in the world would Sonos not make the devices compatable!?
Not happy with Sonos on the subject of not being able to pair a Sonos One with a Play:1.
My wife and I treated ourselves to a Sonos One for Christmas with the primary intention of creating a stero pair with our existing Play:1.
Having the Amazon assistant was a secondary feature.
After unsuccessfully trying to pair them I found out on the internet forums, to my dismay that it couldn’t be done.
The Sonos One was returned for a refund this morning.
Own goal Sonos! 😠
Userlevel 2
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Totally agree to only be able to have a stereo from the new sonos version is ludicrous and redundant !
I'm not sure I understand your "ludicrous and redundant" statement. You can indeed bond two Sonos Ones and get stereo immediately. What you can't do is bond two speakers of different types, i.e. the Sonos One and the PLAY:1. While they are similar in look and size, they're different enough in tonal quality for Sonos to not allow them to be paired as stereo speakers.

You can, however, get around Sonos' software by using the Sonosequencr app (have I spelled that correctly?) which allows you to pair any type of Sonos speaker to any other type, or so I've read. So you could pair a PLAY:1 with a PLAY:5, if you so chose.

In my world, it's better to set up the Sonos One and PLAY:1 as "grouped", rather than "bonded as stereo", so that each one provides the full signal, and fills my home with good sound. The only time I prefer "stereo" imaging is when I'm seated, and not moving around, like on my couch, doing critical listening.
I'm guessing 'redundant' is referring the scenario where you own a single play:1 and want a stereo pair with Alexa capabilities. You would need to buy 2 Sonos Ones, making your single play:1 now redundant.
Ah, I do think that word has different nuances in the language the US speaks versus the language that the UK speaks.
Userlevel 2
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Ah, I do think that word has different nuances in the language the US speaks versus the language that the UK speaks. Well I am an Englishman living in America! I think that I do not want to but two new versions as I already have a 5.1 system setup. I will probably but a 5 in order to be able to use airplay 2. And why cant you use the wake word computer on the new play one?
I'm not sure I understand your question, but if you were to have the Sonos One set up as it's own "room" in the Sonos software, and the PLAY:1 as a separate "room", then you can use your voice to control both of them. Essentially, you're controlling all of your Sonos system with your voice, when you add a Sonos One (not bonded to a PLAYBAR/PLAYBASE) to the equation. It's the portal for your voice to the Alexa software, and by extension, the Sonos system.

It would also be a viable AirPlay 2 target, which would then have the AirPlay 2 content be in the Sonos ecosystem, and could be grouped with any other room via the Sonos app to play anywhere on any of your Sonos speakers.
And why cant you use the wake word computer on the new play one?

Amazon makes those rules.

And it's just "One", no "Play".