Play5's as surrounds?

  • 18 June 2014
  • 8 replies
  • 1323 views

Userlevel 2
Apologies if I am overlooking the answer to this query somewhere, but for the life of me I can't seem to see anywhere that specifically addresses this.

To the point, any mention I have seen about doing a surround system with the Playbar and other units refers only to Play1's or Play3's as surround speakers.

Can the Play5's not be used in a surround configuration with the Playbar?

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8 replies

Welcome to the forums.

No, Play:5s can't be used with Playbar. They lack the low-delay 5GHz wireless which Playbar uses to talk directly to its satellites.
Userlevel 2
Welcome to the forums.

No, Play:5s can't be used with Playbar. They lack the low-delay 5GHz wireless which Playbar uses to talk directly to its satellites.



Ah, thanks for that. I just installed the Playbar to replace a Yamaha soundbar for my TV listening and replacing a Play5 as my Sonos unit in that room. Now I've got an unused Play5, so was thinking I might get another to do the surround thing.

But, I guess I can't :(

Guess I will have to swap out the Play3 from my den for the Play5 and get another Play3 to do surround duty.

Thanks again.
Guess I will have to swap out the Play3 from my den for the Play5 and get another Play3 to do surround duty.
Or rethink things, and get a pair of Play:1s instead. For surround duties they're rather better suited than Play:3s.
Userlevel 2
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Or rethink things, and get a pair of Play:1s instead. For surround duties they're rather better suited than Play:3s.

+1 for the Play:1 as surrounds.
I just tried pairing play 5s with the playbar and it worked great. The app even lists play 5 as an option for surrounds. Maybe this thread is outdated?

Only drawback is losing line in on the 5s when in surround and no airplay 2 on the 5s in surround. Maybe that’ll be fixed in the future?

One note: if you setup 5s as surround make sure to consider Ambient / Full setting... if you want rich sound on 5s in surround you need to set to Full when in surroud config. Otherwise they are more subtle sounding
Hi. Yes this is out of date. The only Play:5 at that time was gen 1, which cannot be used as surrounds.

Airplay 2 and line in not functioning when P:5s are used as surrounds are not problems that can be 'fixed', as they are not broken. These limitations result from the nature of the way surrounds connect to the system, being 'bonded' into a room, rather than being rooms in themselves.
Userlevel 7
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Sell your Play 5s on ebay, buy new Play 1s, pocket the extra cash?
Note that the posts that you responded to have "4 years ago" on the right side of the posts 🙂