Question

Stereo pair 1st gen with 2nd gen play5

  • 24 April 2017
  • 7 replies
  • 889 views

Hi,
Is it possible to make a stereo pair with a 1st gen and a 2nd gen play5 speaker, or is it only possible pair the same generations?

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7 replies

Only the same generations. I'm sure there's a technical reason for that, but I'm not aware of what it is.
Has to be same generation. The gen1 and gen2 sound too different for stereo pairing to sound OK.
I would like to have the ability to stereo-pair 1st gen and 2nd gen Play 5's.

Moreover to @John B's point, I'll be the judge of what sounds OK.

Because at the moment, I have two mono channels in the same room (that also contains stereo-paired Play 1s and a sub).
You will have to live with that is my bet; someone else may have a 3 and a 5 with a similar ask. With the same result.
I'm afraid your wishes are not going to be granted. You may think you are the judge of what sounds good, but Sonos is a audio company, and they get to set their minimum standard of product quality, not their customers.
The idea of using dissimilar speakers as a stereo pair is, if I may say so, nuts. The stability of a stereo image depends on delicate timing coherence between the channels. Even if two speakers had similarly smooth frequency responses the chances of phase coherence across the pass band must be negligible. Different drive unit combinations, different acoustic loading, different crossovers, different DSP treatment, etc.
Another reason why gen 2 should have been named play 6 or higher.