Question

Using one SUB togehter with two Play5 and Soundbar

  • 19 February 2013
  • 7 replies
  • 1000 views

I've got two Play5 as a stereo setup in my living room. Now I like to extend my system with a SUB and the new Soundbar. Unfortunately Play5 is not supported to setup a 5.1 system but this is another topic... Both the Play5 as a stereo setup could connect with the SUB and also the Soundbar could be extended with a SUB. Is it also possible to use the SUB together with the Playbar when watching a movie and using the same SUB with my pair of Play5 when listening music?

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7 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +21
You would only be able to have either the pair of Play:5's OR the Playbar connect to the Sub. It would not be possible to have both connected to the sub at the same time, or automatically switch between the pair of Play:5's and the Playbar. You would need to manually change what the Sub is paired to when you change what you're listening to.
Userlevel 1
True? I thought the Soundbar automatically detected TV input to play in "TV/Surround mode" yet you would also be able to group all SONOS speakers including 1 sub and Playbar when playing music. Why would you need 2 subs or create any new groups?
Userlevel 7
Badge +21
If I read the original question correctly, the OP is looking to have the Sub paired with the Playbar when watching TV, and paired with the stereo pair of Play:5's when listening to music. If this is the case, the OP will need to manually switch the Sub from the Playbar to the Play:5 pair (or vice versa) when they want to change what they're doing. There is no way for this to be done automatically. The only thing automatic about the Playbar is its input detection, switching from playing music to playing TV audio when the TV is turned on (just like a Play:5's Line In, if autoplay is enabled). The only other way to have one Sub work for all of those speakers at once would be to GROUP the Play:5 pair and Playbar, so that they are all playing the same audio, whether it's TV or music.
Userlevel 1
OK, I assumed that all speakers/zones would be grouped together; meaning when playing music all SONOS speakers would be sent the same audio signal (and you can mute a speaker or lower volume if need be) When listening to TV in 5.1 mode, you might however need to mute the Play5s to avoid mixing nice Dolby 5.1 audio with the Play5s in the Living Room who would create 2 mono/1 paired stereo output Hence the effort would be to mute the Play5s each time the SONOS Soundbar receives TV input; a bit of a pain but 5 seconds work versus the effort to manually tailor groups of speakers each time...
Userlevel 1
Hold on... Since the Play 5s work only at 2.4GHZ, would they effectively not be silenced already in movie mode as only the SUB and Play3s would receive the 5GHZ signal from the Playbar? If so, not a bad solution as it would mean that 5.1 movie setup is just SUB with Play3s and music setup uses all speakers in one grouped setup...
Badge
I have a Play 5, Soundbar and Sub...currently the 5 is 'Office' and the Sub and Soundbar are 'Office 2'. I want to group them together under one heading, but when I try to add the 5, it still says 'Office' and does not show up in 'Office 2'. Suggestions?
Userlevel 7
Badge +22
Grouping is just that - The rooms are grouped but they maintain their own room identity and play music in sync (UNLESS the source is TV in which case the Play 5 will be 70ms delayed).
What you seem to be trying to do is add the 5 as surrounds in your Playbar/Sub room - 1) Yu must have a Play 5 Gen 2 AND 2) You need 2 (two) of them. In that case you will then have just one room - Play units cannot be in 2 rooms at the same time.