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Sonos Review: The Play:5 is the Perfect Centerpiece for a Whole House Audio System

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Sonos is a well-regarded brand known for creating some of the best multi-room home speaker setups, and in late 2015, the company debuted its latest product, a second-generation Play:5. The original Play:5 (once called the S5) came out in 2009, so the new Play:5 marks a long overdue update that brings a new design and better sound.

As someone new to the Sonos ecosystem, the Play:5 (paired with a set of Play:1 speakers) is the first Sonos speaker I've tested in my home. After a month breaking it in, I finally understand why Sonos is such a popular brand and is regarded as the best system for iPhone-compatible whole house audio.

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Priced at $499, the new Play:5 isn't cheap, but that price point includes a hassle-free user experience and impressive audio. As covered in the review below, there are some downsides to buying into the Sonos line, but its ease of use, sound, and multi-speaker pairing capabilities make it largely a win for those ready to shell out the cash for a quality sound system.


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Article Link: Sonos Review: The Play:5 is the Perfect Centerpiece for a Whole House Audio System
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/review/sonos-play-5-speaker/
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Red Oak said:
This fails on so many levels. Need to use Sonos app, no AirPlay support, can't use Apple Music

Yet MR calls it "perfect"
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There is literally a picture of the Sonos App with Apple Music logo in this review and you still write this post? I get some people don't read the articles, but not even look at the pictures?! Why did you even post?!
 
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No Airplay or AptX. I do wonder how these compare, say the Play:1 to Yamaha's new WX-010, which supports Airplay, AptX, NAS, their own app like Sonos. Maybe an update coming, the Play:5 reviewed is old now, the Play:1 is at least 3-4 years old.

Sonos are just about passable for sound quality, Yamaha similar or better?

Looking for something for my bathroom, toilet, and bedroom table.
 
i just want apple to make a competing product or a cheaper airplay 'receiver' than the Airport Express. Bluetooth just doesn't really allow for multiroom audio and buying 4 airport expresses just to have wireless audio seems a little excessive. although refurbished ones are like 50$ now so its a little better but something like the cromecast audio dongle would be great.
 
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Some quick notes since this always seems to come up:

1. "Needs wifi" but if you hardwire at least one of your Sonos devices they will actually stand up their own proprietary mesh network that operates independently of your wifi, and even allows you to use them to bridge your LAN connection to your other devices. But this feature seems to confuse customers (and these days people like wifi much more than they like to use Ethernet cables) so they have downplayed it a lot in recent years. But if you can, you should hardwire at least one of your Sonos devices to take advantage of these features.

2. Remember Sonos are "pull" devices compared to AirPlay, Bluetooth which are "push" technologies. Can be a subtle distinction given how much overlap there is, but there's always people who say "but it doesn't even do Bluetooth!" You need to understand exactly what this thing WAS designed to be before you complain about what it doesn't do.
 
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Trik said:
There is literally a picture of the Sonos App with Apple Music logo in this review and you still write this post? I get some people don't read the articles, but not even look at the pictures?! Why did you even post?!
Click to expand...

While it does play nice with the underlying engine of Apple Music, it uses a bastardized internal Sonos interface to access said engine.

Thus, things like searching, which I find very easy to use on the Apple Music app are a kluge on Sonos. An example being that the Apple Music app allows me to just type (or say) a song title, artist, album name etc., without making me classify which I am searching for. The Sonos app makes me choose a category to do a search. So I have to tell it specifically to look for X song, or X artist. A very '90s ways of searching, and a deal killer IMO.

If Sonos would fix that issue I would be completely invested in their stuff.
 
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All it needs is bluetooth (even though it's not as good as wi-fi connection, it's simple and useful). Other than that, great products from Sonos.
(The Yamaha line with Musiccast is awesome as well).
 
I love my sonos setup, as does my family.

Don't care about Bluetooth, it plays music stored on my device through the app so I don't need it.
 
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Sonos definitely has the advantage over competitors due to length being on the market. It just works. Other units I have installed ( Denon Heos, Bose Soundtouch ) don't work as well and offer a an experience that can frustrate a lot of people. I personally want to pick up a couple of Connect Amps since they will fit in my closet nicely. I currently run 2 speakers outside using the Zone 2 option on my Denon receiver. Thanks to Pandora Radios server upgrade/change, my receiver will no longer let me login. At least Sonos updates their software in a more timely manner and adds features like Apple Music. Good luck getting Denon to add that to their selection of streaming services. Price is a bit high but you could do worse like purchase Bose. ( I do like the Bose QC Headphones though. They are awesome and the only Bose item I have purchased)
 
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Wow!

What a coincidence!

I took delivery of my SONOS Play:5 Black earlier today.

I set it up about 30 minutes ago - only took 5 minutes and was really easy.

It maybe OTT for my bedroom but it sounds stunning. I was originally going to opt for the Play:3 but decided to just pay a bit more.

So far I'm loving it!

I don't mind using the SONOS App. All my music is on my 128gb iPad Air 2 - I don't really use streaming services but I may try Apple Music...
 
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Listening to my Play5 at the moment. I still love it.

You can use AirPlay in a bit of a roundabout fashion: attach an Airport Express to the speaker with a 3.5mm cable, set the Sonos app to play 'Line In', then broadcast to the Airport. Needless to say, this isn't the most convenient solution, and I find AirPlay to be far more flaky and unreliable compared to Sonos's solution, even if their app interface needs work.
 
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SimonTheSoundMa said:
the Play:5 reviewed is old now
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The Play:5 is now new. It's roughly a year old refresh, making it the newest piece of listening gear from Sonos.

Sonos is fun. What's perfect in life? Sonos' pricing makes it a triumph compared to the world of multi-room audio it improved upon. The company still deserves to be successful.

Any audiophile that needs higher performance at their stereo would love the modified Sonos Zone Player sold by Wyred4Sound. Combine that with other Sonos zones, and life is pretty good.
 
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I was thinking of buying a Sonos system earlier this year but, after the recent layoffs, I changed my mind. I'm not entirely convinced they will be around much longer.
 
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Love all my Sonos gear. Just picked up a few ZP120's (Connect:Amp) to run some SpeakerCraft rock speakers throughout the back yard. Second house I've done this at and can't get enough of it.

I've owned 5's, 3's, Connect:Amps, Connects, and now currently use 1's throughout the house. Plan to add PlayBar and Sub soon for main TV. Works way better than anything else on the market. Bluetooth and Audio AirPlay are old school if you ask me. I've been with Sonos since 2008.
 
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I just bought a house that I will be moving into in September. I have been looking at Sonos and really have not seen a better option. I will have 3 floors (plus a basement) and it being built in 1910 there is no cabling in the house, so a multi room wifi system is what I am looking for. If anyone has anything they recommend I look at before buying, please let me know. Thanks.
 
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Cuban Missles said:
I just bought a house that I will be moving into in September. I have been looking at Sonos and really have not seen a better option. I will have 3 floors (plus a basement) and it being built in 1910 there is no cabling in the house, so a multi room wifi system is what I am looking for. If anyone has anything they recommend I look at before buying, please let me know. Thanks.
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Nope, Sonos is best quality option. I actually prefer Play:1's since they are small and sound phenomenal for their size. Unless you are trying to crank very loud music in a large space. In that case I prefer two 1's working in stereo mode over a single Play:5.
 
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