Sonos Play 5 2nd Gen

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by Drifterxny, Dec 7, 2016.

  1. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

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    Wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the 2nd Gen sonos play 5, especially as a pair in stereo set up.
    How would it compare to a traditional speaker pair that's priced around $800 in terms of sound quality?
     
  2. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    They are, initially, superficially impressive for their size, but in terms of absolute sound quality - traditional speakers are going to do better. You need to look at them in the context of being "decent sounding for a compact convenience/lifestyle product" rather than "decent sounding in audiophile terms". If you compared back to back you'll probably find, initially that the Play 5's offer "more bass", but it's very much more about artificial quantity than quality.

    I have a fairly extensive Sonos setup (about 20 nodes in total), including the Play 5 (2nd Gen) and I use it purely for a couple of things, neither of which are "active listening". It's there for convenience either when entertaining, or doing stuff around the house. And when we have house-guests, they get to use it both in "their" bedroom and around the house, without having to let them loose, unattended, on my "proper" systems.

    So, they're fun, flexible, very convenient, and will probably sound better that you expect while still being unlikely to sound nearly as good as you want.

    And in sound-quality terms, they're not very good value - you're paying for the flexibility, easy of use/convenience and features.
     
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2016
  3. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    Sounds like shit. I auditioned it after hearing the new WAND series from RIVA. The $299 RIVA WAND Arena stomped the new play 5.

    If you're curious, I'm going to replace my whole Sonos setup:

    5 Sonos connects, 1 connect amp, 1 play:5 and 3 play:1s
     
  4. Torq

    Torq MOT: Headphone.com

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    Have you auditioned/heard the newer Blue Sound stuff at all? If so, where would you rank that compared to the Sonos and Riva units?

    The new house is going to need a setup of this nature, and I'm not going to be buying more Sonos gear for it.
     
  5. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    What are you replacing the Sonos connects and amp with? I have never heard their speakers and will assume they are not too good. But I have found the connect and connect/amp components pretty good and you can upgrade by improving amp and/or DAC. Does RIva have a streaming only component like SOnos. I thought it was all tied to their speakers. Can you use Riva with other gear like you can with Sonos.
     
  6. Drifterxny

    Drifterxny Friend

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    thanks Zero, didn't know about Riva, will check it out when they become available
     

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