I guess I SHOULD have given Sonos Play:5s only four stars because of the ridiculous price they charge for this thing!
That aside, I'm extremely pleased with these speaker's sound quality, control software and overall functionality.
The Sonos products do what no other product does(AFAIK). They allow you to play music thru-out your living space wirelessly.
Further, you can select speakers(other Sonos products) to play different tracks simultaneously.
You can choose songs from your music library to form a cue.
Re:cue; you can change the song order, add/delete, SAVE etc. Like an ITunes playlist, only better.
You can adjust EQ via Bass/Treble control.
You can adjust volume or mute, pause/continue, cue fwd/rev, etc.
I'm able to play music stored on my PC, controlled by my phone/tablet. (you don't need music on each device)
TuneIn radio (comes with the software) has 100,000 stations to choose from. They play flawlessly.
You can do all this from your PC, tablet or smart phone. How do you top this?
SEVERAL people can perform all these functions SIMULTANEOUSLY. (which gets interesting when your child is home from college LOL)
If you ask me, it's a miracle! "Ah but, setup must be difficult!", you say.
Nope, setup was a snap. Once unpackaged and plugged in, I downloaded the software and configured the speakers in less than 30 minutes. REALLY! The software is simple and intuitive.
Cons:
Price
I wish they had a better equalizer program. The current one has a basic treble/bass slide bar.
I wish they had outdoor speakers. I wish they had wireless headphones.
Note:
Sonos product all require AC electric supply i.e. plug them in. They're wireless, not battery operated; which I think is a good thing.
My experience:
My highest priority was to be able to play music off my PC located in the 26'x26' kitchen/LR/DR open floor plan, over a set of decent quality speakers. The thought of integrating the whole house seemed wonderful, albeit unattainable. We listen to a variety of music, but mostly rock, jazz and jazz fusion. Occasionally, we like to blast it. How loud? "loud enough to NOT hear myself sing" LOL. I wanted to "hit it out of the park", so I wound up buying 2 Play:5s and Sonos Sub.
First, I set up the Play:5s to see if/how they would work. They immediately reminded me of Apple products with they're ridiculous gratuitous packaging. I mean the boxes alone must cost $25! LOL
As I said, the setup was a snap. I downloaded the app from the Sonos site*. It loaded quickly and I was on my way. Setup** was a couple of screens similar to pairing blue tooth stuff. What did take a while, was importing my 10K track music library(There's a serious issue here too! see below.)
As for sound quality, I'd rate the speakers as "very good", to "excellent". If one considers the size of the format, ease of setup and they are wireless, I'd say "excellent"! I paired the speakers as stereo and listened to flawless music stream for about an hour. The bass response was so good, I almost didn't open the sub. I'm glad I did! While a huge expense for a seemingly frivolous component, the Sonos Sub is amazing! It definitely adds another dimension to the system.
Several days later, I bought the Sonos starter set (2 Play:1s). I put one in the 12'x18' bedroom and one in the 24'x30' garage. Admittedly, these speakers do not deliver the sound quality of the 5's, but when you consider the size of the format, they absolutely rock!
I'm saving my $ for more Sonos products!
------------NOTES----------------------------------------------
*I downloaded the app from Sonos. There's another app on the google app site which is rated rather low. I don't know if they are the same.
**You need ethernet (hard wire) connection for the first Sonos product you install. Later, you can move remove the wire or move the speaker wherever you like.
***my ITunes PLAY LISTS did NOT import. The library is all there and the playlists titles are there, but the data within the playlists is erroneous and does not play. I'm on Sono's site attempting to fix this. WARNING, there appears to be NO real FIX at this time.
UPDATE: I found an esoteric file "fix". It will work short term. If you're good with your PC file system, you can do it too.
FLASH! I was contacted by Sonos support regarding this post. I'll update.
UPDATE-
I'm about 30 days into these products. I listen to them almost daily. ( just ordered 2 more P5s)
The Music stream(over my network) has been flawless.
I experienced 2 or 3 device "lockups" on my S5 phone, which were quickly averted with an app restart.
My ITunes playlist problem persists. Sonos has been very attentive, emailing me several times about it. They say the issue is in ITunes(I don't doubt them), but I can't find the playlist files in order to examine and repair them.
I WISH the P5s had more treble (brighter). I play them with the treble setting maxed out 100% of the time.
I WISH the software had a real equalizer, rather than the vanilla bass/treble adjustments.
UPDATE-
I purchased 2 additional P5s. Now I have 2P5s + Sub in one room(24'x24') and 2P5s standalone in another(20'x20' with lower ceiling). I'll say the standalones are still pretty impressive. In fact, the sub tends to be a bit over-the-top and requires adjustment on some songs. Generally for classical music I'll turn it up a notch, then have to back it off for rock music. It's interesting to hear the extra bass when listening to talk radio. The standalones are by NO MEANS lacking. Don't hesitate to get two P5s if you can't afford the sub.
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This Item  Sonos Play: 5 - Ultimate Wireless Smart Speaker - Black |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $589.00 | $246.99 | $438.99 | $506.00 | $529.99 | $787.99 |
| Delivery | Get it May 2 - 6 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 3 | Get it May 2 - 6 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 3 | Get it May 1 - 3 | Get it as soon as Friday, May 3 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Bluetooth connectivity | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Sold By | CellularStream | Trends Goods | Trends Goods | Group Usa | Electronics Expo (Authorized Dealer) | Trends Goods |
| speaker size | 3.5 millimeters | — | — | — | 3.5 millimeters | 15.8 inches |
| power source | AC | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | AC | AC | Corded Electric |
| connectivity tech | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi | Wi Fi | Wireless | Wi-Fi |
| speaker type | Smart Speaker | Multi Room | Multi Room | Outdoor | Woofer, Tweeter | Subwoofer |
| mounting type | Play | Shelf Mount | Tabletop | Table Top | Tabletop | Floor Standing |
| weight | 14 pounds | — | 4.5 kilograms | 8 pounds | 6350 grams | 7.01 kilograms |
| control method | voice | voice | application | voice | application | application |
| model name | Play:5 | Sonos Era 100 - Black | Sonos Era 300 - Black | Sonos One(Gen2) | Sonos Five | Sonos Sub - Black |
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Awesome sound system, but make sure this is for you
I'm glad this is what I went with after months of researching and debating. First of all, and most important, the sound is great. I wanted something that filled my open concept downstairs living room and kitchen with high quality sound. I've used it to entertain for a party, to rock out to some good ole rock and roll, and for background music while making dinner, and it performs great at all levels. I have not had any of the intermittent issues that some of the low reviews mention. I have one of the higher speeds internet, but it's nothing special.The app makes it easy to set up the system and I really liked the sound tuning option. I like that I can access multiple music sources like Spotify, Amazon prime music, Pandora, etc, from the app. Much better than having to go into every app to find what you are looking for. The user interface is more basic than the actual music apps, but it does what I need it to, which is search, find, play.I don't mind not having a the Bluetooth option. It hasn't affected me, but I can see how some people find that to be an issue. I also understand that Sonos wants to keep their sound system a hi-fi system and the Bluetooth sound quality is not as good.In terms of aesthetics, this is an elegant piece, and even my interior designer wife was happy with the looks.The price point is high, so make sure you are willing to make the investment. My plan is to eventually grow my system, and that capability was another selling point for my needs.
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Top reviews from other countries
Md Abu Shuphiyan
No one can beat this
Reviewed in India on April 8, 2017Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
Darkev
Beautiful sound reproduction with an easy to use app controller
Reviewed in Canada on March 5, 2016Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
Christian Levasseur
Bad reliability and unable to add speaker from Windows
Reviewed in Canada on July 14, 2019Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
Cliente de Amazon
Lo mejor sin tener un sistema HiFi con grandes bocinas y mil cables.
Reviewed in Mexico on October 4, 2018Color: WhiteVerified Purchase
