Sonos Five Smart Speaker Review

[BarryTone]

Lot of new products coming from Sonos in 2024:

Sonos roadmap reveals multiple audio launches intended in 2024

The future plans of Sonos go beyond a streaming set-top box and a smart speaker, with a roadmap for the next two years pointing to a lot of new premium products that are allegedly on the way.

appleinsider.com

 

[EchoChamber]

Thank you Amir for the great review !
I got a pair of Era 300 for my office a few months ago and they are great for that purpose, even the Era 100 I tested before the 300 were pretty good too. Hard to fault in any critical way and easy to use, I can stream music directly from Roon, bypassing the less than perfect Sonos app experience. Trueplay room correction helps tame bass resonances in a big way.

 

[srrxr71]

An MTM center speaker is monophonic and its particular performance means that in reality it works much better in a vertical position...

The Sonos 5 speaker can also operate horizontally and vertically...
- Horizontally it has a wide dispersion... and is sufficient in itself ;
- Vertically, its side tweeters disconnect automatically and you then have to pair it with another to listen in stereo...

They are still quite clever and competent at Sonos...

I was wondering that. The Apple HomePods change their dispersion when used in stereo mode. I didn’t realize these require you to change the orientation.

 

[A Surfer]

My new set of Fives were easy as pie to install and are nicely integrated now. Really great system now, feels better balanced than when I had a pair of Moves with a pair of Fives. Not surprising at all though that four identical speakers would present a more cohesive experience.

 

[HiFidFan]

Thanks for the review @amirm.

I have my (2014) Playbar and Gen 1 Sub (2016) still happily doing TV duty using latest firmware. No issues, ever. I'm happy with their performance and impressed with the durability/longevity of speakers of this type. Kudos to Sonos.

The thing about Sonos, as was mentioned above, is that they just work. Intuitive to set up and use, with performance that is very very good. A very good value IMO.

 

[Mashuri]

I'm not surprised to see such a positive review. I've owned three Sonos Fives for many years (two in stereo configuration for my living room and one for my master bedroom) and felt like they were one of the best-kept secrets in the audio world. Even after spoiling my ears and soul with my sublime-taste-of-heaven Kii Three BXTs for the past two years, I still find the Sonos enjoyable to listen to. Kudos to their hardware and software teams' engineering prowess.

 

[GXAlan]

I'm not surprised to see such a positive review. I've owned three Sonos Fives for many years (two in stereo configuration for my living room and one for my master bedroom) and felt like they were one of the best-kept secrets in the audio world. Even after spoiling my ears and soul with my sublime-taste-of-heaven Kii Three BXTs for the past two years, I still find the Sonos enjoyable to listen to. Kudos to their hardware and software teams' engineering prowess.

Some really needs to send Amir the Era300. I personally liked the Era300 much more in stereo compared to my Fives in stereo, to the point that I think an Era500 with subs would be a real competitor to something like the LS60’s.

 

[jeffme]

Some really needs to send Amir the Era300. I personally liked the Era300 much more in stereo compared to my Fives in stereo, to the point that I think an Era500 with subs would be a real competitor to something like the LS60’s.

He has indicated the number of speakers firing in different directions makes the Era300 (and even the Five) very difficult to measure.

 

[srrxr71]

He has indicated the number of speakers firing in different directions makes the Era300 (and even the Five) very difficult to measure.

What if you can put it into its stereo mode?

 

[GXAlan]

He has indicated the number of speakers firing in different directions makes the Era300 (and even the Five) very difficult to measure.

It seems like we got good measurements for the Sonos Five.

If this is the case, how do we reconcile Sonos and its super large anechoic chambers and Era 300 made by Doug Button formerly of JBL Professional, and our inability to measure it? What does that mean for Bose 901’s or arrays that fire in multiple directions?

The subjectivists win that debate…. Trust your ears?

(In the Era 300 thread I show my in-room measurement)

 

[Postlan]

At first glance, it may appear that the distortion rate is high, but since most of it is second order distortion, I believe that, as reported by Amirm, the distortion is likely to be almost inaudible.

 

[MaxBuck]

I've been a bit of a Sonos denigrator in the past, but they seem to have gotten their feces to coalesce pretty effectively recently. Kudos!

 

[mmi]

Love my Fives!! I run them horizontal stereo pair when I want wide dispersion, vertical stereo pair when I want a more focused sound, and split during parties for music in more areas.

I’ve measured them pumping out 27hz waves, incredible considering their size. There are a few posts on various forums with tidbits about the driver design and overall architecture that enables this, will post links here if I can track them down again.

I use them for movies via Airplay from an Apple TV and experience no noticeable delay. Not sure why, YMMV I guess?

 

[A Surfer]

Listening now to my Sonos system playing Saint Germaine des Pres Cafe. Brilliant. That is actually a serious of amazing releases over several years in the genre described as Nu Jazz. So much to enjoy.

 

[mmi]

If this is the case, how do we reconcile Sonos and its super large anechoic chambers and Era 300 made by Doug Button formerly of JBL Professional, and our inability to measure it?

This measurement rig looks pretty bespoke, I’ve always wondered about it in comparison to the NFS.

 

[early rejecter]

I use them for movies via Airplay from an Apple TV and experience no noticeable delay. Not sure why, YMMV I guess?

Airplay syncs the audio and video. The delay is apparent when you use the line-in rather than Airplay.

 

[alanca3]

In what sense? Every speaker Sonos has ever sold except for one (the original Play:5) still works with the newest app, and even that Play:5 still works fine on the original app which they’ve continued to make available. Any “smart” device is going to have a limited lifespan by nature but it’s my impression that Sonos actually has one of the better records on that front. The Sonos speaker I bought for the kitchen almost 10 years ago now is still working just as well as it did the day I installed it.

I have three SONOS ZP120, two ZP90, a play:5, and one SONOS One. They all work great. If I want to add a new product I have to either replace my 6 legacy devices or use two apps.


A shame they couldn’t figure out an economic way to allow legacy devices to play in sync with newer devices. It’s certainly possible, though I’m positive that the numbers showed a better return on a new ecosystem as opposed to backwards compatibility.


Sonos has some serious engineering talent, and it shows in their products. They also operate like any other Silicon Valley company.


I supposed that’s the tradeoff you make with such products. Very well engineered but liable to become obsolete in a decade or so.

 

[srrxr71]

I have three SONOS ZP120, two ZP90, a play:5, and one SONOS One. They all work great. If I want to add a new product I have to either replace my 6 legacy devices or use two apps.


A shame they couldn’t figure out an economic way to allow legacy devices to play in sync with newer devices. It’s certainly possible, though I’m positive that the numbers showed a better return on a new ecosystem as opposed to backwards compatibility.


Sonos has some serious engineering talent, and it shows in their products. They also operate like any other Silicon Valley company.


I supposed that’s the tradeoff you make with such products. Very well engineered but liable to become obsolete in a decade or so.

Play 5 is also one of the legacy products?

 

[alanca3]

Play 5 is also one of the legacy products?

Certain models of the play:5, I believe it used to be called something different.

 

[Pritaudio]

its kinda alot of money for the convenience of integrated box For the eco system.
the Kali lp unf is £299, just add a Wiim mini £89.
you have some money left over.