Sonos Play 5 or Sonos Connect amp with speakers?

[Jenings]

I am looking to upgrade a pair of Sonos Play 1s currently operating as a stereo pair in my lounge. My options seem to be either changing them out for a pair of Sonos Play 5s or using a Sonos Connect Amp ( which I already have) and buying something like a pair of Kef LS 50s. Cost will be about the same but I cannot find a local retailer where I can listen to the options. Anyone out there who can provide advice and help?

 

[nopiano]

A pair of 5s would be an expensive alternative to a 'proper' stereo pair. I believe the 1s are often felt to be something of a sweet spot in Sonos' range, and a pair offers good performance for the money.

KEF LS50s are in another league entirely. They are sophisticated beyond their price point, and can get better with several grands worth of amplifier powering them. But might be the only speakers you ever need! They would function with the Connect, but at nowhere near their potential.

As a stopgap then, that might do until you can get a decent stereo amp. If ŷou aspire to a decent hifi then that's a better route than two 5s, unless you can (say) reuse them around the house in due course.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[bigboss]

The new second generation Play:5s are very good and far superior to the first generation. The weak point in your second option is the Connect:Amp and I suspect the Play:5s will be superior. With a decent stereo amplifier and Connect, the results will be very different. And this is where I think the issue is, if you decide on upgrading.

If you want to upgrade the Play:5 system, you simply move the Play:5s to other rooms. If you want to upgrade the Kef system, you'll have to buy a Sonos Connect + a decent stereo amplifier, and reassign the Connect:Amp to another room for which you will need another pair of speakers.

 

[Q5]

A pair of 5s would be an expensive alternative to a 'proper' stereo pair. I believe the 1s are often felt to be something of a sweet spot in Sonos' range, and a pair offers good performance for the money.

KEF LS50s are in another league entirely. They are sophisticated beyond their price point, and can get better with several grands worth of amplifier powering them. But might be the only speakers you ever need! They would function with the Connect, but at nowhere near their potential.

As a stopgap then, that might do until you can get a decent stereo amp. If ŷou aspire to a decent hifi then that's a better route than two 5s, unless you can (say) reuse them around the house in due course.

Welcome to the forum!

I have a first gen Play 5 and a current gen Play 1 which are used by my wife when pottering around the house.

They do sound good for what they are and what they are used for, I also have the LS50's.

The LS50's as quoted above are in a different league altogether, if you want the LS50's then I would suggest purchasing a decent amp to do them justice, they would be wasted on the Sonos but could be a route to upgrade in the future.

 

[Jenings]

Thanks, and thanks for the welcome.

Your comment that the Kefs would be much better than the Sonos is interesting and helpful, particuarly as I am finding it difficult to compare the two.

I do also have a Sonos Connect connected to a Cambridge Audio Azur 740A with Quad 22l speakers. There is also a Connect Amp connected to Mordaunt Short Mezzo 2 speakers in my study.

This all started off last week as I re-discovered my old hifi from the 1980s which has been sitting in my loft for some 20 years which consists of a CJ Walker deck and a Crimson Elektrik 510 pre amp (battery powered!) and 530 power amps which I powered up and sounded good through Mordaunt Short Pagaent 2 speakers.

So I could juggle everything around, use the Quad 22ls through the Connect Amp and something like the Kefs through the Cambridge or Crimson amps with the Connect. Oh dear. I managed to get over my hifi upgrade infatuation back in the millenium but I fear it might be back. :-(

 

[Jenings]

Would the Cambridge amp (plus Sonos Connect) be considered as a decent amp for the Kefs (I suppose it must be about 8-10 years old now) or should I be considering something else if I went down that path? Realistically most of my listening will be lossless music sitting on a NAS vis Sonos.

Thanks for all hour thoughts on this, I do find it helpful.

 

[Jenings]

Well here's a thing. Just back from those jolly nice people at Richer Sounds where I listened to a pair of Play 1s and a pair of Play5s. The Play 5s were better but were initially disappointing; I was expecting more. Then they were put on stands (Atacama I think) and that made a big difference. But it did vary with music. With some the bass still sounded disjointed and the treble was no sharper than the Play 1s (on Us and Them, Pink Floyd for example) but on more modern and, presumably, digitally recorded music, they Play 5s sounded much better, more integrated with better bass with clearer treble (Trndsttr by Black Coast is a good demo track for this). So then we tried a pair of Monitor Audio Silvers with a Connect Amp which frankly sounded reasonable but no more. Which kind of confirms the general feeling of this topic that in order to get better sound, the solution is not to use a Connect Amp but rather use a Connect with a decent amplifier. Which also brings in further complications with another layer of options (adding amp options as well as speakers) and also the convenience factor. Oh for a simple life!

 

[The_Lhc]

Have you thought about adding a sub the play:1 pair?

 

[Jenings]

No I had not thought of that option. Will the sub integrate with the Play1s? I had presumed it would need a playbar. Interesting though. Has anyone had experience of this option?

 

[bigboss]

No I had not thought of that option. Will the sub integrate with the Play1s? I had presumed it would need a playbar. Interesting though. Has anyone had experience of this option?

The sub can play with any amplified Sonos amplified system.

 

[The_Lhc]

No I had not thought of that option. Will the sub integrate with the Play1s? I had presumed it would need a playbar. Interesting though. Has anyone had experience of this option?

Yes, it works with the 1s, 3s or 5s (single or stereo paired) and the Playbar.