I am a big fan of the Sonos system, I love the sound quality you get from the devices and how it all just works. Sonos are about to release a new version of their flagship Play:5 speaker which once again has an elegant design with a superb sound.
The new Play:5 comes with a speaker tuning an calibration system that optimises the sound based on the room you are in. It uses an iOS device to calibrate the sound in the room and give you the best sound for the environment which is something my AV receiver does and is an interesting idea. I have to be honest and say I couldn’t really tell that much difference before and after setup but any improvement in audio is welcome.
I already have a Sonos Play:3 and Sonos Bridge so setting up the Play:5 was nice and simple. You don’t need a Bridge anymore so it could be setup with your own wireless or with an Ethernet cable (there is an Ethernet port on the back).
After setting up the Play:5 I fired up my Sonos controller (sadly no Universal Windows app yet) and started listening to some music. The sound quality on the Play:5 is a thing to behold, it is crystal clear even at maximum volume and it’s certainly loud! You can hear every instrument in the mix from the bass right to the top end. It is equally at home with rock, classical and dance music. I also found the stereo separation very good, it really brings the music to life.
As I said at the start the Play:5 has a very elegant design even the way the power cable is recessed into speaker. On the top of the Play:5 there are capacitive buttons for volume, play and pause.
The Play:5 will cost £429 and therefore is not by any means a cheap solution but you get what get is excellent audio quality linked with the brilliant Sonos control system. In this video try Trueplay, configure the Play:5 and put the device through its paces. It is one device that I am very reluctant to return.
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