Sound Quality

The Sonos Five is equipped with a total of six dynamic speaker units and as many Class D amplifiers. Three of those drivers are 10-centimeter (4") mid-woofers, and above them are three tweeters. According to Sonos, the central tweeter (23 mm, 0.9") optimizes vocal playback, while the two angled tweeters (20 mm, 0.8") flanking it create spatial extension. The speaker is based on a sealed architecture, which means it does not have bass-reflex ports on any of its sides.

While Sonos gives no information about the power output of the Five, one thing is for sure: this thing can play LOUD. In my office, a room of some 20 square meters (around 215 square feet), pushing the Five as loud as it can go wasn't even an option as I'd probably have to get a new set of windows. As such, this speaker is an entirely viable option for larger rooms, and even outdoor parties assuming you have a power outlet at your disposal. While it won't do you much good at the beach, for a home garden party of any size, it will fit right in. This is partially possible because the built-in speaker drivers seem to be very resistant to distortion even when pushed very hard. While preparing for this review, I ran into a couple of sources claiming that the Five heavily distorts above 80% of its volume range, but I didn't experience this issue even in the slightest. Perhaps Sonos addressed it in one of the firmware updates of the Five? Both units I had at my disposal updated themselves as soon as I connected them to my home Wi-Fi network.

The tonality of the Sonos Five is greatly dependent on whether the Trueplay technology is being used or not. Without Trueplay, the speaker has a somewhat dark sound signature, of which the impressive bass extension will undoubtedly grab your attention first. The bass is deep and very thick. It doesn't have too much to offer in terms of texture and finer layering, although that satisfying punch, one that almost turns violent at high volumes, is definitely there. For most, that's all that's going to matter. Despite having a bass of such magnitude, the Five manages to stay coherent in the midrange and mostly free of excessive overhang that would ruin vocal reproduction. If anything, vocals are somewhat boosted and more forward in the mix than you'd expect from a speaker with a more refined output. That can at times make them shouty, particularly when the Five is playing loudly. At the same time, the upper midrange and presence region sound slightly contorted, especially at lower listening volumes. This aspect of the Five is directly addressed by the Trueplay technology.


Most of my remarks can be interpreted as a response to Sonos' claims that the Five is a hi-fi speaker. It definitely isn't refined enough to be called that, but that doesn't mean it doesn't sound good. This is a mainstream-sounding speaker through and through, one which puts a much stronger emphasis on fun and excitement than finesse. If you approach it like that, you're a guaranteed happy customer. Every person I demoed it to, of which none consider themselves audiophiles, was blown away by its lively character and massive bass extension. This was true regardless of the music genre in question, although I'd add that you'll definitely get more enjoyment from deadmau5 than Frédéric Chopin on the Five.

There's one more vital detail to keep in mind. You don't want to be sitting too close to the Five. If you are, you won't get any noteworthy stereo separation or a proper sense of scale. These two aspects of its sound significantly improve when you move at least two meters (around 6.5 feet) away, as you're giving its woofers room to breathe and its angled tweeters a chance to create a sense of space to the left and right.

Trueplay Performance

After doing the Trueplay calibration with my iPad Air 2020, the Sonos Five sounded much leaner in the bass. This leads me to believe that the technology correctly recognized that my untreated office has an issue with nasty standing waves in the corners. The middle and high frequencies sounded much smoother, more balanced, and there was a greatly increased sense of width of the sound.

With that in mind, my ideal setup of the Sonos Five was to keep the Trueplay calibration on and add a +5 dB bass boost in the equalizer. Depending on the characteristics of your space, these parameters will vary. Either way, don't be afraid to experiment; the Five gives you a decent amount of room to tailor it to your taste.

Two Sonos Five Units Paired

As I had two Sonos Five units at my disposal, I tried using them as a stereo pair in the upright position. The pairing is done through the Sonos S2 app and requires you to redo the Trueplay calibration, which was to be expected.

In terms of sound quality, you basically get more of everything. More power, even more bass, and clearer stereo separation simply because the sound no longer has a single point of origin. Two Sonos Fives could be used as capable wireless bookshelf speakers in various rooms and situations, although we can't ignore the fact that excellent powered hi-fi bookshelf speakers can be bought for less unless you're adamant about staying in the Sonos multiroom ecosystem; if so, a pair of the Fives are the way to go.