In summary, the Sonos Five and Sonos Playbar are designed for different audio venues. The Five as a dedicated music speaker and the Playbar for home theater.
By the way, Sonos discontinued the Playbar, and they currently only offer 3 soundbars: Ray, Beam and Arc.
I'd recommend you to check out the article at soundton.com/sonos-arc-vs-beam/ if you're planning to get a Sonos soundbar.
Now...
Have you ever noticed that there often tends to be quite the opposite opinions about a speaker?
I can understand this for more "personal taste" kinda products like clothing, for example.
But for engineering products like speakers? Personal tastes and preferences probably still play a role. But shouldn't it be less?
Why is it that we can't set a universal metric for sound quality?
First time I asked this question to myself has been a pivotal day.
Because it turns out that in the mid 90's, Electrical Engineer PhD Floyd Toole came up with a method called Spinorama. This is exactly what he accomplished with this. Turns out that his book Sound Reproduction is like the bible of audiophiles.
Put it simply, Spinorama is a set of measurements that gives a comprehensive overview of a speaker's performance from various angles.
It allows you to compare the performances of different speakers before even laying your ears hands on them.
Isn't that amazing?
This is why Spinorama was apparently groundbreaking news for audio industry. Hence in the mid-late 2010's, most brands and magazines began publishing Spinorama measurements, despite the challenges of making such measurements.
Fortunately, now we have the Spinorama data for a bunch of quite popular speakers. Pierre Aubert put all this untidy data together and put it into https://www.spinorama.org/. This is a stunning source. Pretty valuable stuff from him right there.
All good up to this point.
Now there comes a caveat.
Since the sound speakers propagate are in the form of omnidirectional waves, all measurements are obtained in anechoic or semi-anechoic chambers (a super-quiet room where soundwaves don't bounce back, here's how different that room sounds [a mind blowing time-adjusted video]).
This is a problem because it means that Spinorama alone, unfortunately, won't give us all we need. Placement and reflections play an equally important role there too.
This is why most A-class brands (like SVS, Bang & Olufsen, etc) often come up with room correction features, adjusted either manually or automatically. The EQ adapts itself to the placement (room, corner, center, etc) for a better (deeper and more accurate) sound. Which is great.
Additionally they often emphasize the importance of placement, here is an example: https://www.svsound.com/blogs/subwoofer-setup-and-tuning/75365187-the-art-of-subwoofer-placement
Anyways...
The source code under Pierre Aubert's work is licensed under GPL (General public license). He didn't perform any of the measurements himself, and instead he compiled all of them into one place, so that makes sense.
At this point, I thought that if there was a tool that combined both the Spinorama with the room acoustics data, it'd be extremely useful.
Unfortunately, it turns out that there wasn't any.
This is where I stepped in and partnered with an Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD in order to achieve this.
We combined Spinorama data with room acoustics and came up with Soundton. A very simple, 2D online tool that allows you to:
- Reveal optimal speaker positions in a room,
- Test with real speakers from real brands,
- Compare different speakers and different positions in the room.
It can be very valuable for the vast majority.
The colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) listening experience.
It works the best with subwoofers since Soundton processes low frequency response waves only.
- Soundton is going to be, say, 80% accurate. Not 100%.
- Because, other parameters such as the age/materials of the building, furniture/windows in place also have an impact on room acoustics.
- If you want absolutely the most detailed room analysis, then what you need is an acoustics consultant. Mind you that's going to require deep pockets and patience though... assuming you find the right person and they get the job done.
Anyways...
This paragraph alone should have provided you with the answer you've been looking for.
Having said that, both have been used cross-purposely to the approval of some and disapproval of others.
So you might still get stuck between them even after you figured out their best uses. If that's you, read on.
Similarities
What aspects do the Sonos Five and Sonos Playbar share:
- High quality design by Sonos to exacting standards.
- Whole-home network connectivity via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
- Setup and control via the Sonos S1 or advanced S2 Controller/App installed on an iOS, iPadOS or Android device. Learn more about the benefits of the Sonos S2 Controller/App here.
- Control only via Windows or Apple OS personal computer using the Sonos S1 or S2 controller/App.
- If you own an iOS or iPadOS device the speakers can be tuned to your room’s environment via TruePlay built into the Sonos Controller/App *
- Enjoyable listening experience for their intended purpose.
* Trueplay is spatially-aware tuning technology available in the Sonos app.
Differences
So, what sets the two speakers apart:
Playbar
- The Sonos Playbar is designed for connection to a TV via optical cable. It’s primary purpose is to improve upon the audio delivered by a TV’s internal speakers with no noticeable audio lag.
- It’s form factor is a compact design that effectively replaces the Left/Center/Right stand-alone wired home theater speakers within a sleek integrated package.
- The design effectively delivers Dolby Digital 3.0 audio sent from a compatible source connected to your TV.
- The audio can also be sent directly to the Playbar from a source over optical by-passing the TV’s optical output while sending the video portion (from the same source) over HDMI cable to the TV.
- A Sonos sub and be integrated with the Playbar via a process called “bonding” to deliver Dolby Digital 3.1 audio.
- Adding Sonos surrounds (Sonos One or Sonos One SL x 2 or two Sonos Five’s ) via the same bonding process delivers Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Note: Removing the Sonos sub reduces the audio to Dolby Digital 5.0!
- The Playbar be used as a wireless music speaker via the Sonos App without the TV being turned on.
- It can be grouped with other Sonos speakers. I recommend this only for music. Grouping the Playbar with other Sonos speakers for TV audio will result in a 70ms audio delay to those speakers.
- Airplay 2 compatible when grouped to a Sonos speaker that is natively AirPlay 2 capable.
Sonos Five
- The Sonos Five is designed to deliver music audio of any genre in Hi-Fidelity Stereo sound; even as a stand-alone speaker. The stereo effect may diminish beyond 2 meters.
- It can be used as dedicated speaker for a Turntable (with pre-amp) or CD player via connection to its 3.5mm input.
- Always wireless for music or any streaming service that is compatible with the Sonos controller/app.
- Natively Airplay 2 compatible.
- Two Sonos Five’s can be set as a stereo pair to deliver an immersive sound stage for stereo music listening.
- A Sonos sub can be added for increased bass response. Some will say that a sub is not needed.
- Two Sonos Fives’ can be used a surrounds for any Sonos home theater speaker (Arc, Beam, Playbar or Playbase). However, IMO the limited material sent as surround makes their use as such overkill.
- The Sonos Five either as a stand-alone or stereo pair can be connected to a TV via it’s 3.5mm input jack. Doing so is a personal decision as that is not the intended use.
Closing Comments
The Sonos Playbar is best suited as a home theater speaker.
Besides the fact that it has been discontinued in favor of the Sonos Arc, it may add undesirable coloring to music for some.
The previous statement is not to say that the Sonos Arc is recommended for music.
The Sonos Five IMO should be your go-to Sonos product for music enjoyment.
Although, it can be connected to a TV you’d be better served with a Playbar or one of the current Sonos home theater speakers Arc or Beam (read more on Arc vs Beam).
The Sonos Five has replaced the Sonos Play 5 that was recently discontinued. The main difference being increased memory for features yet to be announced.
That said IMO there is no immediate need to upgrade as the Play 5 is compatible with the Sonos S2 Controller/App.
As in any situation regarding audio the final decision as to how a speaker will be used is subjective based upon need and what is heard.
The preceding is my opinion based upon Sonos specifications and (if you will allow) a little personal bias thrown in for good measure.
Lastly, here's a good video review of the Five: