If you made me give up all of the Sonos products I own except for one, I’d keep the Sonos Five each and every time. Well, in my case, technically, it’s the second-generation Play:5, but that speaker sounds identical to the current iteration. Typically priced at a steep $549, Sonos positions the Five as its true hi-fi option for audiophiles and vinyl listeners. (The speaker has an aux input for plugging in a record player and other external audio sources.)
For Cyber Monday, the Five is seeing a rare discount and is 20 percent off, which brings the price to a more palatable $439. How rare? The speaker hasn’t dropped this low since 2020, according to CamelCamelCamel.
Something people occasionally say about Sonos gear is that the hardware is more about convenience than sheer audio performance. But if there’s one product in the lineup that doesn’t compromise on sound, it’s the Five. There are no spatial audio gimmicks here. It’s just a wonderful stereo speaker with clean, tight bass and decent separation — or as much as a single unit can muster, anyway. When placed horizontally, the Five outputs a stereo signal. If you stand it up vertically, the speaker will mix that down to mono.
I’ve always had just one of these speakers on my desk, and it’s been more than enough for my needs. But I’ve also heard many owners attest that linking two of them together as a stereo pair takes things to another level, and the two-pack is also on sale.
I’m not blind to the moment we’re in; Sonos is still working through the giant mess it created by rushing the release of its new app. And if you’re still having a frustrating experience with the software, I wouldn’t blame you one bit for ignoring this deal. But the app has been working fairly well for me recently, which makes this tempting.
And as it turns out, my Play:5 is no longer compatible with the recently released Arc Ultra for use in a surround sound setup. So… I guess planned obsolescence just gave me another reason to think about upgrading, as well. That’s less great! But the Sonos Five works with the new soundbar just fine. And even if an Era 500 is somewhere in the pipeline, that won’t make this speaker sound any less phenomenal.
