Sound quality: Sonos's Five had Very Good overall sound quality. Bass has good impact and goes deep, but is slightly prominent, and lacks a bit of detail. Midrange is fairly even but a bit etched and a touch grainy. Treble has good extension and detail but is a bit prominent and sounds slightly dry. Does a decent job of recovering room ambience but lacks a bit of fine detail. The sound field of this stereo model extends somewhat above and beyond the speaker enclosure and has some depth. Individual instruments and voices can be identified, but have so-so stereo separation and a somewhat two dimensional quality. When two units are used as a stereo pair the midrange is even and a little more relaxed, the treble is a bit less dry and a touch less prominent, and the sound field has good height and width which extends somewhat beyond the outside of the speakers and has some depth. Individual instruments and voices can be identified and have very good spatial separation but still have a somewhat two dimensional quality. The overall score improves into the Excellent range when two units are used as a stereo pair. No significant difference between WiFi and wired sound quality. Provides enough volume to fill a medium to large sized room.
Ease of use: We found the Sonos Five ease of use to be Very Good overall. WiFi setup: Is Good. Follow quick setup guide to connect the unit and install app on mobile device then follow app instructions - good overall. May or may not require exiting app to select Wi-Fi network and return to app to continue setup. DLNA: Setup requires an app downloaded to a device or device connection, easy and somewhat intuitive - need instructions that are included in online user guide. The volume controls are prominent, medium contrast, but ambiguously labeled making it unclear as to their function. Lacks graphical position marking or index of level, but there is an audible indication when max volume is reached. Source selections: Requires app to be installed, app installation is straight forward. Once app is installed switching between sources is fairly intuitive. The app remote is also Very Good overall except must leave app to access local content which is streamed over Airplay on iOS mobile devices.
