If you are looking for a powerful speaker that can serve just any multimedia and entertainment need, from listening to music, watching movies, to even playing video games, then you certainly have heard about Denon Heos 5 and Sonos Play 5. For a very long time, Sonos Play 5 has been an extremely popular product on the market, as it is among the very first products that specialize in the particular field. On the other hand, Denon Heos 5 is a recent contender to Sonos Play 5’s dominance, quickly capturing a lot of attention from potential buyers. Denon Heos 5 is also slightly cheaper than Sonos Play 5. Which one should you choose?
One of the most vital factors in choosing for the right speaker is of course the audio performance. We don’t want something that sounds like garbage. Well, neither of these models is like that; in fact, both sound great. However, we must admit that Sonos Play 5 sounds quite more powerful and richer than Denon Heos 5. Comparing the specifications, this is because Sonos Play 5 is armed with a lot of arms; Sonos Play 5 features six class-D digital amplifiers, three tweeters, and three dedicated mid-woofers. It simply sounds awesome. The amps are perfectly tuned to match the drivers and acoustic architecture, creating crisp and extremely accurate high-frequency response along with deep, solid, and rich bass. As a comparison, Denon Heos 5 only has four amp channels, two tweeters, and two woofers. The audio performance is excellent, but still not as good as Sonos Play 5. Take a look: Bose SoundTouch 30 Vs Sonos Play 5.
Besides having outstanding audio performance, Sonos Play 5 also offers neat and cool features. It can integrate with another Sonos Play 5 speaker and work together as a stereo system, one as the left channel and one as the right channel. This will allow you to create an immersive audio experience. Also, it can work with other Sonos Play devices to create a 5.1 home theater system. Denon Heos 5 can also work with other Denon Heos devices to make a smart audio system.
Sonos Play 5 has built-in Wi-Fi connectivity with 2.4 GHz signal channel. It also has an Ethernet port with 100 Mbps of maximum data transfer rate.
Denon Heos 5 is quite richer in connectivity than Sonos Play 5 as it comes with built-in Wi-Fi that has two signal channels, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. It also has Bluetooth, an Ethernet jack, one 3.5mm audio line-in, and a USB port for direct connection to stored music.
Features - High resolution audio support (new to this series) - Bluetooth® integrated (new to this series) - Amazing sound from a stylish right-sized form factor - Two custom-designed tweeters, mid-woofers and a passive radiator powered by four dedicated Class-D amplifiers; handle allows easy portability wherever you need great sound - Stream from your favorite music service such as Amazon Prime Music, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, SoundCloud, TIDAL and Rhapsody on your free HEOS App for IOS, Android or Kindle device - Six smartly synchronized drivers deliver the purest, deepest, most vibrant sound. - Trueplay tuning delivers sound that's true to the music and right for the room. - Uses your Wi-Fi to wirelessly stream the music you love, including Amazon Prime Music - Control all your music and streaming services from a single app (on your smartphone, tablet or computer). - Audio line-in auto-detecting 3.5mm audio line-in connection.
All in all, if you mainly rely on the wireless connection, then you should choose Sonos Play 5. The audio performance is very much exceptional, and the unique features will allow you to create an immersive audio system. But, if you don’t mind to compromise a little of audio performance for more connection ports, then Denon Heos 5 makes the fullest value for your money.