Man of Honour
I've tested today in my lounge (2x play 5 plus sub) and when the sub is toggled off under room settings - lounge - advanced audio it does send the bass back to the play 5s. I can tell because if I turn the sub on but its level right down, there's no bass at all.
Same experience before the system readjusts when I switch the sub off at the socket.
The Play 5s actually hit the low notes on Pendulum's Showdown track on their own too! But not with the same impact as the sub....
I also find Trueplay reduces the bass as my play 5s are on the floor in corners, so I manually turn up the level in the sub settings sometimes.
I think for the play 1/3 the sub is handy to add depth, and it helps the 5 at higher volumes. But with the Playbar it's to add some fun to movies and let the Playbar be a good centre speaker.
The Sonos system as a whole isn't as good as my separates system (which isn't special, B&W 600 series front/centre/rear speakers, cheap Onkyo amp and an old REL sub), but it's darn close, wife-friendly and awesome for parties! Which is why that system is relegated to another room in stereo form only
(but with a Sonos connect!)
