These sit in different price classes - Sonos Five costs roughly 6.5x what Mackie CR4-XBT does. Expect it to lead on paper; the question is whether the gap is audible enough in your room to be worth it.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Connections | A | Sonos Five adds Wi-Fi and streaming; Mackie CR4-XBT adds Bluetooth. |
| Size | depends | Mackie CR4-XBT is easier to place; Sonos Five is bigger, which usually goes with fuller bass. Your room decides. |
| Expandability | A | Sonos Five: a sub output. |
| Price | B | Mackie CR4-XBT is cheaper - $170 against $1,098, about 85% less; arguably a different class. |
A Sonos Five B Mackie CR4-XBT
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both speakers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
The usual trade-off: Sonos Five measures better, Mackie CR4-XBT costs about about 6.5x the price% less. Whether that gap is worth the money is the call only you can make - and in a normal room it is often smaller than the numbers suggest. In a large or open-plan room, Sonos Five has the cabinet volume to fill it more easily; in a small room, near a wall or at desk distance, Mackie CR4-XBT is the easier speaker to get right. Think about the whole system, not just the speakers: the roughly $928 saved by taking the cheaper pair would buy a subwoofer or a better amplifier, and either usually does more for the sound than the difference between these two.
And remember what a spec sheet cannot show: how each looks in your room and whether the finish suits it, what dealer support and warranty are like where you live, and how they actually sound to you. If you can hear them first - ideally with your own music - that will tell you more than any number above.