[Closed] Anything better for the job ? Stereo.

Why does it need to be BT; I'm assuming the speakers will be wired to the unit/an amplifier anyway? Or are you wanting to play music via a computer/phone/other source?

If that's the case, then I'd consider something with Wi-Fi connectivity, as I've generally found BT-only systems to be compromised in terms of audio quality apart from the very expensive higher end ones. The Denon you mention seems to not have Wi-Fi connectivity, whereas this Yamaha unit does:

https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/wireless-streaming-separates/yamaha-crxn470d-blk.html

Not helpful to you, maybe, but I have a couple of Apple Homepods around the house, including one in the kitchen, and for the money, they blow pretty much everything else away. Especially Sonos stuff, which in my opinion and experience, is vastly overhyped and disappointing. Not to mention grossly overpriced.

I want to stream from my phone on occasion.

Be that my personal music collection on sd or Spotify or YouTube or any other source.

I've no interest in navigating through menus to get to some kind of WiFi mode. And I definantly don't want It on my network. The routers enough of a sod at the best of times.

I want to replicate what's on my phone speaker on the stereo on the occasion I use it.mostly it'll be background dab while in the room

Hence why I'm not set on spending 300 quid on an m41 just yet as I don't need super high quality. I went for the speakers I did as again it's hard to find roof mounts that ain't Xmas cracker quality. I looked at some in Screwfix and didn't even leave the shop before i returned them

See a couple of Panasonic stereos at around 100-160 quid that might fit the bill

Used mini stereo and and a blue tooth adapter to an aux input?

"I don’t need super high quality. I went for the speakers I did as again it’s hard to find roof mounts that ain’t Xmas cracker quality"

Confusing. You've gone to the trouble of sourcing and installing reasonable quality speakers, yet aren't too bothered about sound quality? I get you; 'Hi-Fi' sound isn't your priority, but then why not just get a cheap $50 or so BT speaker? Or look on Ebay; plenty of old Denon M40s etc on there, for your £100-£160 price range.

Confusing. You’ve gone to the trouble of sourcing and installing reasonable quality speakers,

Quality isn't just about sound quality though.

Hacking sizable holes in your celing is a pain to sort if you end up having to change them all the time.

The first set I picked up thinking I'd fit them were horrible quality I didn't expect they would last.

I have an m40 in the living room it doesn't have Bluetooth although that with a Bluetooth module would fit the bill.

but then why not just get a cheap $50 or so BT speaker?

What we have ATM. As well as a pure one for dab trying to consolidate and integrate and generally tidy things up in kitchen/utility

"Quality isn’t just about sound quality though."

What is it about, then?

"What we have ATM. As well as a pure one for dab trying to consolidate and integrate and generally tidy things up in kitchen/utility"

I just use the Homepods in other rooms, and play music etc via a device. Takes a couple of minutes to set up each Homepod, then it's as easy as simply selecting the sound output in exactly the same way you would if connecting to a BT speaker. Only with much better sound quality. And far less faff than installing ceiling speakers. But that's not what you want to hear, I accept that; you've already invested time, money and effort into installing those ceiling speakers. Have fun.

If it’s on top of the fridge why does it need to be stereo? Wouldn’t be without my HomePod in the kitchen now, tiny, sounds decent, very reasonably priced IMO, plays everything I want, no remote to lose, handy for timers etc.

Lol I knew when I posted this it would digress to smart tech.

Experience tells me that I'll spend as much time faffing with it when I want to use it as I will using it to the point I'm no longer willing to spend my cash on it.

I got fed up of that so just went back a couple of steps and sticking with the slightly dated but works for me.

So what I'm looking for is a stereo that isn't made of tat . And so far it's looking like the Denon is the starter point for that these days.

If it’s on top of the fridge why does it need to be stereo?

I wouldn't think that having a mono feeding two speakers (which are not on top of the fridge) would be all that effective.

I've got a denon dm41 in the office, it's a great bit of kit not that I've much to compare it with. I was going to suggest a yamaha musiccast speaker (crap at musiccast but great as a bt speaker) but you've already got the speakers & just want something to power them by the sounds of it

I’d you just want an amp with BT from phone, the Tangent Ampster from Richer Sounds is very good. Has source selection from a normal remote. Son 1 has one driving decent bookshelf speakers. They do other components too.

https://www.richersounds.com/tangent-ampster-bt-mkii.html

Are you on commission tired.

I don't need that tangent system

But boy does it look neat and the dimensions are almost built for the space I have.

I'd need the ampster2 and the dab tuner 2 -dont want to stream radio from the phone all the time.

Looks like i can get set up for about 20 quid more than the Denon which is about the same as the Denon and an extra remote.

No, and I have some nice kit myself 🙂 . I bought one for my son, and have just been so impressed with it! It is really neat. I plan on testing it driving a set of Sonus Fabers. Just for fun. When I bought his, it was £120 and I though a steal. I connected a SONOS to it. next will be a SONOS Amp to see how that performs.

seems to get glowing reviews so in a quick turn around decision mrs T-R bought us an ampster 2 for my birthday found one for 150.

Much more pallatable to do it in stages - get nice sound to go with the nice quality.

next will be a SONOS Amp to see how that performs.

I'll tell you now; I've tried loads of Sonos stuff, even owned a couple of bits. And tried a plethora of other kit. For the money, there are so many much better options. The Yamaha WXA-50 sounds noticeably better than the Sonos Amp, and is nearly half the price (and has better functionality). For the price of the Sonos Amp, you could spend just a little more and get a Quad Vena 2, which will blow the Sonos Amp out of the water (overkill for something like those ceiling speakers though, you'd really want to be pairing it with some proper floorstanders to really enjoy it). Or you could add something like the Yamaha WXAD-10, to a decent basic amplifier, and achieve much better results than the Sonos.

no silver bullet but an alternative to the Denon would be the Yamaha RN303D receiver.

Has DAB, decent sound/power, remote, can be streamed to using Spotify and BT. For streaming it needs to be on your home network though, which you weren't keen on. I have one in the garage.

About the same price as the Denon (£300) but more powerful. No CD though obviously.

I bought an ampster.

Is it over kill. Yes .

The wake off Bluetooth and the remote IR sealed it for me for my intended use between the two rooms.

I'll pick up a dab 2 unit over time. If Mrs t-r complains long enough about having to use her phone 🙂

pairing it with some proper floorstanders to really enjoy it)

I’m happy with the SonUs Faber Concertino speakers and REL subwoofer. Perhaps overkill for Sonos Amp, but short of my Class A biased music fidelity, and old QUAD 303, I don’t get too excited by amplification. Source yes, speakers most definitely. Amp, less so. Convenience, yea please! Sad 😔 know.

I hears ya. Is your MF amp an A1? Or A100? Everybody I knew who had those (they were very popular in the 90s), had problems with them (largely overheating leading to component failure). The A1 was particularly bad;a friend had one that went in 3 times for servicing, only to go pop again within a short time. He ended up actually throwing it in the bin. Summed up a lot of British hi-fi kit of that era; lovely sound, but crap build quality (trying to keep prices down to compete with Japanese kit). I went for an Audiolab pre-power setup, as it's very simple electronics, not the most amazing amp ever, but plenty of power, and very reliable (my pre-amp has a slightly buzzing transformer that needs sorting, common issue on the 8000A, but it's been working like that for many years now).

I think you'd be disappointed with a Sonos Amp. I was. I consider it about 3x overpriced. It's a pretty bog standard amp, in fancy packaging, with the Sonos brand. I put it in the same category as stuff like Bose, Beats by Dre, etc; 'lifestyle' products. That said, I'm an Apple cult member. 😀 The Homepod sounded much better than any of the Sonos wireless speakers, and as good as stuff costing a lot more. Amazing, actually. I'd been trialling some Sonos Play speakers (One, 3 and 5); they went straight back once I'd heard the Homepod. I wouldn't call it 'hi-fi', but the best bang for your buck for a small wireless home speaker. Being in the Apple walled garden does mean things 'just work' though, it has to be said. The Sonos app needed sorting several times.

Well my speakers are wired in and fitted to the roof. They may not be the best on paper or even close to my dalis but they beat the shit out of what I had in here.

The ampster still hadn't arrived so I hooked up my old Denon from the living room

Speakers work exactly as I wanted and put the sound exactly where I want.

Ampster due next week.

For some reason, I confused Trail Rat with TiRed. Not sure why. Good to see you're closer to a solution anyway, Trail Rat. I've considered ceiling speakers in our kitchen, but then realised it would be a load of hard work, for little real benefit. So sticking with the Homepod. Less is more.