You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
So we’ve now got our house “for life” and it comes with a big social kitchen, I was going to get a Sonos as at the moment just use a Google home and let’s be honest the speakers are not good for music.
My issue is yes I listen to spotify but also YouTube audio and recently other music sources through my phone via bluetooth, so can anyone suggest a good solid speaker rather than a Sonos? Has to be similar size to a Sonos too, just can’t see the point in getting one when I can’t stream the Dave Pearce music to it which I always have on while cooking!!
Minirig?
Lots of people like AudioPro stuff also, they must have something that will do the trick
Where do you stream Dave Pearce from. Are the latest Sonos not Google cast/airplay/Alexa enabled?
AudioPro
Denon
Yamaha
etc...
All the decent brands have options at varying budgets. If you feel flush look at KEF
I bette follow it up with I don’t just listen to Dave Pearce, it could be Billy talent, the National, Prince... but DP gets me fired up for cooking!
MarkyG, it’s usually from my iPhone or iPad, missus has an android phone, no I can’t get YouTube music to play through the Google home and the main reason for changing is it’s a “mini” and we want proper sound in the kitchen, impressive bass and sound which after hearing it the Sonos does deliver, but it has to be used with its own App which is the main drawback for me
Someone else who has heard of Billy Talent? 👋🏽
Ha totally Eddie, amazing band!
My brother has a Sonos and also recently bought the Bose that’s similar but said he couldn’t hear any sound quality improvements for the increased price of the Bose!
In the spirit of Singletrackworld.com I'll recommend what I have - Marantz amp, Bluetooth plug in thingy and a pair of B&W 602 S3 - top notch sound, especially when you turn up a tune for kitchen disco.
How about an apple home pod thingy, supposed to be good and tunes it self to the room.
Not sure about the Android bit though.
Naim Muso QB
For our last place we had some Q Acoustic BT3 speakers (that came recommended from someone on here), with a Chromecast Audio.
Good sound and seemed very versatile, allowing playback from any device via Bluetooth, Aux, or connecting over WiFi via the Chromecast.
New place has Sonos built in which is great as it is throughout the house but seems much less useful as can't easily get a Bluetooth connection or aux input to play via YouTube or BBC sounds catch up.
Will be selling the BT3s and Chromecast if you are interested and in the South East then let me know.
I just got a Roberts 320 for a surprise Christmas gift to replace the Denon Envaya mini I had that died eventually.
I had been looking before the missus bought me it and was actually looking at the Dali Katch which is a chunk dearer than what I got and had great reviews (plus I have Dali stand alone speakers for my main system). So the Dali may be a good shout. I also looked at the Technics Ottava Sc30 and Sc50 as there were some on offer at big discounts (prob for a good reason). Anyway Peter Tyson have the SC50 in white reduced from 699 to 299 so that might be worth a look too?
The Roberts by the way is very good. It’s basic in that it pretty much just streams but the sound is great. The 330 gets EQ and other inputs.
I got a couple of google nest audio, the new yins. pretty decent sound out of them when paired as a stereo pair, 2 of them for 140 quid was decent a month back. Not sure how they compare for the audiophiles amoung us, but I'm happy with the sound anyhow.
Stereo is a must imo, single speakers just don't cut it at all for me.
People are probably fed up with me mentioning this, but you could get a Raspberry PI with a DAC HAT (about £80 all in) and run Volumio software on it.
Then connect it to active speakers and play music from a phone/device via airplay for the best quality. Not sure how Android works with Airplay though.
The Pi is easy to set up and consumes so little energy you can leave it on hidden away all the time.
Very low cost and high quality audio streamer.
Audio Pro Addon C5 for the win. I have also got a large kitchen/social area and use the C5 in that room and 3 more C5's throughout the house.
+1 for Raspberry Pi, if you don't mind faff. I have an Allo DigOne HAT on one that gives digital output to respectable hi-fi standard, and then a couple of others around the house that are straight audio out off the board (so total cost £40 each).
I went for the PiCorePlayer OS for flexibility and was already familiar with the Squeezebox system but it is quite a bit more faffy than Volumio and others.
If you have space for a pair then Edifiers. Prices from about £130 1280s with blue tooth
Oh, and Edifier R1280DB are banging for the money, ~£110
Active Bluetooth speakers that don’t look cack.
Wow lots of information there, the pi solution or multiple speakers are not possible really as just want the one speaker. I have a pi myself but simplicity is the key as fiancée is an absolute technophobe and is better at radiography than figuring out why something has stopped connecting etc!!
The audio pro’s look possible, it’s whether they can be used how id want to use them. So if I was watching a YT video the audio comes out of it than a mobile device
Audio Pro Addon C5 for the win. I have also got a large kitchen/social area and use the C5 in that room and 3 more C5’s throughout the house.
Can’t beat the Audio Pro koala face speakers for price vs music quality. They win loads of awards for a reason. The C5a with AMZ Alexa is currently on sale at Currys. I’m toying with getting another one to make a stereo pair. The C10, bigger one, sort of equivalent to a Sonos 5 is also on sale for less than the C5.
Sound preference is down to the individual to a degree, but I’ve owned Sonos and Bose and the Audio Pro speakers wipe the floor with them from a sound and number of inputs perspective. They look quirky though. I love the aesthetics but ymmv.
Google Home Max is a pretty capable speaker, if you're already using it elsewhere.
What was the reason for not getting a Sonos?
You can play stuff from your phone through it easy enough
Not clear if compatibility with your wife's phone is a necessity or not, but Apple Homepods sound bloody amazing (originals not Minis).
To add a twist to the familiar theme of recommending what tou have, I'll recommend what I'd like - if we were in the market to upgrade, it would be Audio Pro fo shizzle.
+1 for a pair of Edifer bluetooth speakers. £89 on Amazon, and they fill our kitchen with decent sound.And a proper stereo pair as well.
funkmasterp
The C10, bigger one, sort of equivalent to a Sonos 5 is also on sale for less than the C5.
Thought I'd go for this and Currys have them for 150... except you cant buy them.