[Closed] Sonos speaker alternative (Bluetooth)

My Audio Pro speaker is great.

Where and how are you using the speaker? Permanently sited? You could always get some digital speakers (stereo pair) with Bluetooth? Struggling to remember the bands that always get a mention, but Edifier are up there, I think.

Sonos Roam does Bluetooth.

Any of the modern ones do Airplay if you’re on Apple, no need for Bluetooth and can do the stuff like YouTube videos.

AudioPro all the way. Swapped my Sonos speakers for them a few years back. Sound quality, in my opinion, is way better. The app is awful but I use Spotify Connect to avoid it.

Way below your budget, but following a recommendation on here before Christmas, I got 2 x Google Nest audio smart speakers.  I have set them up as a Stereo pair.  Its not audiophile level, but it sounds pretty good to my old ears and all the smart features are great too.  You can use bluetooth, but they default to working via WiFi which seems much more robust and reliable than bluetooth to me.

Sonos are about to realise a new Rosm SL £180

Yes Stumpy it’ll have one home, just in the kitchen. Ahh okay so with AudioPro do you need the app then to connect as that likely won’t suit. Just need to be able to choose the Bluetooth device and connect.

We have a small google smart speaker and it’s just not good quality at all so it’s that that I’m looking to improve.

Interesting I’ll have a look at the roam thank you. I was very impressed with the sound from my brothers Sonos Play from about 5 years ago but it needed the app. Then he got the Bose equivalent and it’s not as impressive which was a big surprise!!

We have a small google smart speaker and it’s just not good quality at all so it’s that that I’m looking to improve.

Which one do you have?  If it's the mini, the Nest audio is much better and better still when you pair two of them.

Just checked but the Sonos Roam looks way too small, I’m not looking for portable, needs to give impressive bass and overall really full sound.

Yes bloke it’s the £20 jobby, there’s only going to be one place for one rather than two but thank you. I can imagine it’s much better so will bear in mind

Ahh now then, I’ve discovered wifi speakers. We’ve got a mesh network, I’d be happy to hear from anyone with a wifi speaker to see if they’d provide the functionality. Something like the AudioPro C3 or C5

For your budget, I’d buy an amp and speakers. Tangent Ampster BT and whatever bookshelf speakers you can find within budget. It’s an excellent amp.

My missus is a Bose fan girl and recently bought a Bose 500 for £290. Plenty of critics eulogise its sound quality, but we’ve yet to push it and don’t have any other similar speakers to compare it with.

I still prefer old school amps and multi-speaker setups but also want to be minimalist.

I think YT isn’t supported via BT but does work via Airplay on Apple devices.

You get little bluetooth enabled power amps on eBay/Amazon. Various names, my dad has one called Fosi Audio. They are about £25 and sound great. You could spend another £200 on some second hand bookshelf speakers (some Kef Q series ones for example), some stands/wall mounts and some cables and you would have a very nice system. The amps have an aux inpout for other things too (TV etc)

Sonos Roam does Bluetooth.

My mum has a Roam and it’s pretty mediocre tbh (I’ve only tried it in BT mode). Lacking bass and clarity.

My JBL Flip 5 is better.

And I am a Sonos fan, just not the Roam.

I don’t have any useful suggestions but I’d be looking at some active bookshelf speakers or even a small amp & speakers.

Thanks an amp/bookshelf speakers are out of the question really as it’s for a kitchen.

The audiopro C5 looks great and after reading up in it it has wifi and Bluetooth as an option which could be ideal. Might have to get a demo of one from richer sounds to bring around the missus as last time she wasn’t too keen on the looks…. She’s a bass fiend though so if it sounds right could possibly be swayed!

The Sonos Move fits your needs but may be too expensive. I like the Roam for travel and the like, it did help that I had 30% discount kicking around in my Sonos account though. Not sure why they had bothered to bring out the SL which has less features and is only £20 less.

Does the sonos you have already have an aux in?
The Amazon echo plug thing we have plugged into proper stereos, and that has Bluetooth.

My missus is a Bose fan girl and recently bought a Bose 500 for £290

I have had 2 Bose Soundtouch 10's for years (at least 8) and find them very good. Software can be a bit rubbish now and again but the sound is good. Brother has Sonos and he has as many problems with them.

Separate amp and speakers no question! Tiny amp hung under a kitchen wall cabinet and small speakers on top of the wall units. Not only will it sound better you will also be future proof and be able to use the components for different things should your needs change. And anyway, who wants to look at poxy kitchen units when you could be looking at lovely hi-fi bits...

in true STW stylee, I'll recommend what I have. A Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i.

Admittedly, not cheap for a 'kitchen' speaker, but I can't handle poxy speakers and it's surprisingly good in terms of sound quality and connects to everything we use (Spotify - kids, Tidal - me, and will do BT). I have two of them in a stereo pair in the kitchen, and use the BluOS app to control it (which I like).

Couple of Ultimate Ears Wonderboom Bluetooth speakers? Well inside your budget, waterproof (not sure if that is needed?) can be set up as L/R pair and sound quality way beyond what you'd expect.
Was going to recommend Q Acoustic Bluetooth actives or a B&W Zeppelin, but i maybe underestimated just how much they cost......................

You can get two Sonos compatible Ikea Symphonisk for less than your budget - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/wi-fi-speakers-46194/

Heos by Denon range is good. We have a Heos 3 speaker which is connected to our wireless network, but can also connect via Bluetooth to phones etc. Decent sound quality, easy to set up. Playback from Spotify is easy.

I read that Apple may release a new version of their HomePod this year. Not what the OP asked for, but this is STW after all.

Audio Pro would be my choice.

Slight hijack.

Anyone tried living with a BT dongle to stream from a phone to an existing amp & speakers in an old separates system?

Just thought I’d update this so me and my female went into Richer Sounds the other week and they demo’d us the Denon and also the AudioPro C3 as they didn’t have any C5’s…

Both VERY impressed with the AudioPro and although the Denon was impressive it couldn’t match the C3, so came home and bought the C5 and extremely impressed with it!

Worth noting the T version is Bluetooth only and I think portable, whereas the C version has Bluetooth and wifi which is what I wanted and is mains powered just to clarify in case anyone else was looking.

Don’t delay, buy today they’re a hell of a speaker for the money and size, what’s impressed me most is the depth of the bass for the size of a 25cm wide box, a fancy looking box at that!

C5 worth the extra over the C3 from what I've heard with my ears if you are going Audiopro

Totally agree, C3 was really good but bigger is usually louder. Also rather than the T, they were saying with the C’a because they’re not portable so don’t have any bluetooth chip etc the space is utilised more for the speaker and ancillaries inside

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Dali Katch is worth keeping an eye out for deals on. 320 last time I looked, and it seems they keep a pretty close eye on retail prices. But you never know.

Sounds great, though!

Audio Pro C5 - Sound quality is excellent, as others have mentioned the app could be better.

Which model is Bluetooth, WiFi and battery powered?

I have a BT5 for my home office and it's great but sadly mains powered only

Separate amp and speakers no question!

Or at least active speakers and a separate streaming device. Sonos royally screwed their customers by making their new models incompatible with the older ones (and I've never got on that well with their interface although you can now just use Spotify).

I've got amps and speakers that still sound great that are well over 30 years old. One of them has a £6 eBay BT adaptor added to it, the office amp/speakers connect to the computer. bedroom radio has an apple airport and the living room an Apple TV. Added benefit is manual controls and DAB radio so you can use them without faffing with a phone.

'whole house audio' always seems like a great idea but in reality (and I've spent a load of time and effort putting it together in two homes with completely different kit) you use it incredibly rarely. The same audio in adjacent rooms, yes, but even then it's easier and less faff to use (if you can) to do with a cable and line out/line in or just a second set of speakers.

Elshalimo I think it was the T series that are Bluetooth. I got the C as I wasn’t bothered about it being wired.

I love it btw, sound is so good for where it is. Would only ever be able to be one item we got, no things such as separates as there isn’t the room as it’s on top of a cupboard, anyway the sound is very full and my brother who’s had the older Sonos and the recent Bose, is still impressed by this 👍

Possibly left field, but if you can stretch the budget a touch something like a Naim Muso QB off secondhand/ebay?

What do people think of the C10 ?

HK Citation One. £50ish on eBay. Can be paired for stereo sound. Will play anything from the connected device. I tell mine to play Worldwide FM most of time. Marvellous!