Soundbar with Spotify Connect

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Paul1977

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#275739 7-Sep-2020 11:13

I'm wanting to get a soundbar that supports Spotify Connect, but am having a great deal of trouble determining which ones do and which ones don't.

Plenty have built-in Alexa or Google Assistant and say they support Spotify; but I don't want to link it to a specific Spotify account, setup voice control, or control it through a proprietary app.

I just want anyone on our local wifi to be able to connect via the Spotify app using their own Spotify account.

Not interested in bluetooth or AirPlay - am specifically after Spotify Connect capability.

Other requirements are:

Minimum 3.1 channel
Wireless sub
Around the $1,000 mark (so happy to consider anything up to $1300 or $1400 and wait for a good deal).

It will be connecting to an LG TV, but we have a universal remote so I don't think we need to stick with LG.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

EDIT: Also need full 4K passthrough that supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

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#2559948 7-Sep-2020 21:09

Don't get hung up on a centre channel via a 3.1 sound bar - at the $1000 (or around) level, there are massive compromises made and adding more tweeters / drivers and adding them into your budget isn't the be-all-end-all whatsoever.

I haven't heard many sound bars that offer poor dialogue performance...

Handle9

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#2559986 7-Sep-2020 23:02

I have a Yamaha Bar400 (YAS-408). It's 2.1 but the Yamaha Clear Voice feature is very good for dialogue. It ticks your other boxes.

I've been very happy with it.

richms

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#2559994 7-Sep-2020 23:29

All I can say is Not an LG. They abandoned musicflow leaving it basically broken after a software update and then just closed the support forums, closed the homepage, and pretend that they never existed basically. Terrible company for something that should last and also be supported for as long as speakers.

Richard rich.ms

michaelmurfy

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#2559999 8-Sep-2020 00:20

I have a Bose Soundbar 500 which supports Spotify Connect. I also have the bass module with it also.

Has really impressive sound (for a soundbar). Audio is fed through from the TV via HDMI or Toslink.

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Paul1977

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#2560079 8-Sep-2020 09:26

@Dunnersfella I was having more of a look yesterday, and you're probably right about the 3.1. It's for the living room, which is just casual TV watching and music. For movies we have a larger TV in the media room with a wired 5.1 system - so I'm wondering now if we even need a sub woofer for the soundbar in the living room.

@Handle9 I was actually reading up on the the YAS-209 yesterday, which I assume is just this years version of yours. Question: With your YAS-208 can you set it so when watching the TV it's always on surround sound mode, but when streaming via Spotify Connect it always switches to stereo?

My Yamaha receiver does this (just remembers the sound mode per input), so would be good if the sound bar did too.

@michaelmurfy that's another contender I was looking at, good to here it has Spotify Connect. For casual TV viewing and music do you think the sub is a requirement? The 500 soundbar itself is within budget, but the sub would push it over even on special I'd say. Same question for you: With your Bose 500 can you set it so when watching the TV it's always on surround sound mode, but when streaming via Spotify Connect it always switches to stereo?

We just bought a Bose Portable Home Speaker for my partners home based hair salon - we didn't plan it well so hadn't provisioned for power or network port where the speaker will go, and with very limited choices for battery powered speakers that aren't limited to bluetooth we spent more than we wanted to. Would there be any advantage to having the soundbar in the same ecosystem?

Another one that has peaked my interest as one more suited to casual TV watching and music is the Sonos Beam. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks

eracode

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#2560109 8-Sep-2020 10:06

Paul1977:

Another one that has peaked my interest as one more suited to casual TV watching and music is the Sonos Beam. Does anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks

We have a Beam plus 2 Play:3's as front surrounds plus Sub - running from LG C8 OLED. Works well - we love the setup.

We also use this setup a lot for listening to streamed music. The system automatically switches itself between TV audio and streamed music depending on whether the TV is switched on or not. Very simple. The Sonos control app has got better and better in recent years.

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Paul1977

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#2560134 8-Sep-2020 10:44

eracode:

We have a Beam plus 2 Play:3's as front surrounds plus Sub - running from LG C8 OLED. Works well - we love the setup.

We also use this setup a lot for listening to streamed music. The system automatically switches itself between TV audio and streamed music depending on whether the TV is switched on or not. Very simple. The Sonos control app has got better and better in recent years.

Thanks @eracode, and you don't have to manually switch sound processing modes depending on whether you are watching TV or streaming music? For TV we'd want the virtual surround, for music we'd want it to be pure stereo - but don't want to have to manually change it back and fourth.

Do you think the Beam on it's own (no sub or surrounds) would be sufficient for casual TV watching and music?

michaelmurfy

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#2560138 8-Sep-2020 10:46

I had an issue with our bass unit at the beginning of the year (faulty unit) and Bose took it away for diagnostics and replaced it - during this time the bass output from the soundbar itself was more than sufficient which really surprised me. I'd say the bass module is great if you're wanting just that little bit extra or have a larger room but it is not at all a requirement.

Bose stuff does pair together (using the Bose app) much like the Sonos - you basically create a group of speakers which is visible on Spotify. Note, I have not tried this as I don't have any portable speakers. You can also add additional speakers to the setup via the app in the same way as Sonos.

eracode

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#2560146 8-Sep-2020 11:03

Paul1977:

eracode:

We have a Beam plus 2 Play:3's as front surrounds plus Sub - running from LG C8 OLED. Works well - we love the setup.

We also use this setup a lot for listening to streamed music. The system automatically switches itself between TV audio and streamed music depending on whether the TV is switched on or not. Very simple. The Sonos control app has got better and better in recent years.

Thanks @eracode, and you don't have to manually switch sound processing modes depending on whether you are watching TV or streaming music? For TV we'd want the virtual surround, for music we'd want it to be pure stereo - but don't want to have to manually change it back and fourth.

Do you think the Beam on it's own (no sub or surrounds) would be sufficient for casual TV watching and music?

Yep - auto switching TV/streaming works seemlessly.

Can't really answer for certain regarding Beam on it's own - but I'd say 'yes'. If you google and read reviews on the Beam you'll see that it's held in high regard. The new Sonos Arc soundbar (Beam's big brother) rates extremely highly - but is quite expensive.

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/sonos-beam-review/

https://www.cnet.com/news/the-best-soundbar-for-2020-vizio-sonos-polk-yamaha-roku-and-more/

https://www.engadget.com/sonos-arc-review-dolby-atmos-soundbar-010039560.html

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alasta

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#2560162 8-Sep-2020 11:28

I would be careful about listening to music on a system with a subwoofer because it might sound boomy and overbearing. They are better suited to TV sound effects.

I have a Sonos Playbase (unfortunately discontinued) which I use mainly for music, and there is no way I would add the optional subwoofer to it.

eracode

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#2560182 8-Sep-2020 11:47

alasta:

I would be careful about listening to music on a system with a subwoofer because it might sound boomy and overbearing. They are better suited to TV sound effects.

I have a Sonos Playbase (unfortunately discontinued) which I use mainly for music, and there is no way I would add the optional subwoofer to it.

We have the Beam-based setup in one room and a PlayBar-based setup in another - both with Subs as part of the system. Whether they’re necessary is perhaps debatable but Sonos TruePlay tuning takes care of any potential boominess.

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Senecio

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#2560185 8-Sep-2020 11:53

eracode:

We have the Beam-based setup in one room and a PlayBar-based setup in another - both with Subs as part of the system. Whether they’re necessary is perhaps debatable but Sonos TruePlay tuning takes care of any potential boominess.

+1 to this. If you find an audio set-up with a subwoofer to be boomy its likley to be the result of poor matching or calibration. A subwoofer, correctly matched and calibrated can really lift music.

Paul1977

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#2560238 8-Sep-2020 12:22

Thanks guys, very torn now. I think we can do with out the sub, but just don't know between Sonos Beam and Bose Soundar 500.

If we didn't already have the Bose Portable Home Speaker I'd go the Sonos Beam. But if entertaining the Bose makes it easier to sync music to both devices - Soundbar 500 inside and Portable Home Speaker outside.

Dunnersfella

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#2560471 8-Sep-2020 18:56

The Yamaha YAS209 and 408's aren't 'new or old' as such, just different models (even though the 209 came out after the 408).

The 209 is an Alexa 'built in' unit that has Spotify Connect / Tidal / Alexa microphone.

It shares the same amplification and processing as the YAS408, but offers different features (voice control, different control apps etc).

The YAS408 is part of the MusicCast multi-room system that enables you to connect to and share audio (HDMI / optical / coax / RCA/ USB / streaming services etc) between other MusicCast products (Yamaha AVR's / micro systems / streamers / clock radios / speakers / 2-channel amps etc). On top of that you can buy WiFi rear speakers for a surround sound solution.

The YAS209 isn't part of the MusicCast eco-system and doesn't allow for wireless rears... but the YAS408 doesn't have Alexa built in - but you can actually join it into the Alexa eco-system via the MusicCast app.

So yeah... there's that.

I would listen to the bars that sit in your price bracket and go from there.

Handle9

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#2560478 8-Sep-2020 19:03

Paul1977:

I was actually reading up on the the YAS-209 yesterday, which I assume is just this years version of yours. Question: With your YAS-208 can you set it so when watching the TV it's always on surround sound mode, but when streaming via Spotify Connect it always switches to stereo?

My Yamaha receiver does this (just remembers the sound mode per input), so would be good if the sound bar did too.

The YAS-209 is the little brother. The YAS-408 otherwise know as the aka Musiccast BAR400 is the version with streaming and Music Cast, so you can add Musiccast 20s or 50s as rear surrounds if you want. We haven't done this as we have a "real" home theatre for more serious movie watching.

It does seem to hold modes for each input but I don't use the fake surround sound mode really. I wanted good sound quality more than some of the other effects.

I also wanted more of a "swiss army knife" soundbar for my living / dining room that I could use in different situations.

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