Sonos or other Wireless Speaker

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networkn

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#277323 7-Oct-2020 20:58

My Sony Ethernet/Wireless/Bluetooth/USB speaker has been problematic for a while and I have decided to flick it on and replace it.

I am keen to find something that ideally has all the same connectivity, and if it's mains powered then that would be good as well. It will sit in one place usually.

I really value sound quality, but I don't want to spend the earth as it gets relatively little use. So I don't want rubbish, but I don't want to spend the earth as well.

Sonos come to mind, but I need to be able to "cast" or Airplay to it easily and I don't want something that suddenly goes obselete.

Not sure on budget, but certainly under $500.

It's not a huge room, (Master Bedroom) but I do want something that can produce a reasonable volume.

I'd up my budget if I could get a built in alarm and FM radio as well as then I could replace 2 units with 1.

I don't need to to have assistants built in, or if it does, I want to be able to disable it, as I have another unit for that already.

Not sure if I should consider second hand?

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#2580917 7-Oct-2020 21:01

What music service are you using?

Is Bluetooth really needed?

Stu1

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#2580918 7-Oct-2020 21:06

I love my Sonos airplay, Spotify Apple Music , the SL is good without the assistant or you can just switch off the mic on the play one .

networkn

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#2580921 7-Oct-2020 21:13

I'd like Bluetooth, just gives that extra layer of flexibility, though I don't want BT only.

Handle9

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#2580926 7-Oct-2020 21:24

networkn:

I'd like Bluetooth, just gives that extra layer of flexibility, though I don't want BT only.

That pretty much knocks Sonos out.

Maybe something like a Yamaha Musiccast 20 or 50? I'm not sure what they go for in NZ, here the Musicast 20 around $400. They will become the speaker for your Alexa devices as well.

That or an Echo Show 8 which covers all the requirements around alarm clocks etc. The sound is fine without being amazing and gets plenty loud. It's what we have in our master bedroom to cover this use case.

networkn

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#2580973 7-Oct-2020 23:14

Handle9:

That or an Echo Show 8 which covers all the requirements around alarm clocks etc. The sound is fine without being amazing and gets plenty loud. It's what we have in our master bedroom to cover this use case.

That's a great idea actually. I think there are higher fidelity versions of the Show now as well, or addons, and still probably cheaper than the Sonos Move which ticks most but not all the cases.

Allows me to get rid of the clock radio and can stick the echo from our room into one of the kids room.

Dunnersfella

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#2580983 8-Oct-2020 00:37

The Yamaha doesn't have assistants built in, but you can tie in an Alexa eco-system / Apples Homekit etc if need be... I use Siri shortcuts on my MusicCast 50.

It also has alarms... but only one per day - making it useless as a clock radio unless you're programming its functionality through shortcuts on iOS etc.

Handle9

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#2581004 8-Oct-2020 03:38

networkn:

Handle9:

That or an Echo Show 8 which covers all the requirements around alarm clocks etc. The sound is fine without being amazing and gets plenty loud. It's what we have in our master bedroom to cover this use case.

That's a great idea actually. I think there are higher fidelity versions of the Show now as well, or addons, and still probably cheaper than the Sonos Move which ticks most but not all the cases.

Allows me to get rid of the clock radio and can stick the echo from our room into one of the kids room.

Wait until prime day, there's bound to be a deal on the Echo shows. Only the Show 5 deal is announced at the moment but there will be a deal for sure on the Show 8.

eracode

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#2581006 8-Oct-2020 03:41

Handle9:

networkn:

I'd like Bluetooth, just gives that extra layer of flexibility, though I don't want BT only.

That pretty much knocks Sonos out.

Not quite sure what you mean here - Sonos is knocked out because he wants BT?

Sonos Move has the usual Sonos WiFi connectivity plus BT - their only speaker that has BT. Also has AirPlay 2 and Alexa. The sound quality and volume from it are brilliant IMO - easily fills a large room. You can take it anywhere in the house and it has up to 11 hours battery life. Sits on an ‘invisible’ base to charge. Originally came in black - white model added recently. Two can be set up as a stereo pair.

https://www.sonos.com/en-nz/shop/move.html

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Handle9

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#2581033 8-Oct-2020 08:08

eracode:
Not quite sure what you mean here - Sonos is knocked out because he wants BT?

OP wanted BT and under $500.

Overpriced and fugly weren't necessarily mentioned as being disqualifying but they would be for me 😉.

alasta

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#2581040 8-Oct-2020 08:35

I have recently replaced my Bose equipment with Sonos and I am very happy with the product.

As others have pointed out you are going to have to up your budget to $750 for the Sonos Move to satisfy all of your criteria, or go with the cheaper Sonos One which lacks battery power and bluetooth. Note that the Sonos app allows you to schedule stations on Tune-in Radio as alarms, so you can use it as a clock radio even though it lacks an FM tuner.

Are you planning to use it for music or just podcasts/talk radio? I would be surprised if there is anything on the market under $500 that would deliver sufficient fidelity for music listening - at the very least you would want to buy two Sonos Ones and set them up as a stereo pair.

networkn

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#2581063 8-Oct-2020 09:39

I might go and have a look at the Move. It's well over budget, but potentially I can sell some other stuff as some of the other house hold stuff would become redundant.

I managed to get my echo spot to wake me this morning to an Auckland Radio station, so that's positive.

Zeon

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#2581072 8-Oct-2020 09:48

I got 2x Denon Heos speakers for $199 during the Smith City closing down. They are really good and have wifi, ethernet and bluetooth. You can group them together too which is quite cool. Runs from 12v - 20v DC input so can run from mains or plug maybe a USB-C power bank in with it if you want to use on the move. They also have an official battery base too.

Something like this perhaps to use a power bank?

https://www.amazon.com/Cablecc-Adapter-Emulator-Trigger-4-01-3mm/dp/B07W5M54PV

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Dunnersfella

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#2581481 8-Oct-2020 16:03

Those old model HEOS come in 2 x varieties... Gen 1 (no Bluetooth but an adaptor required) and Gen 2 (high-res capable and built-in WiFi).

The original battery basses were recalled for, um, catching fire issues.

I don't know if those HEOS speakers are made to be fair, they have re-branded somewhat and call them Denon Home... they are far pricier.

timbosan

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#2581483 8-Oct-2020 16:08

If your an Apple user, what about a HomePod? It has BT 5.0 as well. Just not officially available in NZ.

[edit] You mention an alarm, a HomePod can do this (just like most other Apple products). And it can act as a speakerphone, calls are transferred by simply tapping an iPhone to the top of the HomePod

networkn

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#2582735 11-Oct-2020 20:45

I don't have much Apple Gear and don't feel inclined to go down that route.

I'll see if I can Audition a HEOS, they look good.

I've upped my budget as I think I can remove some redundancy from my equipment by going to something like the move which would also be portable, though this is not a primary requirement. Now looking at a Max budget of $750 but only for something really special.

Has anyone experience with the AudioPro ? They seem to be very highly rated.

I am leaning to toward something I can connect my Amazon Echo Spot in our bedroom to, so I can use it as a replacement to the radio we wake up to, though I am concerned about the speaker not being set to the correct input if it ends up being used by casting from spotify or something else.

Given it's our alarm clock, I don't really want it to be unreliable.

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