streaming speaker - which one? (be gentle with me)
Discussion
OK so once again I turn in desperation to PH for help in getting me out of a pickle.
I've agreed to do the music for a party/knees-up that 20 or so of us do every year. The missis is sorting out some Spotify tunes. My job is to buy a speaker or speakers to stream these through. They need to be reasonably powerful for the party but also capable of producing decent quality sounds at home for the other 51 weekends and 364 days of the year that we'll be there.
The main problems are:
- the missis thinks that Bose is the best
- we live in the sticks and haven't got time to go somewhere where we could listen to stuff, so we'll be buying blind, or deaf I suppose to be accurate.
I've done a good bit of research and spoken to people at Bose, and at Thomann who specialise in PA equipment. As a result of that I've kind of come to the conclusion that the battery or mains Bose S1 Pro + 'gigging' speaker I was thinking might be the answer probably isn't. My fallback idea of a pair of Bose Portable Home Speakers might still be the answer but my worry there is that they might not be loud enough for the party.
The Thomann guy thought there might be a streaming amp that could work with any speaker. At this point I'm starting to panic as I haven't got time to go down that rabbit hole! I need to get something ordered sharpish.
I would be massively grateful for any thoughts.
As in the title I am technologically illiterate so please be patient!
I've agreed to do the music for a party/knees-up that 20 or so of us do every year. The missis is sorting out some Spotify tunes. My job is to buy a speaker or speakers to stream these through. They need to be reasonably powerful for the party but also capable of producing decent quality sounds at home for the other 51 weekends and 364 days of the year that we'll be there.
The main problems are:
- the missis thinks that Bose is the best
- we live in the sticks and haven't got time to go somewhere where we could listen to stuff, so we'll be buying blind, or deaf I suppose to be accurate.
I've done a good bit of research and spoken to people at Bose, and at Thomann who specialise in PA equipment. As a result of that I've kind of come to the conclusion that the battery or mains Bose S1 Pro + 'gigging' speaker I was thinking might be the answer probably isn't. My fallback idea of a pair of Bose Portable Home Speakers might still be the answer but my worry there is that they might not be loud enough for the party.
The Thomann guy thought there might be a streaming amp that could work with any speaker. At this point I'm starting to panic as I haven't got time to go down that rabbit hole! I need to get something ordered sharpish.
I would be massively grateful for any thoughts.
As in the title I am technologically illiterate so please be patient!
I can't help with your hardware enquiry, but be aware the quality of tracks varies on Spotify, they are not all the same fidelity. Some stuff will sound lame whatever you play it through. I learnt this running some Spotify music through a Bluetooth music unit at an outdoor event a couple of weeks ago. Some of it was fine, some of it was pathetic.
Skodillac said:
I can't help with your hardware enquiry, but be aware the quality of tracks varies on Spotify, they are not all the same fidelity. Some stuff will sound lame whatever you play it through. I learnt this running some Spotify music through a Bluetooth music unit at an outdoor event a couple of weeks ago. Some of it was fine, some of it was pathetic.
Thanks for your thoughts. That fidelity part I guess I'm not so worried about at the party. When we're at home which is where the gear will be used 99.995% of the time we'll just shrug our shoulders and carry on to the next track. The Bose S1 Pro + appeals as a one-box solution but at £550 it feels a bit overqualified for what we want and maybe might not be so good sound wise at home. Though in truth of course I've got no idea as I've never listened to one. I’ve got a couple of S1pros, great for parties, not so good for general home use. They’re PA speakers, not hi fi.
Sonos Move is a good shout, if you need battery power. how loud do you need to be? what sort of area do you need to fill with music?
You can buy Bluetooth adaptors that connect to a line in on any speaker/hifi, that might be worth a look.
Sonos Move is a good shout, if you need battery power. how loud do you need to be? what sort of area do you need to fill with music?
You can buy Bluetooth adaptors that connect to a line in on any speaker/hifi, that might be worth a look.
B&W Zeppelin is a brilliant machine. The streaming version is a bit pricey but comes very well recommended.
https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
Are you looking at multiple speakers throughout the house or just in your lounge? If the latter then many TV surround sound systems and sound bars can used as a streaming speaker. I play music via Alexa on my LG soundbar but much better systems are available. If you already ahve a decent surround sound system can it take an auxiliary input from something like a Wiim pro?
RizzoTheRat said:
Are you looking at multiple speakers throughout the house or just in your lounge? If the latter then many TV surround sound systems and sound bars can used as a streaming speaker. I play music via Alexa on my LG soundbar but much better systems are available. If you already ahve a decent surround sound system can it take an auxiliary input from something like a Wiim pro?
You're losing me now. I'm old and ignorant. What I do know is that we don't have a surround system or anything really apart from that single Sonos One unit that we play the radio through. I'm seeing this project as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The two birds being (1) the party at the end of next week and (2) the chance to bump up our domestic sounds, which would mainly be via Spotify playlists I imagine, along with the radio. The problem is I don't know what the stone is. I thought it might be that Bose S1 Pro + but now I'm not so sure. I might end up being forced into buying one for the lack of any other ideas.
Junglebert said:
I ve got a couple of S1pros, great for parties, not so good for general home use. They re PA speakers, not hi fi.
Sonos Move is a good shout, if you need battery power. how loud do you need to be? what sort of area do you need to fill with music?
You can buy Bluetooth adaptors that connect to a line in on any speaker/hifi, that might be worth a look.
It's a rented 10-bedroom house for the party, with a typical living/dining area for that size of house that we clear for dancing. We have no speakers at present, just the Sonos One. Sonos Move is a good shout, if you need battery power. how loud do you need to be? what sort of area do you need to fill with music?
You can buy Bluetooth adaptors that connect to a line in on any speaker/hifi, that might be worth a look.
Panamax said:
B&W Zeppelin is a brilliant machine. The streaming version is a bit pricey but comes very well recommended.
https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
Would that be powerful enough though?https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
Blackpuddin said:
Panamax said:
B&W Zeppelin is a brilliant machine. The streaming version is a bit pricey but comes very well recommended.
https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
Would that be powerful enough though?https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
toon10 said:
Blackpuddin said:
Panamax said:
B&W Zeppelin is a brilliant machine. The streaming version is a bit pricey but comes very well recommended.
https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
Would that be powerful enough though?https://www.whathifi.com/speakers/wireless-speaker...
If Bose did a speaker that had the power of the S1 Pro + PA speaker along with the 'Bose sound' my task would be easy but they don't offer that, their range is either massively expensive 'pro' stuff or stuff that seems too small, with nothing in between for the home user.
CharlesElliott said:
Given you have Sonos already, an Era 300 or 5, assuming you can plug it in.
The 5 does AirPlay so you could stream from an Apple Phone / tablet. Era 300 does Airplay and Bluetooth, so you can stream from almost anything.
When you take it home, you can add it to your Sonos network.
Yes these were the first non-Bose suggestions I made to the missis. The 300 would do it for me I think and I could get two of them for under £800.The 5 does AirPlay so you could stream from an Apple Phone / tablet. Era 300 does Airplay and Bluetooth, so you can stream from almost anything.
When you take it home, you can add it to your Sonos network.
CharlesElliott said:
very interesting thank you for that linkGassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff