Recommend me a stereo for the kitchen...

[Zetec-S]

Not looking for anything fancy, just something to listen to while cooking. Not after Bose quality sound, but want something loud enough to be heard over extractor fans, etc. The main criteria:

- Compact as we don't have much worktop space
- FM Radio (DAB preferable but not essential)
- iphone compatible, although I don't like the idea of a docking station as I worry it will become obsolete (we have a docking station with a 30-pin connection which we can no longer use (even with a lightning adaptor). I guess a USB connection would be good as it would allow other devices to be connected, or Bluetooth (if that's any good)?
- budget £50-£100 max

Any suggestions?

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Sonos

[hyphen]

Zetec-S said:

- Compact as we don't have much worktop space
- budget £50-£100 max

Any suggestions?

Bluetooth speaker to pair with your phone may give you the most for that budget.

[C0ffin D0dger]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Sonos

Cheaper alternative (though £110): https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio_visual/des...

[lostnfound]

I bought an Amazon Echo for exactly this job. The voice control is handy especially in the kitchen as well as all the other things it can do.

[TartanPaint]

lostnfound said:

I bought an Amazon Echo for exactly this job. The voice control is handy especially in the kitchen as well as all the other things it can do.

+1

[Frenchda]

TartanPaint said:

lostnfound said:

I bought an Amazon Echo for exactly this job. The voice control is handy especially in the kitchen as well as all the other things it can do.

+1

When paired with a music provider (I use Spotify) they work brilliantly and also tunedin radio gives thousands of stations. Just tell it to play something and on it comes. Volume controlled by voice so if washing up/cooking you do not need to touch anything. Shopping lists easy to add, timers for cooking etc even recipes.

The only downside is do not be tempted by the initial purchase price, by the time you have become addicted the the home automation stuff it will cost you at least a zillion pounds for bulbs, heating controls, plugs etc!

[Bullett]

Another for the Echo, that exactly what I use mine for.
Voice control
Built in Spotify/Amazon Prime/Amazon unlimited for music.
Radio apps
Timers "Alexa, set a timer for 15 minutes"
And bluetooth if you need it.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Can the Echo play music you have stored locally i.e. off a DLNA server, Plex etc.?

[Bullett]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Can the Echo play music you have stored locally i.e. off a DLNA server, Plex etc.?

Not found a way to do that directly as yet but I have played stuff from my NAS via ipeng/squeezebox to my echo via bluetooth which I accept is a bit convoluted.

[dmsims]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Sonos

Where can I buy that for £50-£100 ?

[Zetec-S]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. We've talked about getting an Echo in the past, so I'm thinking of upping our budget and going for one as it seems to tick all the boxes. £15 off at the moment as well

[AC43]

I've got an Echo and a Bose Mini Sound Link and the Bose wins hands down in the kitchen, mainly becuse the audio quality is so much better. If you crank the Echo up it sounds pretty awful IMHO.

Also I find having to repeat some instructions over and over again plus all the pausing and waiting for the thing to try and explain back to you what youve said massively annoying.

It's far easier to fire up Spotify on your phone and do a text=based seach to quickly find EXACTLY the artist/genre/playlist/mix/radio station you.

Then you've got Tune In radio, BBC iPlayer radio and various podcast clients.

Finally, unlike the Echo. the Bose is portable so you can take it round the house, into the garden of off on holiday.

The Echo, meanwhile. is gathering dust somewhere upstairs.

[troc]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Sonos

+1

(the answer is always Sonos )

[dmsims]

troc said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Sonos

+1

(the answer is always Sonos )

Where can I buy that for £50-£100 ?

[troc]

dmsims said:

Where can I buy that for £50-£100 ?

I know the OP had a specific budget and he's had some sensible and decent suggestions within that budget but I have yet to try anything which ended up being as user-friendly as SONOS. I've tried almost everything and the only system which resulted in the household listening to music/radio etc almost all the time rather than sparingly, was SONOS.

[h0b0]

Outside of budget but I have an echo dot with a pair of B&O blue tooth speakers. Best of both worlds because I can tell Alexa to put on music or send music from my phone. Speakers were $200 a pair.

[thebraketester]

dmsims said:

troc said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Sonos

+1

(the answer is always Sonos )

Where can I buy that for £50-£100 ?

I don't like the sonus app. Not a fan.

[AndrewCrown]

You could perhaps try and find a used Revo Heritage. Internet,DAB, USB etc etc... lovely sound, superbly made and looks great. Later ones have spotify compatibility.

[TameRacingDriver]

Just bought one of these Sumvision Psyc Monic bluetooth speakers for less than £40 on Amazon. Its absolutely tiny, but the sound it produces is scarcely believable for the size of it and price, it is seriously one of the best VFM bits of audio equipment I have ever bought. You couldn't go wrong with this IMO.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C49GVZM/ref...