What set-up for tunes in kitchen/diner?
Discussion
We will shortly be completing on a new property and moving in. we hope, in November. The place has an amazing kitchen/diner/living area in a room that measures 25'x12'.
I'm only familiar with my old micro hifi I've had for 15 years and we want to install some kind of set up to listen to music but we don't know what to look for.
The place has been recently re-furbished so we don't want to knock it about installing ceiling speakers.
What system would you recommend to 'spread' the sound about the entire room?
Wireless speakers I presume? What would you use to play the music? Our tunes are all on storage now so would it just be played from the laptop/iPad or would you suggest something else?
I've looked at Sonos/Bose etc but unsure if they will be what I'm after so need guidance before we purchase!
Budget around £500 I guess.
I'm only familiar with my old micro hifi I've had for 15 years and we want to install some kind of set up to listen to music but we don't know what to look for.
The place has been recently re-furbished so we don't want to knock it about installing ceiling speakers.
What system would you recommend to 'spread' the sound about the entire room?
Wireless speakers I presume? What would you use to play the music? Our tunes are all on storage now so would it just be played from the laptop/iPad or would you suggest something else?
I've looked at Sonos/Bose etc but unsure if they will be what I'm after so need guidance before we purchase!
Budget around £500 I guess.
Wireless would be the way to go, and you could put two speakers in if you were wanting to ensure sufficient volume to drown out the boring conversations, but one decent speaker is probably more than sufficient.
It could be done under budget, and it could be done for a bit over the budget, depending on which speaker(s) you went for and what you already have as the source – is the laptop a MacBook?
Will you be thinking of putting additional speakers in the bedroom, for example, down the line, or is it just this one room?
Fill in the blanks, and I’ll outline some options.
It could be done under budget, and it could be done for a bit over the budget, depending on which speaker(s) you went for and what you already have as the source – is the laptop a MacBook?
Will you be thinking of putting additional speakers in the bedroom, for example, down the line, or is it just this one room?
Fill in the blanks, and I’ll outline some options.
Edited by PJ S on Thursday 28th September 12:59
PJ S said:
Wireless would be the way to go, and you could put two speakers in if you were wanting to ensure sufficient volume to drown out the boring conversations, but one decent speaker is probably more than sufficient.
It could be done under budget, and it could be done for a bit over the budget, depending on which speaker(s) you went for and what you already have as the source – is the laptop a MacBook?
Will you be thinking of putting additional speakers in the bedroom, for example, down the line, or is it just this one room?
Fill in the blanks, and I’ll outline some options.
The laptop will just be windows, but we could purchase a newer iPad soon. How about a main media source (like a old hifi seperate)? Is that an option? Can you add more speakers to it? The property has another living room so I guess a speaker could go in there as well. Don't think we'd bother with bedrooms.It could be done under budget, and it could be done for a bit over the budget, depending on which speaker(s) you went for and what you already have as the source – is the laptop a MacBook?
Will you be thinking of putting additional speakers in the bedroom, for example, down the line, or is it just this one room?
Fill in the blanks, and I’ll outline some options.
Edited by PJ S on Thursday 28th September 12:59
Do Sonos/Bose fill the room or can you tell where the source is?
Fastchas said:
The laptop will just be windows, but we could purchase a newer iPad soon. How about a main media source (like a old hifi seperate)? Is that an option? Can you add more speakers to it? The property has another living room so I guess a speaker could go in there as well. Don't think we'd bother with bedrooms.
Do Sonos/Bose fill the room or can you tell where the source is?
With a single or a pair of speakers, you’re always going to determine where the sound’s coming from – but how loud are you wanting it to go?Do Sonos/Bose fill the room or can you tell where the source is?
Surely you’re looking for background music with the ability to turn it up without going to nightclub levels?
If you want to listen to more than one song simultaneously in separate rooms, then you’re going to need something like the Denon Heos, Sonus, Naim, or B&O, which have their own app to control the streaming, and a NAS.
If you’re content to use the laptop/iPad(s) to stream locally, then those same ones will also work, but you then have others to choose from, like the Ruark R4, Polk Audio Magnifi Mini (which is a cracker with its separate wireless sub) and discontinued ones like the Loewe AirSpeaker and Nakamichi Dragon Lily, both of which I have.
It’s a bit of a complex subject, and really needs you to spend time with a retailer discussing options, listening to them with your music, and thinking about what you’ll do 6 months or more down the line.
Of course you could just buy what works for now, and then if you fancy distributing sound to multiple rooms, you can sell what you bought (if not compatible) and go for a complete system from Denon or B&O, depending on budget.
The Polk is excellent outright, let alone for its £349 price, but is not a multiroom device.
The Denon Heos 7 is very good and the 1 (iirc) has a battery base option, which means you could have that outside when the weather’s good rather than extension cable, although it wouldn’t have the bass extension the 7 does, obviously. Excellent app too, with individual speaker equalizer.
The Sonus wasn’t bad, but many refer to them as a software company which makes speakers, given their app was the first, and considered the best.
The B&O Beoplay M5 and A6 are not cheap (although you can grab the odd bargain on eBay), but they sound very good indeed, and the app is also very good.
Naim was a mixed bag for me – some good traits and very nice app, but didn’t blow me away. Much the same as the Airplay only (or Bluetooth) Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin – I expected to be wowed, but wasn’t. The Polk was the surprise for me.
The Ruarks are impressive, but are Bluetooth only – no wireless or ethernet port. DAB radio though, and the R4 has a CD mechanism too, and again, not multiroom.
Not sure if I’ve helped or added to your confusion, but as said, go spend a bit of time reading, researching, listening, and thinking, rather than grabbing the first thing that comes to hand.
One thing to note is that Airplay on the iPad will only output to one speaker, something I believe Airplay 2 will address. So if you had two speakers, say like the Loewe or Nakamichi, for the extra volume, you could only have both playing simultaneously from iTunes on the laptop, which you could adjust so that the nearest speaker to someone wasn’t playing as loud.
For me, if I was to do multiroom, I’d go with either the Denon or B&O, and a NAS.
PJ S said:
For me, if I was to do multiroom, I’d go with either the Denon or B&O, and a NAS.
You obviously know your stuff with regard to this, have you ever tried the Yamaha system? Opinions?To me it seemed to offer a lot more versatility compared to the other systems and opens up several options for making existing equipment multiroom / multicast capable. The fact that you could even hook it up to an old hi-fi system play an LP/CD/whatever and then cast this to the rest of your house seemed quite cool? As it's from a established Hi-Fi manufacturer the quality is likely to be quite good too.
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/contents/audio_v...
I wouldn’t go quite that far, but I spent a bit of time relatively recently helping a friend out with a similar quandary.
I didn’t listen to the Yamaha, but the Musicast looks like much the same thing Denon/B&O/Sonus/Naim have done, which can integrate with other analogue hifi components.
The previous reply barely scratches the surface of the wireless landscape, which I why I’ve suggested the OP spends time trying to picture what he wants long term and to visit dealers, so that he has a better understanding of what’s possible and how far down the rabbit hole he wants to venture.
It’d be great if it were possible to encapsulate all that there is to comprehend in a couple of sentences, but unfortunately it’s not.
It’s all the more confusing when you try to fathom out which protocol each brand/model has, and the same for your source(s) – BT, BT with AptX, Airplay, Google Cast, Ethernet (for when your wi-fi is crap or experiencing a lot of pauses during streaming), and not to mention the standards the DAC can accept (16/44.1, 16/48, 24/192).
I didn’t listen to the Yamaha, but the Musicast looks like much the same thing Denon/B&O/Sonus/Naim have done, which can integrate with other analogue hifi components.
The previous reply barely scratches the surface of the wireless landscape, which I why I’ve suggested the OP spends time trying to picture what he wants long term and to visit dealers, so that he has a better understanding of what’s possible and how far down the rabbit hole he wants to venture.
It’d be great if it were possible to encapsulate all that there is to comprehend in a couple of sentences, but unfortunately it’s not.
It’s all the more confusing when you try to fathom out which protocol each brand/model has, and the same for your source(s) – BT, BT with AptX, Airplay, Google Cast, Ethernet (for when your wi-fi is crap or experiencing a lot of pauses during streaming), and not to mention the standards the DAC can accept (16/44.1, 16/48, 24/192).
Edited by PJ S on Thursday 28th September 15:27
I have been looking at a similar scanario recently.
this afternoon I spent a while in a local hi fi shop, having a listen to a few possibles
the cheaper (less expensive) beoplay (M5) not convinced seemed a bit thin compared to similar priced sonos play 5 and naim muso qb
the beoplay a6 was quite smooth, but its a funny shape and I am not sure how it would fit into our room, the A9 was pretty impressive, but out of budget and quite a large item for our room.
back to the naim and sonos, both are decent sounding, maybe the naim edges it.
I haven't fully decided which way to go, I like the look of these: www.teenageengineering.com/products/od-11 but I havent been able to listen to one to date
this afternoon I spent a while in a local hi fi shop, having a listen to a few possibles
the cheaper (less expensive) beoplay (M5) not convinced seemed a bit thin compared to similar priced sonos play 5 and naim muso qb
the beoplay a6 was quite smooth, but its a funny shape and I am not sure how it would fit into our room, the A9 was pretty impressive, but out of budget and quite a large item for our room.
back to the naim and sonos, both are decent sounding, maybe the naim edges it.
I haven't fully decided which way to go, I like the look of these: www.teenageengineering.com/products/od-11 but I havent been able to listen to one to date
PJ S said:
With a single or a pair of speakers, you’re always going to determine where the sound’s coming from – but how loud are you wanting it to go?
Surely you’re looking for background music with the ability to turn it up without going to nightclub levels?
If you want to listen to more than one song simultaneously in separate rooms, then you’re going to need something like the Denon Heos, Sonus, Naim, or B&O, which have their own app to control the streaming, and a NAS.
If you’re content to use the laptop/iPad(s) to stream locally, then those same ones will also work, but you then have others to choose from, like the Ruark R4, Polk Audio Magnifi Mini (which is a cracker with its separate wireless sub) and discontinued ones like the Loewe AirSpeaker and Nakamichi Dragon Lily, both of which I have.
It’s a bit of a complex subject, and really needs you to spend time with a retailer discussing options, listening to them with your music, and thinking about what you’ll do 6 months or more down the line.
Of course you could just buy what works for now, and then if you fancy distributing sound to multiple rooms, you can sell what you bought (if not compatible) and go for a complete system from Denon or B&O, depending on budget.
The Polk is excellent outright, let alone for its £349 price, but is not a multiroom device.
The Denon Heos 7 is very good and the 1 (iirc) has a battery base option, which means you could have that outside when the weather’s good rather than extension cable, although it wouldn’t have the bass extension the 7 does, obviously. Excellent app too, with individual speaker equalizer.
The Sonus wasn’t bad, but many refer to them as a software company which makes speakers, given their app was the first, and considered the best.
The B&O Beoplay M5 and A6 are not cheap (although you can grab the odd bargain on eBay), but they sound very good indeed, and the app is also very good.
Naim was a mixed bag for me – some good traits and very nice app, but didn’t blow me away. Much the same as the Airplay only (or Bluetooth) Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin – I expected to be wowed, but wasn’t. The Polk was the surprise for me.
The Ruarks are impressive, but are Bluetooth only – no wireless or ethernet port. DAB radio though, and the R4 has a CD mechanism too, and again, not multiroom.
Not sure if I’ve helped or added to your confusion, but as said, go spend a bit of time reading, researching, listening, and thinking, rather than grabbing the first thing that comes to hand.
One thing to note is that Airplay on the iPad will only output to one speaker, something I believe Airplay 2 will address. So if you had two speakers, say like the Loewe or Nakamichi, for the extra volume, you could only have both playing simultaneously from iTunes on the laptop, which you could adjust so that the nearest speaker to someone wasn’t playing as loud.
For me, if I was to do multiroom, I’d go with either the Denon or B&O, and a NAS.
Thanks for your comments PJ. I'm well out of my depth here!Surely you’re looking for background music with the ability to turn it up without going to nightclub levels?
If you want to listen to more than one song simultaneously in separate rooms, then you’re going to need something like the Denon Heos, Sonus, Naim, or B&O, which have their own app to control the streaming, and a NAS.
If you’re content to use the laptop/iPad(s) to stream locally, then those same ones will also work, but you then have others to choose from, like the Ruark R4, Polk Audio Magnifi Mini (which is a cracker with its separate wireless sub) and discontinued ones like the Loewe AirSpeaker and Nakamichi Dragon Lily, both of which I have.
It’s a bit of a complex subject, and really needs you to spend time with a retailer discussing options, listening to them with your music, and thinking about what you’ll do 6 months or more down the line.
Of course you could just buy what works for now, and then if you fancy distributing sound to multiple rooms, you can sell what you bought (if not compatible) and go for a complete system from Denon or B&O, depending on budget.
The Polk is excellent outright, let alone for its £349 price, but is not a multiroom device.
The Denon Heos 7 is very good and the 1 (iirc) has a battery base option, which means you could have that outside when the weather’s good rather than extension cable, although it wouldn’t have the bass extension the 7 does, obviously. Excellent app too, with individual speaker equalizer.
The Sonus wasn’t bad, but many refer to them as a software company which makes speakers, given their app was the first, and considered the best.
The B&O Beoplay M5 and A6 are not cheap (although you can grab the odd bargain on eBay), but they sound very good indeed, and the app is also very good.
Naim was a mixed bag for me – some good traits and very nice app, but didn’t blow me away. Much the same as the Airplay only (or Bluetooth) Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin – I expected to be wowed, but wasn’t. The Polk was the surprise for me.
The Ruarks are impressive, but are Bluetooth only – no wireless or ethernet port. DAB radio though, and the R4 has a CD mechanism too, and again, not multiroom.
Not sure if I’ve helped or added to your confusion, but as said, go spend a bit of time reading, researching, listening, and thinking, rather than grabbing the first thing that comes to hand.
One thing to note is that Airplay on the iPad will only output to one speaker, something I believe Airplay 2 will address. So if you had two speakers, say like the Loewe or Nakamichi, for the extra volume, you could only have both playing simultaneously from iTunes on the laptop, which you could adjust so that the nearest speaker to someone wasn’t playing as loud.
For me, if I was to do multiroom, I’d go with either the Denon or B&O, and a NAS.
Looking and trying the Bose/Sonos equipment in John Lewis recently I think they sound excellent and will be ok.
I think it's because we were watching Big Little Lies recently and heard the music being played in one of the beachfront properties and thought 'Mmmm...' !
In my experience you can’t beat Sonos Connect Amps (connected with ethernet cable) and decent ceiling speakers. Yes it’s expensive but the Sonos App in combination with a streaming service like Spotify and a fast internet connection (so you can go nuts on the streaming quality setting) is unbeatable from a usability point of view. In the grand scheme of things it’s peanuts compared to the cost of the house/flat.
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