Need a bluetooth ceiling speaker system

[Blue Oval84]

I'm doing my bathroom out soon and decided that whilst I'm on getting the ceiling butchered for new lights, I may as well get some ceiling speakers. The bathroom isn't exactly massive and will be fully tiled, so I doubt I need anything amazing, but I still want reasonable sound quality.

Has anyone got any recommendations? I've looked at this kit-
http://www.buycleverstuff.co.uk/mando-bt-in-wall-b...

The 2.5" speaker is advertised as being ok for smaller rooms but seems to have mixed reviews. Anyone got any experience of these systems? For the price, they seem hard to beat.

Of course I can't help but wonder if I wouldn't be better off getting something that is upgradeable to extend to other rooms, such as a Sonos system. I'm nervous though as the wifi in my flat is very sketchy due to the concrete construction and I understand these systems are wireless.

Thanks in advance

[VEX]

Have a look at the Keene.co.uk stuff.

They do a Bluetooth receiver and amp in a double gang back box to run in ceiling speakers.

V.

[MrSparks]

Hi, I run a kitchen and bathroom radio site and we sell a lot of the KB Sound kits.

They are good for bathrooms. The main bonus with the KB Sounds is they have a built in radio whereas a lot of other solutions are bluetooth only. (Not the Mando you linked to, that's bluetooth only)

http://kitchenbathroomradio.co.uk/eis-kb-sound-rad...

As Vex says the Keene ones are really good and include an FM radio, not the prettiest but they work well and are more powerful than the KB Sounds.

Our best selling one is easily the Systemline E100 though http://kitchenbathroomradio.co.uk/bathroom-ceiling... it's now IP rated for bathroom and I'm about to list a bathroom specific kit with waterproof speakers.

Also if you're happy for bluetooth only then I've just listed these as well, auto-on bluetooth amp, simple, no controls, just connect phone and stream.

http://kitchenbathroomradio.co.uk/bathroom-ceiling...

As you can see we have loads of different radios, types, budgets etc.. if you want anything in particular or want more advice please feel free to send me a PM.

[astroarcadia]

How does the Systemline E100 compare to a pair of Sonos Play1 for sound quality?

Assume room is 8m x 4m with 2.2m ceiling.

[paulrockliffe]

Do you want Bluetooth? I've got a Logitech Bluetooth box hooked up to a Lepai amp that drives the speakers in my bathroom ceiling (and around the other rooms in the house). I've just added a Chromecast Audio, which seems to work much better from an ease of use point of view.

I've not looked at the cost of those options, but I did my install on the cheap, the speakers were £15 a pair, the amps are similar, and the Logitech box was £20, Chromecasts are £30. Quality of the sound is more than good enough, though I appreciate more expensive speakers would sound a bit better.

I believe the Chromecast platform is due to get multi-room casting eventually, which would potentially give you the same ease of operation as Sonos, without the massive massive costs.

[astroarcadia]

I'm not sure why Sonos is so rated.

Surely some good quality ceiling speakers are preferable assuming you can wire them - which I can given building work.

I have all my music on my iPhone and via a Spotify subscription so all I need are speakers (amplified) and a bluetooth connection?

[MrSparks]

astroarcadia said:

How does the Systemline E100 compare to a pair of Sonos Play1 for sound quality?

Assume room is 8m x 4m with 2.2m ceiling.

I haven't heard a Play 1 but I did have a Play 3. The Systemline kit is better for that size of room in my opinion. Installed speakers in the ceiling give a better sound coverage so it doesn't need to be as loud as a box in the corner of the room.

The Play 3 was good though so I'm not knocking it.

[Blue Oval84]

Thanks for the replies guys, bathroom is very temporarily on hold but I'm going to look into both sets of suggestions.

Mr Sparks - I had actually found your site already whilst googling, pleased that a PH'er is involved

[paulrockliffe]

Chromecast Audio got mult-room a few hours ago. The media that have had early access to the software say it works perfectly with no lag at all. I'm not sure if my Chromecast App or hardware have received the update yet, or whether I can't see the option because there's only one Audio on the network.

The reports read that you can setup a group in the App and then select that when casting. It's not clear whether once a device is in a group you can still access it individually, or whether you can put a device in several groups. It's also not clear whether the press releases only mention the CC Audio because it's an audio-specific feature, or because the TV versions won't support it.

Hopefully multiple groups will be possible as then I can set up quite a few options to quickly select. I realise that multi-casting video is a lot harder, but hopefully the TV device won't be excluded from audio-only sources as it would be good to be able to bounce the sound to my TVs, which have home cinema amps connected.

[paulrockliffe]

Update, new CC App arrived this morning, with the high definition audio option and an adjuster to offset the sound, so it has the support. Looks like it only works with multiple CC Audios though as I can't find a way to create a group, the option is probably hidden as I only have one at the moment, though I can't test that.