Morning folks,

Decided the other day that I would like to replace my current hifi system with something a bit more modern. I would basically like to be able to control it from my phone/tablet. This would mean I could stream music from Spotify, switch radio stations, control volume, select which room to have speakers on etc.
Was thinking of something like this http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/hi-fi-systems/cmt-sx7-cmt-sx7b
Anyone got any good suggestions? Cheaper than above would be good!

Thanks

Pretty much any connected system will do this sort of thing in one way or another.

I have a Marantz AV amp that you can get an app for. It’s quite handy.

Look at if it has Airplay compatibility if you have an iPhone. Not sure what the android equivalent is, but I expect there is one.

I would get into Richer sounds & demo a few.

You could use your existing system and ‘smart’ it with a chrome audio dongle.

Same as jim – I have a Marantz that will use Airplay and Spotify Connect.
Doesn’t even have to on but will sit on the network and start when you send the stream to it.
App, full internet radio and loads more.

Chromecast audio and your existing stereo.

Better sound than Bluetooth, cheaper than a “decent” BT module and a better range. And if you get 2 or 3, you can “cast” the same music to multiple stereos.

Not used my Bluetooth modules since I got the chromecast.

Only downside is that it’s set up for streaming, rather than playing your locally stored music. I think there’s some apps working on that side of things though.

If you want a self contained unit then this looks pretty good.
Marantz Melody Stream

It’s got Spotify Connect built in and can be controlled from an app..

I’ve got an older version with a CD player (remember them?) and I use a Gramofon to stream Spotify to it over WiFi…. It’s got enough power to run a pair of floorstanding speakers.

The switching radio stations and volume control should be on every system these days.

Be careful of the switching rooms thing with that Sony – you’ll almost certainly need additional (more money…) equipment to do that. And that unit will probably not have different speaker terminals for different sets of speakers (if you’re thinking you could run speakers A in one room and speakers B in another).

To be honest a cheapie system with a Chrome hifi dongle in the back would probably cover you for what you want (albeit without the multiroom bit).

Check out the Marantz mentioned, or its sister, the Denon Piccolo which should be had for less than that Sony.

Ceertainly the BS-ometer peaked when I read about the Sony ‘upscaling’ your MP3s to HQ quality…

Thanks folks, will investigate chrome dongle thing and have a look at some of the other options you mention.

Denon Ceol Piccolo works well, biggest pain has been that it doesn’t have a tuner – all radio is streamed off the internet. That’s good if it’s something in another country that you couldn’t get otherwise but it means that your BBC radio stations are at the mercy of your home wifi & internet connection. We ended up going to a regular DAB-based Denon for the kitchen/diner as regular interruptions was driving my wife nuts.

Airplay works well on the Piccolo, but bear in mind with Airplay that you can only do a stream to a single system/room at a time from a phone – to do multiroom it needs to from Mac/PC.

If proper multiroom is what you want, controlled from phone/tablet, then Sonus is really the only major player.

Massive fan of the Chromecast Audio too – if you can find them on offer for £15 too then all the better (I ended up with 3). Great device.

Naim Mu-so Qb, getting some good reviews:

Qb Review in What Hi-Fi

Disclaimer – I work for Naim 🙂

What about one of these?

http://www.trustedreviews.com/tangent-ampster-x4-review

To be honest a cheapie system with a Chrome hifi dongle in the back would probably cover you for what you want (albeit without the multiroom bit).

I’d say its perfect for the multiroom bit. If someone’s after multiroom playing, it’s likely they’ve already got one or two systems already. The chromecast allows you to link up what you’ve already got, rather than getting rid and replacing with an expensive integrated system.

speakers to suit budget and a decent t-class amp for the room that you don’t have a system for already.