When I was his age in 1985 it was a Matsui mini getto-blaster cassette/radio type affair, + a walkman.

What’s the modern equivalent?

My collection is all CDs which are all ripped to Itunes and mirrored over to Google Play music if that makes any difference.

Get him/her a record deck ,a half decent amp ,speakers& some vinyl!
Or some ridiculously overpriced headphones.

My lad has music on his laptop and mobile via spotify.
Could also do the ipad spotify/Deezer route.
A fixed monthly amount allows him to access music on the go and I share the plan as does the wife so we all use spotify for £9.99 a month.

Sadly,

Isn’t the answer here “iPhone”?

Ours are 9 and 13, iPhones and logins to the family Spotify Premium works well. It can get a bit heated when the main HiFi (with Chromecast audio) goes into competition with the Bluetooth Soundbar/woofer 😀

Sigh… He had a phone (£50 Nokia) and lost it.

My two aged aged 8 & 12 have Sonos Play 1’s.

Phone/tablet here, access to the NAS with all the music on it plus Bluetooth speaker and headphones. For long car journeys he can download to the phone.

Headphones or you will have to listen to it

Sigh… He had a phone (£50 Nokia) and lost it.

They do that at that age… 😆

A free sub to spotify, and a tablet that doesn’t leave the house.

My 3 girls all use nothing but Spotify now. Headphones a must (they use them 95% of the time) but they also have a Cambridge audio Bluetooth speaker each.
Don’t spend to much on headphones as they will only break or lose them.
There’s just too much music out there to be buying it.
Boys requirements might be different though.

My collection is all CDs which are all ripped to Itunes and mirrored over to Google Play music if that makes any difference

Is he really going to listen to your music?

For out and about, just buy a Sandisk Clip for £20, and load it up with MP3s.

For getting music, aren’t all of the cool kids using Pirate Bay etc…

Sonos 1 x 2 actually a pretty good shout, as I have an 8y/o too.

Any better deals than £300 for a pair at John Lewis?

Don’t forget you need a controller for Sonos, smart phone, iPod or tablet.

Great kit though.

Chromecast Audio with your choice of plug in speakers could work well for streaming from Google Play. You’ll still need a smart device to control.

Chromecast Audio and Harman Kardon soundsticks would be a great setup for £120.

Yes, we have a Tesco hudle and soon to get a kindle fire (neither of which leave the house) so that should be fine.

I had a chromecast plugged into the sitting room hifi but it was a v. poor experience. The connection between the hudle and the chromecast kept dropping out and sometimes wouldn’t initiate in the first place. I replaced it with the good old CD player!

I have used Sonos at a friends house and it was flawless.

Is £300 a good deal for a pair of 1s?

Chromecast audio works perfectly here with various tablets, iPhones etc. Great idea and seamless result.

10K rig. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGRt2_tX-JI

Spotify premium and a device to use it with. He won’t need anything else for a long time. He’ll discover a shed load of new music/artists and have the social side of it as well.

I have Sonos and Chromecast (for video). Both are rock solid and flawless with no dropouts.

If you are getting dropouts with Chromecast it may be a router issue that you may see with Sonos too. Maybe borrow a mates to try with your router.

£299 is what you’ll pay. Pricing is very static with very few deals about.

Would be a very good setup and a pair sound great, I love my setup and Play 1 the most likely impressive for the size. Sonos is expensive though and only really shines in value for money in multi room systems in my opinion. Needs a power plug by each speaker location which is a consideration.

Spotify, tablet and bluetooth speaker

Option B, if they’re into electronics like I was at that age is some really basic but quality secondhand seperates.

You could pick something like a Rotel 930AX, a NAD 3020 and a set of classic B+W DM110’s all up for the same money, I bet.

Whack a line in jack and youve covered all the bases while also letting them learn a bit about the gear, stimulating the interest in electronics (wire it all up together) and I bet it will make a Bluetooth speaker sound like a fart in a can…

Bonus-each part can be replaced if damaged.