Sonos all day over here. Not bluetooth but wifi instead. Great sound.
Does a standard Chromecast (which seems to be the same price) support Spotify? It’s going to connect to the AV Receiver anyway, so it doesn’t matter that it is HDMI connection rather than toslink.
I've got the original Chromecast and that's exactly what I do. It supports HDMI-CEC too, so you just cast to it and it'll automatically power up the receiver and switch it over to the correct input.
Standard Chromecast won't be any use on an older amp without an HDMI in though, you'll need the audio one.
I've got an Anker Soundcore of some sort, for it's size, price and portability it's great, but wouldn't want to use it all the time as my main source of music.
I'm fully bought into Sonos for indoors.
I have had a Chromecast audio for a couple of years, linked to a Denon DAB micro system. It has never worked well with BT Infinity Wifi and others have had problems too, having looked into a year or so back. I have just now ordered one of those neet bluetooth thingys linked on the last page.....hoping for seamless connectivity, which will be the exact opposite of my experiences with the Chromecast !
Also have one of the wee Bose water resistant speakers for out and about and holiday houses - great bit of kit, though a bit bashed after junior took it on a piss up party in the forest a few months back 🙁
Audio pro 3 or 5
Ikea Eneby
Great value! The small one can run on a built in battery, and sounds good. The larger one is mains only and sounds very good. If you're ok with the aesthetic, go listen.
I bought a sony xb21 today, it's much better than I thought it would be for its size, though I had to turn the extra bass mode off.
But bought the missus the Marshall ‘Kilburn’ portable one for her birthday … the sound is just immense!!
Is that at 11?
…decent … sound quality.
I see. 🤔
🙄 Stock response from the local hifi guru.
UE Boom. Marvellous, shock proof, waterproof,16 hours battery and good sound. One of my best audio purchases.
My neet one arrived yesterday, however in frustration I factory reset my Chromecast Audio and it’s now working perfectly 😊. Will hang off a week or 2 before returning the neet to Amazon...
Sony SRS-XB21.
£70ish and very very good. Much better than my previous JAM Heavy Metal.
People really don't read threads do they?
XBS 21 was recently acquired passing through Luton airport for £60. It makes an ok noise (for its size) with lots of bass on one setting. Perfect for the shower as it's water resistant and plays for 10 hours on one charge.
An Anker Soundcore 2 dropped through the letterbox this morning on the back of the above recommendations, and I am much impressed - thanks for the info! 🙂
Having spent some time researching various wireless options the technology isn't quite what I expected
Seems be two options.
Blue tooth from phone tablet etc. This is what I use. The down sides are that in theory the old style bluetooth isn't that great for ending quality sound. You get interrupted by calls etc.</span>
So i thought I'd look at wifi with say Chromecast (Or Sonos etc.). This gets round the above problems. Sound quality is higher the phone is just a remote etc. But you loose iplayer radio app compatibility. As that is about half of our use that knocked that on the head
with a speaker the size of a can of beer loss of sound quality from bluetooth shouldn't be too high on your list of worries....
I however use very expensive directional bluetooth
I however use very expensive directional bluetooth
Poverty spec, bi-bluetoothing is where it's at nowadays.
So i thought I’d look at wifi with say Chromecast (Or Sonos etc.). This gets round the above problems. Sound quality is higher the phone is just a remote etc. But you loose iplayer radio app compatibility. As that is about half of our use that knocked that on the head
Chromecast works with iPlayer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/chromecast-ipr
Open up the iplayer app on your phone - look for the Chromecast icon in to right hand corner (small rectangle with 3 diagonal lines)
Jobs a good one
Another Anker SoundCore motion B here. Apparently if you get two they pair as left/right stereo speakers.
Funnily enough looking at this myself at the moment. Yes, I have a hifi but this is for the casual listening anywhere in the house (mostly for Mrs BC) to play from her phone or ipad that's going to sound a lot better than the built in speakers. Looking at that balance between good sound quality and convenience. Not convinced by the UE devices personally as they come across a bit bass heavy / bordering on a bit woolly. Hadn't really seen them before but noticed that the Audio Pro boxes are getting good reviews so might look at them. Always interesting to catch others experiences though
We got a UE Boom 2 in the black friday sale. Perfect for my rocking out whilst cooking in the kitchen
