I have a couple of Bose Soundtouch 10 Wi-Fi speakers in the kitchen as a stereo pair, that I use for Spotify and TuneIn radio. Bose are bricking much of their functionality including the stereo pair capability. To me it looks like options include Sonos Era 100, WiiM Sound Lite or Denon Home 150 (based on Richer Sounds lineup). These will be located with mains power, but there's no cable routing between the speakers so they'll need to pair via Wi-Fi rather than cabled through an amp / streamer. The only improvement I'm really looking for is being able to Airplay to a stereo pair (Bose will only Airplay to a single speaker).
Anything I'm missing?
Do any Wi-Fi pairs work with Airplay?
Is Sonos still sketchy following the 2024 update carnage? I might also buy a Beam 2 soundbar which might benefit having matching speakers...
Sonos after the aftermath of the awful update a while back have sorted all of the issues and the app now works perfectly as far as I can judge.
I really like my Sonos Era 100s but the system can still a bit flaky IME. I use Tidal and their Android app can connect to Sonos directly, which I prefer to having to go through the Sonos app. But I do use the Sonos app for other things, like Radio Paradise. But the system often gets a bit stuck when going between the two which is a bit annoying sometimes. I suppose it's not fair to lay all of that on the Sonos app though.
Would JBL work for you ? I've got a Flip that I use quite a bit - especially when travelling - they link up to other flips... and last season's isn't that expensive / bad really if you are looking for two..
Flip pairing seems a bit spontaneous and manual. I need something permanent where music just plays in stereo all the time but thanks for the pointer.
sonos work well with Airplay, I use Spotify on the phone and tell it to play through the speakers and rarely touch the Sonos app. The pairing is painless and very easy, which is about the only time I dip into the app. There is a noticeable improvement using them as a stereo pair too.
If you go down the soundbar route then Sonos is the obvious choice, as adding them as surround speakers to the beam is straightforward. Then you can add the sub mini to complete the setup.
The WIIM has vey good reviews and if I was just buying one I might go for that, but the Sonos eco system is still the one that others are trying to match.
I never had a single problem with Sonos, possible because, as above, I generally just use Airplay for streaming music. Even the people who did have issues seem to be OK now I think.
Sonos runs fine these days; the last 9 months or so they've really worked on usability and I'd say it's back to where it was in terms of reliability etc. I'd be inclined to lean towards Sonos, and you may be able to pick some up secondhand - but of course it does (or can) get you hooked into the Sonos ecosystem, which is an expensive habit!
No experience of the wiim soundlite specifically, but I have a few wiim streamers which are largely decent. I did have some problems with random disconnects a while back, but firmware updates and now onto a decent fibre connection with a better router and things have been rock-solid since.
I'm not a fan of the Sonos eco-system at all, but as other have said they have significantly improved since it all went wrong last year.
but of course it does (or can) get you hooked into the Sonos ecosystem, which is an expensive habit!
Yes it can. But make sure you use the 'buy old kit off eBay and trade it in for 40% discount" hack.
I have a Beam 2 with two One SLs, and it sounds really, really good with telly and music. Better than the Arc we have in our other house, although that doesn't have surrounds.
But yeah, I'd recommend, and never had any probs with the app. I only use the app for setting up, then just stream using AirPlay. I never use the inbuilt stations and whatnot, can't see the point.