I’m looking for something to get some decent music in my home office, I’d rather not wear my headphones all day.
Initially I thought about a set of second hand bookshelf speakers and either an old amp or maybe one of these chinese class D amplifiers.
But then I saw a review of the Ikea Symfonisk and started to wonder about those as they’re on sale at the moment.
I’m looking for a good ‘full’ sound, which I think i’d probably get from a couple of decent bookshelf speakers either side of my desk, but I’m not sure if i’d get that from the ikea jobby.
I’ve got a bose Soundlink mini II and want to improve on this. I’m just not convinced that the Ikea thing will be?

Do you have any other streaming system stuff at home to consider aside from the Soundlink? I’ve bought 2 Yamaha WX-021 to act as a stereo pair, but I have other MusicCast stuff around. They sound good, but not as good as the Ruark MR1mk2’s I have hooked up to a Yamaha WXAD10 in the kitchen.

I tried Sonos, but the app was horrible so I returned it.

I’ve not tried the ikea stuff, but it relies on Sonos doesn’t it?

Like tellies, I think you’re best separating the ‘smart’ bit from the ‘speaker’ bit, because sooner or later the ‘smart’ bit will stop being supported (look what Sonos have done with their older kit).

Plus, decent separate speakers always, always (usually 🙂 ) sound better than single ones. So, amp, speakers and a separate method of getting the music from your phone to e.g. Chromecast Audio, Bluetooth or even (shock!) a cable from the headphone jack.

The ikea stuff is good but it’s Sonos. Bought some as we’ve a load of Sonos kit. Good sound but the app does get on my tits somewhat. But then so do many things.

One of these? https://www.whathifi.com/audio-pro/addon-c10/review

I had the exact same need, I ended up with an echo link amp and a pair of monitor audio bronze 1 speakers. Sounds lovely, if you don’t need the echo integration (I chose this as it can join whole-house music) – the yamaha wxa-50 seems like an excellent little thing too. I imagine the quality of either would way out-do the ikea stuff.

The speakers are end-of-line so way under half price from most places, they sound pretty close to the bronze 20s, same components just in a smaller chassis

I have a single Ikea speaker and quite a few Sonos Play 1’s The Sonos ones sound better in my opinion.

ruark mr1 mk2 are absolutely brilliant if you’ve got 300 odd quid to spend and space is limited. if you want a bit more ooomph (you might not need it), add a BK Gemini II sub later. its a worthy addition IMO.

i have some old M-audio Bronze – still use em, still brilliant (I run em through a Denon microsystem that’s old too, with another BK Gemini). but they’re too big to sit on a desk. Some crazy prices at the moment so might be worth getting some anyway!

What’s your budget?
If you want a full sound, you usually need to go bigger or more expensive. Ruarks are great little speakers but you can get that full sound for cheaper with bigger pairs.

Worth looking at other active speakers (or powered passive) speakers rather than a separate AMP & speaker combo.

and some bookshelf speakers. Bluetooth, USB and Aux in.

It says Nobsound on it.

but they’re too big to sit on a desk.

the bronze 1’s are pretty small (26x16x20cm) – I have them on the windowsill just above\behind my desk. Anything else in the range is much too big, I’d agree

aye true, depends on the size of the desk I guess!

i have about five pairs of speakers already, i don’t need more, but the price they’re currently going for i’m talking myself into it…

Assuming you have a streaming account on a phone, all you need is a Lepy LP-2020A (or similar), a pair of reasonable bookshelf speakers, speaker interconnects and a 3.5mm jack to 2xRCA lead.

The above little set-up sounds great.

Richer Sounds are doing Mordaunt Short M10 (Black) for £69.

https://www.edifier.com/int/en/speakers/studio-1280t-2.0-powered-bookshelf

Powered bookshelf speakers?

I had similar requirements and went for a set of Q Acoustics BT3, I also beefed them up with a Q Acoustics subwoofer which was probably overkill but have been very happy with them.

Aux, optical, Bluetooth and WiFi / multiroom via Chromecast Dongle.

Moving house in next few weeks and they will no longer be required. Was planning on putting them on eBay once moved but let me know if the are of any interest. Surrey /London.

+1 for DS link, I have a Lepy and its great.

Big fan of the little AudioPro speakers. Big sound for little box.

personally, I like these https://store.google.com/product/google_home_max_speaker

Couple of them definitely fill the room. Often on sale (at £200). Sounds very good.

These are also very good https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/gbr/en/products/yoyo/yoyo-m, but bluetooth only, rather than wireless.

Pioneer SP-BS22-LR standmount loudspeaker review

With a class D amp – check out Topping or SMSL.

Should get you awesome sound on a budget…

I have 4 of the IKEA speakers in a 1000sq.ft space. They are very impressive for the money, plenty loud enough and the sound quality (to me, a non-audiophile) is very good. I reckon you’d have to spend a significant amount more money to get better.

I’d agree that the SONOS software is a bit klunky though, but once the music is playing you can just use the Spotify app. Also it’s annoying not to be able to play whatever you want, it’s only certain apps that are supported.

My audiophile father in law donated me a pair of old but OK speakers that he had recently replaced, paired them with a little amp like Derek_Starship above that cost 20 quid from amazon. Have one input from the back of my TV so all my consoles, Blu ray etc and another that feeds into a phono streao jack to plug into phones etc. I might add a spare echo Dot. All in really good sound for buttons.

The speakers in my little set-up arwe Gale 3010S (discontinued) which were £40 new from Richer. A pre-owned pair should cost peanuts.

+1 for Audio Pro.

I’ve got 2 x A10‘a and the sub and it’s made working from the spare bedroom for the last 4 months significantly more bearable. Sound quality is excellent and if you buy the multi room stuff you can add to it should you wish.

They had some end of line stuff on their outlet store not long back and if you sign up to their emails they regularly send out discount codes.

Blimey, that’s a lot of replies!

So, I feel the general gist is to go for the amp and speakers route. I’ll be playing from my phone but I have a Cyrus Soundkey that I use for my headphones, so will probably just use that to connect to the amp. Wireless stuff isn’t a necessity as my phone will be sat next to the amplifier anyway.

The review of the Pioneers looked great, and said that they’re AU$200, but when i’ve looked they’re actually AU$479, but then the review was from 7 years ago.
I’ll have a search around and see if I can find some monitor audio bronze series, but i’m keen to go second hand.

Also some good tips on the amps.

Thanks all!

I’m been looking for something small for my office for a while. I missed the AudioPro Outlet sale recently.

I noticed that Currys are selling the BT5 for £70 last night so I ordered it. I’ll let you know if it’s any good.

I just want to listen to Radio 6 or music from my phone or FiiO player but space is tight.

(look what Sonos have done with their older kit).

They actually backed down on their killing of older kit, they support it still now but “may not add new features” as they add them to the newer speakers.

If you don’t want to put it all over a house then I wouldn’t get Sonos for a single speaker.

I went down a different route and bought a B&W zepplin air – big sound for the space it takes up

I now use it as a sound bar for the TV aswell – it really makes a difference to the enjoyment of films etc rather than the weedy sound from the tv

There are different versions of the Zepplin – the non air version could be good and connect with a lead – much cheaper!

I’m a big fan of my Bose Companion 20s. They sit either side of my monitor on a small desk I stream radio from my iPhone via the headphone and use the speakers for computer audio too. I use a webcam for microphone input and keep the laptop stored away on a docking station. The iPhone has demonstrably. Enter sound than the laptop headphone socket.

I’m not a Bose fanboy in any way, but these speakers had a good review from What HiFi and other Traditional Bose haterZ. Not the cheapest for what they are, but I like them.

Elsewhere I have sonos and sonus faber posh stuff.

The ikea stuff is good but it’s Sonos. Bought some as we’ve a load of Sonos kit. Good sound but the app does get on my tits somewhat. But then so do many things.

Yes, the Sonos App itself is truly awful, luckily we never use it as we use Spotify and its App, which is much better, just talks to the Sonuses directlty.

@TiRed – apologies but when I read the “sonus faber posh stuff” it made me think of this…

😉

https://twitter.com/TheFastShow1/status/1077985644809543682

+1 for these https://www.edifier.com/int/en/speakers/studio-1280t-2.0-powered-bookshelf

Reason i choose these was the various input option I have them connected to my TV, PC, PS4 and phone and just switch between them with the remote.

Just marking for future, don’t mind me.

Good info on this thread. It got me thinking and I moved my Ruark MR1 MK1 from the kitchen onto my desk this morning and connect via Bluetooth to the laptop and desktop. The main thing I noticed is the sound changes massively depending on whether I’m typing or reclining back in the chair, with the typing position sounding quite harsh but when reclining the sound is a lot warmer.

Anyway, the problem I’ve got now is what to put in the kitchen? I’m thinking either The MK2 Ruark’s or a pair of Sonos Ones in a stereo pair. The Ruark’s go on the window so have quite a narrow gap between them and because of the power outlets I have the left and right the wrong way, but I don’t think that makes a significant difference. The Ruark MK1’s were also a bit of a pain connecting to Bluetooth but it looks like the MK2 are much better in this area. The Sonos would be about 10 feet apart so in theory should fill the room better. Any advice?

Richer Sounds are doing Mordaunt Short M10 (Black) for £69.

I’m still using a pair of MS15s from 1987….

Ooh, I found the pioneers for au$250. Bargain, I’ll order them on Monday.
Just need to find a class d amp that’s not shipping from china now!

Big fan of the little AudioPro speakers. Big sound for little box.

+2

I’ve got a pair of T20 powered Bluetooth speakers, they sound lovely – £300 reduced from £600 in the outlet web store. I’ll possibly be adding the Addon sub at some point

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2jrX55h]2020-08-01_02-50-14[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

There’s a Yamaha a320 going cheap on eBay. Would that be better than a Chinese class d?

https://hifi-express.com/ Or https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/

Why the hate for the Sonos app? I have no issues with it.

Not just the T20’s that I’ve got, but I just can’t see past a decent pair of powered Bluetooth speakers at the moment. No need for restrictive Sonos unless you are wanting multi room. I think audio Pro have multi room options anyway

The T20’s have a 2 X 60w class D amp, Bluetooth (obviously) aux and 2 X optical inputs. I think the sub is a 150w class D if I add that

Switching between computer, Alexa, or phone is simple too