Home Music Device RFI

[rob_s]

If “listening to music” is an activity for you in and of itself, disregard the below. If music is just the background track for a life, read on.

I’ve been tinkering with “plug-n-play” wireless home audio for a bit now. At this point I would avoid receiver/speakers like the plague. Far too much fiddle-fuck, wiring, etc.

I also wouldn’t rely solely on Bluetooth again either. Just when you think you’re good, you wander out of range with your phone, or the battery in the phone you decided to dedicate to your “system” dies, or whatever.

I would first suggest that you decide on the wireless system you want to live in. The three main ones are going to be Sonos (pretty much totally proprietary and most expensive, but also easiest plug-n-play), google home (least stable, but most accessible/cheapest) and Apple AirPlay (it’s Apple). I’m currently on google home with Spotify, but I wish I had just stuck with Airplay, although at the time I was getting us set up you couldn’t AirPlay to multiple devices. Now you can, and we already have an Apple TV hooked up to every Tv in the house (with a sound bar on every tv) so it would make the most sense today.

[Bratch]

We went the Amazon route and have various Echo devices around the house. They aren’t the best for a true audiophile but for casual listening are sufficient. Occasionally a speaker will glitch out but it’s always been fixed with unplugging.

We do all of our listening through Amazon music so that is seamless.

I like that I can create various groups of speakers. The two groups with the most use are the whole house and backyard+kitchen.