all round wireless speaker?

johannis

We are currently looking at getting a decent wireless speaker for home use, ideally it would be something that could bluetooth to a PC or a smartphone or ipad depending on what was convenient at the time.
i've been recommended both Sonos and Bose, but that seems a bit heavy duty for what we want and i'll be replacing my PC at some point and don't really want to spend more on a speaker than i would on a pc.
Any recommendations at the not so high end of the market.
basically it doesn't have to have mega-wattage, just a decent reach around the house.

thanks.

forgotmyname

Budget? Asda have some for £7 upwards...

Max range from the sending device?

john1

Recently I have been looking for and mentally evaluating most available wireless systems for a home audio system.

There are as you say the “property systems” such as Sonos and Bose, but were hugely expensive. There are lower cost systems such as Panasonic ALL and the LG Music Flow but these are still quite expensive. These also had the problem of supplier lock in so you could only expand by using their products.

I have decided that the Google Chromecast Audio dongles would meet my requirements admirably in cost (£30 ea.) and versatility. Using multiple of these together with same number of low cost active loud speaker (mine cost £20 ea.) gives me audio throughout the house at a cost of £50 each room/area.

With the Chromecast audio app (Android, Windows or Apple) you can select a single or a group of speakers from anywhere in the house,and stream for example Spotify to one group and online radio to another. If guest want to stream their mobile audio when visiting then there is a guest selection in the app which allows this.

Chromecast Audio is Wi-Fi only so you need decent home Wi-Fi signal throughout your house.

The speakers I selected were basically low cost Bluetooth with Aux audio input connection for the cast dongle connection. Apparently audio via Wi-Fi is higher quality than audio by Bluetooth delivery but I cannot tell the difference. Age having decreased my hearing capability considerably, so expensive speakers would be a waste on me, however you may benefit from higher spec speakers.

There are plenty of reviews for Chromecast Audio (Note the group facility was only added mid-December, so may not be reflected in earlier reviews) and the active speakers on a Google search.

grumbler

Beware that bluetooth range is vary small. I.e. if it's a PC the speaker may not work in another room. In the same room you don't need a wireless speaker for a PC.

forgotmyname

I did notice a lot of the cheap bluetooth speakers did say upto 10 metres.

I want something with a display so maybe looking at android tablets, sound
maybe poor though?

johannis

Thanks all, quite interested in chromecast but hadn't considered it for this.
I guess my budget depends on the usefulness of the speaker. there's no point in a speaker that can only work in the same room.
Also the more i spend on a speaker the less i spend on a PC.
let me try the question again...
my son is watching someone telling him about minecraft on the ipad, my daughter frustrated that she can't get at the ipad is playing games on my wife's phone and my wife wants to listen to spotify from the PC (room below)while she paints the bedroom...what speaker works best, say £100-£200.

ta
J

grumbler

Google for 'wifi speaker'?

forgotmyname

What about android tablets? you can get cheap ones that will have no issues with music or non HD video.
Plenty of other uses also.

Just ordered a 10" one to see how it pans out, have one for each room at the current prices. Maybe a hint to the wife that she can watch / read recipes whilst in the kitchen

Anne_Marie_2

john1 wrote: »

Recently I have been looking for and mentally evaluating most available wireless systems for a home audio system.

There are as you say the “property systems” such as Sonos and Bose, but were hugely expensive. There are lower cost systems such as Panasonic ALL and the LG Music Flow but these are still quite expensive. These also had the problem of supplier lock in so you could only expand by using their products.

I have decided that the Google Chromecast Audio dongles would meet my requirements admirably in cost (£30 ea.) and versatility. Using multiple of these together with same number of low cost active loud speaker (mine cost £20 ea.) gives me audio throughout the house at a cost of £50 each room/area.

With the Chromecast audio app (Android, Windows or Apple) you can select a single or a group of speakers from anywhere in the house,and stream for example Spotify to one group and online radio to another. If guest want to stream their mobile audio when visiting then there is a guest selection in the app which allows this.

Chromecast Audio is Wi-Fi only so you need decent home Wi-Fi signal throughout your house.

The speakers I selected were basically low cost Bluetooth with Aux audio input connection for the cast dongle connection. Apparently audio via Wi-Fi is higher quality than audio by Bluetooth delivery but I cannot tell the difference. Age having decreased my hearing capability considerably, so expensive speakers would be a waste on me, however you may benefit from higher spec speakers.

There are plenty of reviews for Chromecast Audio (Note the group facility was only added mid-December, so may not be reflected in earlier reviews) and the active speakers on a Google search.

Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. I've got an excellent speaker dock system for iPod/mp3 player which is rarely used now, due to it looking a bit messy when plugging in tablet or computer. The Chromecast audio sounds just the ticket for giving it a new lease of life. :j:T

Orangezorki

Not the cheapest, but I've been really happy with my UE Boom. The battery seems to last forever at medium volume, and it is small enough, weatherproof and produce very acceptable sound, at high volume if necessary. Should be able to find one for under £100, but then again I find the cheap ones to be barely better than the speaker on an iPhone.

beefster

Got the Bose soundlink II for my daughter and we are amazed at the sound it generates. It was dead easy to use. Set up in a few seconds by pairing. The sound quality is great, really great! How something so small generates the sound it does was a pleasant surprise. She loves it. I will miss it when she goes back to Uni!


Bluetooth and rechargeable so portable and usable anywhere.
Highly recommended if you are happy to pay the £149 ish.