Kitchen sound system

J_B

Our house is mainly open plan

In the kitchen (built into the wall) was have a KB Sound/EIS http://eissound.com/premium.html

We have speakers in the ceiling and some old ones plugged in via 3.5mm using our 'cabled system'

We mainly listen to the radio from 'wake up' through till when we adjourn to watch TV after tea.

Although our preference is for BBC R2 from 09.30 to 5pm we like to listen to other things outside these hours.

We have in the past plugged a phone into the front of the KB (using a 3.5) but wondered if there was a decent system that we could also play CDs and internet radio.

We have a Marantz MCR611 in our holiday rental property which does everything we require but is a) discontinued and b) rather large to fit anywhere in the designated place.

We don't really want to use our phones as that's dependent on the owner of the phone being at home - if the other goes out, that's not going to work!

Any suggestions?

IvanOpinion

If it is plugged in via 3.5mm could you buy a cheap dedicated phone or tablet purely for that purpose? Or maybe an Alexa device connected via the 3.5mm?

fred246

We have a similar system for the kitchen. We have a family Spotify account at £15/month for the whole family. We cast the music to a Google Audio Chromecast which can be connected via WiFi (or Ethernet for the resident ethernet police). It plugs into the 3.5mm stereo port. We all have a phone. I think Google have now stopped making them unfortunately. You do have to pay for Spotify. You can't cast from the free version.

Cisco001

Have a search on amazon and showing this.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Majority-Homerton-Digital-Internet-Radio-Oak/dp/B07JPCBK4R/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=internet+radio&qid=1608545811&s=electronics&sprefix=Internet+&sr=1-16


It has headphone jack, so you can plug it into your existing system. 

Heedtheadvice

We just use a mixer....

and microwave, kettle, timer, dishwasher (non WiFi) to make noise!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seasons Greetings.

J_B

Thanks all

I've tried using an old phone, which worked OK, but then there's the charging issue and it's not so good at playing CD's

No plans for spending on Spotify as radio gives us all we need, would just like a bit more choice and CD ability. Know nothing about Chromecast, sorry.

Re digital radio/CD - interestingly, we did bring the Marantz back home with us recently and tried it at home with the 3.5 connection, but, although Marantz sounds brilliant in it's seaside home with it's own ceiling speakers, the sound quality was pretty poor once connected via the 3.5

Myser

With those 2.5" speakers supplied with the KB Sound system, the sound is going to be anywhere as good as the Marantz.

Is the KB Sound wall control box near a cupboard or shelf?

J_B

Myser said:

With those 2.5" speakers supplied with the KB Sound system, the sound is going to be anywhere as good as the Marantz.

We have 5" speakers in the kitchen - the little ones are in the bathroom for occasional use

Myser said:

Is the KB Sound wall control box near a cupboard or shelf?

Myser

If the speaker wiring runs down to the control box, you may be able to tap off behind the cupboard above and house a small system in there.  Or alternatively, just have it on the worktop if you don't mind?

J_B

Myser said:

If the speaker wiring runs down to the control box, you may be able to tap off behind the cupboard above and house a small system in there.  Or alternatively, just have it on the worktop if you don't mind?

Son in law is a sparky, but not 'expert' in these systems.

The guy who fitted it is fully conversant with this and keeps promising to come and look-see .... but then doesn't 🙄

Just need to choose the system ................

Myser

Do you know how many Ohms and Watts the 5" speakers in the ceiling are? If you are upgrading the system, it might be worth upgrading to better ceiling speakers too.