2. amps-preamps
  3. 186805-102885

Integrated Amp ideas for a very young audiophile

My 4yo son really loves listening to music. He routinely takes my phone or iPad and streams his favorite tunes from Spotify to our living room setup (Naim Star—> Sonus Faber Olympica I) or my office (Cambridge CXN—> Creek Evo100–> Kef LS50). He also loves asking Alexa to play music in his baby sister’s nursery and asks to listen to tunes in Mom & Dad’s bedroom (Naim Mu-so 2) before going to bed in his room for the night. As ecstatic as I am to have a budding audiophile, he asked me the other day why his room was the only one that didn’t have any speakers. I told him we could ask Santa to help us set something up in his room for Christmas but am now left with a conundrum of what to get. Originally I was thinking I’d just get him another Alexa style speaker, but he specifically then said the baby’s doesn’t sound as good and he wants “2 speakers like the living room, …but even better than the living room”. So while I have no intention of getting him the Kanta 3s he pointed to as I scrolled for ideas (kid has good but apparently way too expensive tastes), I do have a pair of B&W 685s2 that are barely ever getting used in the garage that I could pair to an integrated amp for his room. I’m in the Naim ecosystem so a Uniti Atom of course comes to mind, but would love some thoughts on how that would compare with Cambridge Evo series, NAD’s numerous all-in-ones, the Rotel S14 or anything else you guys might suggest. In particular I want something very easy to use and with volume and source control for streaming right on the front so he doesn’t NEED a phone or iPad to use it. He said he wants to wake up and be able to listen to music all day so reliability is also important with little hands not always being the most careful. My wife is also not super tech savvy so being able to turn it down or off without an app is definitely a requirement and eliminates things like a sonos amp or Bluesound Powernode/Powernode edge. Am I crazy for even considering a purchase like this for a 4yo?

ethos123

Showing 2 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,888 posts
 

You would think Fisher Price would have this covered. 😉

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,888 posts
 

Take a look at Vanatoo or similar maybe even lower cost. Whatever your budget, I would keep it as simple and cost effective as possible for a 4 year old.  If he tires of it before long then at least you have a nice sounding and flexible second system to play with moving forward.

 

As a point of reference, FWIW, when I was ~ that age, maybe a year or two older, in the mid 1960’s, I started to become interested in music and hifi and had my sisters portable Magnavox record player and records to listen to. SHe was in high school already at that time. I was as much interested in the record player as the music and I received a few electric shocks along the way as my curiosity went unchecked.

I often wonder if those electric shocks I received doing things with electric gadgets I probably should not have been doing at that age made me what I am today....... a big time hifi and music affectionado. YOu never know.... :)

 

A little kids keyboard is an interesting proposal. You never know what direction a kid at that age might go. So if it were me I would address his interests cost effectively but not go overboard at that age. and see what happens.

If he starts demanding high end hifi fuses before full adult hood then you know you might have a problem.

 

More to discover