Give him the Sonos, save some money, and turn your nose up at it. I'd get a Sonos Ultra Soundbar $999 for the living room, and a Sonos Era 300 $449 or Five $549 speaker for the kitchen. Total is less than $1,600 and he'll have home theater and music for the living room and kitchen
"Wireless" Speakers for Living Room and Kitchen set up.
One of my kids likes and uses Spotify and does not want to change. He’s moving into his first house and his dad (that’s me if you have managed to read this far) offered him a stereo set up for his living room.
I was thinking along the lines of a nice all in one streaming unit and decent floor standing speakers.
My son pushed back told me maybe some Sonos stuff would be nice. I opined I could do better than that. That’s where I need help please.
As it turns out, he’d like speakers for the living room and for the kitchen. He’d “like to come home and play some music from his phone."
He doesn’t think there’s Ethernet in the living room or the Kitchen. Almost all the speakers I looked at (so far KEF LS50 Wireless II and Technics CX700 Wireless Speakers) have Ethernet plug ins.
It’s looking very unlikely that Ethernet can be plugged into speakers; meaning some sort of mesh. Not ideal but doable.
Is it possible to have some sort of more traditional living room system and have some kitchen remote speakers work together?
So my ask is what in the heck to get please. I was thinking around 5K but could go higher.
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I have had a Good experience with Sonos products. The app got messed up last year when they came out with their Ace headphones but they’ve fixed the issue. I have two Beam 2 soundbars with wireless mini subs for the 2 main TVs. The amp and in-wall speakers in my bathroom. A pair of Play 1 for stereo in my office. I had a Move and upgraded to a Move 2 as a portable. I Run everything through their app streaming Qobuz using my iPhone and iPad. They sound great for what they do. The family loves the ease of use and the equipment is well built and holds its value relatively well when you buy or sell on the used market. If you buy directly from Sonos they ship for free in the US and you can return for a full refund with a 30 day buy and try policy. Suggest giving them a try. |
i've heard both the kef ls50 and the sonos and, in the margins, the kef probably sound better to most folk. however, i'd still get the sonos for your son--they're half the price, have better ui/expandability and, at least for non-critical listening would be good enough. of course, as others suggest, you can spend a lot more to get better--i heard some $5k b&w that were very impressive--but it's not clear that it would be cost-effective. |
So much better sounding speakers than Sonos. I had a friend that worked there and I could have got any Sonos for a good price and I passed. The Kef ls50 wireless 2 speakers are pretty good for their size, but I would save your money and get the Kef ls60. This is a great sounding speaker for their size and money. These Ls60 speakers sound much better than the Focol Divas hat cost $40,000 |
@kennyc Oh..Uncle Kevin loves the Cabasse Rialto Powered Wireless. They are also on sale. Hymn.. |
Lot’s of great answers. I’m greatful. @jbuhl I imagine the sound from the Kef LS50 Wireless II is better than Sonus? Found some refurbished ones with full warranty. @toro3 Also sniffing around the Demons. And yes SQ matters to me more than him yet his existing gear (will go into TV room) uses Totam monitor speakers with a decent peachtree amp. |
SONOS pissed a bunch customers off ...twice and had to recover. Maybe they have but my buddy hates them over it all. When one of his Sonos units die’s he tosses it and finds another solution. I still have 2 old ZP90s that function as ROON endpoints that I use in secondary systems
But if you buy their Amp product @$699 each that leaves room For some purdy nice speakers to attach and of course should play in sync. If he doesn’t have to have them play in sync I would look at many of the integrated amps that have bluetooth or spotify connect. This one has bluetooth has nice class A/B amp.
Although Rotel is a bit midfi by most audiophile standards their stuff is well built and will last a long time if not horribly abused.
I set my buddy up with a Cambridge Audio integrated and a Pair of used B&W 603 floor standers. He bluetooths Spotify to the CA via his iPad. Been happy as a lark.
Note: I had a house full of ZP90s back in the day and I rarely used the Whole House feature where they all played together. But young single guy maybe he like to party.
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Agree with all of the responses. I wouldn't force it either and would likely go with Sonos if that's what he wants - Sonos is pretty good at what it does and offers. At the same time, they have done a spectacular job helping people recognize their name and what their speakers can do. I'd inquire whether this is an issue of name recognition versus functionality and whether SQ and high resolution audio matters. An alternative to Sonos would be the Denon Home Series (below is the Home 350 in a two-channel setup which are synced together through the HEOS app).
Here's what it can do: - Spotify Connect (bypassing HEOS UI), Apply Music via Airplay 2 - Modular system just like Sonos - ability to grow and expand system - Synchronization of music between separate rooms - just like Sonos - Universally support Bluetooth and AirPlay 2, making it easier to connect various devices and share music from guests' phone - Down the road if son becomes interested in SQ and HT, Denon Home supports high-resolution audio as well as AVR Integration (especially with Denon AVRs)
Per Google AI: "Both Sonos and Denon Home Series speakers use Wi-Fi to connect to the internet for streaming music services. They connect to your home's Wi-Fi network, and the respective apps (Sonos app or HEOS app) act as a controller, allowing you to select and play music from various streaming services." Essentially, no Ethernet or mesh system needed. I'm personally leaning towards the Home 350 speaker (just one) for our home "gym." |
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