Help me choose a whole house speaker system

[wdfifteen]

HELP!

The speaker system Vicki uses is a piece of crap. It's basically just an intercom with a CD player on it, with scratchy little speakers. It sounds awful when it works, and I'm always having to futz with it to keep it working.

We would need 3 or four speakers, and it would have to cover a four room area, with one of the rooms on a lower floor. I would prefer wireless, but we might be able to use the wires in the intercom. Sound quality isn't a big deal, she thinks the little 2" speakers in the intercom are fine.

All suggestions are welcome.

[Dixie]

What do you think of an Onn wireless speaker? Sounds pretty good, easy to carry from room to room, has bluetooth so you can stream from your phone, can be paired with other Onn speakers, and has a FM tuner. $69 at Walmart.

I use one outside per a suggestion on this forum. It sounds pretty good.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Dixie

What do you think of an Onn wireless speaker?

I think it's fine. We have an Oonz Angle that I use. Vic doesn't like to have to carry it around, so I'm looking for something with multiple speakers.

[Bob Kontak]

I'm picturing twenty speakers already buried in your walls and you need a better head unit and twenty new speakers.

[cabmandone]

Not sure quite what you're looking for. Bluetooth or wired system with split zones. BTW, the ONN speakers are pairable in sets so no need to carry them around. Just have to be able to connect to them. Not sure bluetooth will work though since there's no ability to give priority to a certain set of bluetooth speakers.

One more thing, ONN and others make a small bluetooth speaker that is pairable with more than one speaker. Easy to carry around and sounds good too.

[Cajundaddy]

Sonos might be the ticket. Hifi sound, small and discrete, versatile wireless connection. I don't have this but have heard them and they sound nice.
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Room-Set-Sonos-microphone-free/dp/B07XQN89Q8/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=1338106221812231&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Ej-6jhH7jjFXwXtbAn5qAzWa3VyMv7tQ1hy8_HvYRd2OqhdJd5vlo Q08xlzM5q4HQEvva7p94NkxlMhUGSkd61-ceQ71ATrWAt0JZoto6pT094ksMLRMnWgdyVXgIGoCXHLjcjMfz JWmKUtI-5eSySmqRl6I3yFneWnJKCIM6RwkHIBfmZZxtXBPoQEreqXTjoE 4cA_AKNvhwkcjwBL-Ib10sAa81KOFYyvYPeBYjZu_01rbc1vZFKCtNTxOCjKGqn8U3J BpOozmokNmz67DdbdQV1lSIZmIuO0vgwVq_TulsXjzZ6J7_ATH 5FfXoIkJpLL_szOYfBioayK0HxF4HZilgchb2JS2g8TDy4ZXs7 ZCSc4FQDrvKuJCrX7YEK0Lt3Pud6ZrWuPxx2LI6TIC7C-xIuUpOKEvVekCaKmlNQ3F3g-t6rYTJtFECIANKs24.YgVY2dzfhCmv5FlkcdIWJJN2ODrpfAR_ S72wEoxt3AE&dib_tag=se&hvadid=83631853423364&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=106734&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-83631995719542%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=20195_13294254&keywords=multi+room+speaker+system+wireless&qid=1734820849&sr=8-5

[Dixie]

I'm sure many here have better, but this is my whole house speaker system. A pair of Klipsch, and a sub. My house is only 1,000 sq/ft, so they cover it one end to the other.

[HobieMarty]

In my den, I use a Harmon Kardon sound bar and a wireless Harmon Kardon subwoofer, and it sounds awesome.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[rwest]

You might want to look into single ceiling stereo speakers. They sum the stereo signal into one speaker. They can be had for about $40 and up.

I put one in the ceiling of my bathroom and it sounds pretty good for what it is.

[KFC911]

One of the smaller pairs I have ... prolly not gonna pass the "Vic test" .

Gogar might have some suggestions better than mine tho' ... he nose about stuff... or Ervikingo

[KFC911]

This forum is still bigly "hosed" for mobile users



These are available (not my pic)

[KFC911]

Cajunpappy prolly gave the Vic approved one... and there's already a Sonos thread.... soooo..

So I'm gonna hijack this one ..... again

What new amps do I want for the speakers above?

Help me choose

[jyl]

I use Audioengines B-Fi units to stream music from my phone to whichever B-Fi(s) I select, and thus to whatever sound system those B-Fi(s) are connected to.

To be a little clearer:
- One B-Fi is wired to (RCA cables) my pre-amp for the hifi system in the living room. That’s the main sound system, with turntable, pre and power amps, speakers, subwoofer, aux tweeters, etc.
- Another B-Fi is wired to some little powered speakers (Audioengine A2) in my kitchen.
- A B-Fi is wired to a little amp driving some Bose outdoor speakers in my backyard.
- All these B-Fis are on the wireless network.
- I can start something playing on Spotify (or Youtube, or Apple Music, etc) on my phone, then have it play on any one of those B-Fis or any combination of them. The Audioengines app is simple enough to use; not as slick/intuitive as if Apple did it, but pretty simple.
- Sound quality of the music as transmitted via B-Fi is fine, for casual listening.
- B-Fi is on sale for $79/ea right now. https://audioengine.com/components/
- A2 speakers are $269/pr and are plenty for casual listening, dinner party music, etc - they sound really good for their tiny size. If sound quality doesn’t matter, you can get powered speakers for $99/pr. If you want better sound than the A2s from a slightly larger speaker, try the JBL 305.

Other companies have similar. I found Audioengine because I bought the A2 as a desktop speaker, then noticed the B-Fi, the company has a decent reputation I think.

This is a different route than Sonos etc - you can use the sound source (speaker) of your choice.

[jyl]

Audioengines have a different system, the “W3”, if you want to send music wirelessly from source to up to three systems, without using WiFi. I have no experience with it. Not sure it works with phones, but if you play music off a laptop that has a USB-A port, maybe this would work - dunno. I guess the idea is to avoid issues with WiFi coverage?

[KFC911]

Thanks John .... I am actually interested in a new setup to add ... but this post is a test of the forum.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by KC911

This forum is still bigly "hosed" for mobile users

...

And now it seems to be "fixed"

Thank you!

[wdfifteen]

I wasn't very clear about what I am trying to achieve.

This is what she was using until the CD player stopped working. It's just a NuTone intercom with a built-in CD player. There is a unit in every room of the house with a 2" speaker. You can imagine the sound quality, but she was perfectly happy with it.



The Sonos speakers seem like they would take care of the sound output issue - though at $1000 they are expensive and wayyyyy overkill for the kind of sound quality she needs.

The other part of the puzzle is how to get the sound from a CD into the speakers.

[Bob Kontak]

Apple Music or similar smart phone app.

$11 per month one phone
$17 Family plan
$20 you get Apple TV, ICloud, Music and TV but not sure if family plan.

Music application can be installed on computer to control what plays. Wireless broadcast

Albums, playlists, playlists of albums.

Also, if the room on a separate level is the room you have the loom machine in, I would just get another less elaborate Sonos/Onn speaker. The Sonos for $140 should be dandy.

[rwest]

Do you have a home stereo setup in your house?

You could use a speaker selector and run wiring to each room and then install ceiling speakers or book shelf speakers if you have a place to put them.

If you really want to get fancier, you could wire in volume controls on each room wall and maybe an IR repeater so you can use the remote all over the house.

Here’s my pretty cheap speaker selector I use. I have speakers in the living room, basement, bathroom and garage.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Apple Music or similar smart phone app.

$11 per month one phone
$17 Family plan
$20 you get Apple TV, ICloud, Music and TV but not sure if family plan.

Throw out over 700 perfectly good CDs and buy the music all over again? There must be a better way.