Stereo?

[Doe Be Doe]

Do people still have stereos for your house?If not how do play music?

 

[+ Pensant]

Get a Sonos.

[rvwnsd]

1 hour ago, Doe Be Doe said:

Do people still have stereos for your house?If not how do play music?

 

I had a Bose speaker that I could stream to from my phone. Recently, I bought Alexa and am very happy with the sound quality. You can buy multiples and string 'em together. Should you go down this route, watch Best Buy for package deals. I bought two Alexa base units for less than the price of a base unit and an add-on pod.

[+ RJD]

I have a surround system for my main TV in my Family Room.  I play my music from other devices through those speakers via Bluetooth.    

[jeezifonly]

Alexa may be great, but can you push the one button that drops the Mantovani LP on the turntable while dimming the lights, starting a fire and automatically converting the sofa into a fully made bed?

Pillow Talk? …Anyone? 

Yes to wireless speaker(s) but on the phone you must choose from what has been licensed and sold to you via your music apps. 

IRL a laptop can play any single CD’s you have, more than one if you have an app that curates those you’ve already burned, if it allows you to save discs that it cannot recognize - goodbye mixtapes!! 
 

[Guest]

I have five Amazon Echos throughout the house.  Sound isn’t as good as Sonos or Bose, but satisfactory to me.  I don’t connect my iPhone via Bluetooth as that occasionally creates some conflicts in internet access that is necessary for the “smart” features.   The “smart” features are the things it should do consistently but often doesn’t…a source of frustration indeed.  For this reason, she’s not “Alexa” but “Jezebel” instead.  

[gallahadesquire]

I have a pair of Bowers and Wilkins speakers model DM 3000. Four feet high. I love classical music and organ pieces, so they do the job. I had always under powered them, and the 100 watts/channel is really worth the price of admission. 
 

of note: sky walker sound uses B&W speakers. 
 

a tad pricey at > $30,000/pair but they are glorious.  

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

Cellphone in a red plastic party cup

[+ Charlie]

The last time I made a change in my music-listening technology was when I changed from LPs to CDs, which I still play on a Bose radio/CD player. But most of the time I just listen to a classical music station on the radio.

[jeezifonly]

1 hour ago, Charlie said:

The last time I made a change in my music-listening technology was when I changed from LPs to CDs, which I still play on a Bose radio/CD player. But most of the time I just listen to a classical music station on the radio.

Whatever technology one invests in, the total amount spent is inversely proportional to the length of time before it’s obsolete 

[+ bashful]

Most of my music listening is in the car.  The few times I listen at home, it’s a CD on a 15+ year old Panasonic shelf system with speakers that can be spaced apart.  It even has a cassette player.  Speakers still sound good, even if I click on the “Mega Bass” for some songs.  Radio reception is horrible in my condo.  

I got two Alexas a couple of Christmases ago, but never took them out of the box. I’m not an audiophile.

Edited November 9, 2021 by bashful

[maninsoma]

On 11/8/2021 at 1:21 AM, gallahadesquire said:

I have a pair of Bowers and Wilkins speakers model DM 3000. Four feet high. I love classical music and organ pieces, so they do the job. I had always under powered them, and the 100 watts/channel is really worth the price of admission. 
 

of note: sky walker sound uses B&W speakers. 
 

a tad pricey at > $30,000/pair but they are glorious.  

Nice to know there's at least one other person here who is into sound quality.  My budget is significantly lower than yours, but still probably far higher than most people would be willing to spend...maybe around $25,000 for my entire system.

[+ cougar]

In the past I thought Bose was the one to beat, it was, but about four years ago I bought a Sonos sound bar for my flat screen TV and I could not believe the quality! A few months later I bought the Sonos subwoofer, it blew me away and that gave a bass sound similar to some of those low pipes on the large pipe organ at the church I attend. Needless to say, I am a very a happy Sonos customer. I was so impressed with the system, I bought two additional smaller speakers that could be set up for surround sound for TV or as separate speakers in other locations in my house. Their sound quality and frequency range is just as impressive. Another thing I love about my Sonos system is the app on your computer and cell that allows you to listen to thousands of live commercial radio stations from around the world and this is not some compressed crap like SiriusXM, this is directly from the stations broadcast with fantastic quality and separation. I am also able to play my songs from iTunes that is loaded on an external hard drive. I told a friend about a year ago that I considered my Sonos to be one of the most wise purchases I have made in many years. Do yourself a favor and investigate Sonos.

[+ bashful]

2 hours ago, cougar said:

In the past I thought Bose was the one to beat

So did I.  Then I got a Buick with Harman Kardon.  Loved those speakers.  Worst were the Infinity speakers in my Jeep.  Sounded like a transistor radio in comparison to the others.

[+ RJD]

18 hours ago, cougar said:

In the past I thought Bose was the one to beat, it was, but about four years ago I bought a Sonos sound bar for my flat screen TV and I could not believe the quality! A few months later I bought the Sonos subwoofer, it blew me away and that gave a bass sound similar to some of those low pipes on the large pipe organ at the church I attend. Needless to say, I am a very a happy Sonos customer. I was so impressed with the system, I bought two additional smaller speakers that could be set up for surround sound for TV or as separate speakers in other locations in my house. Their sound quality and frequency range is just as impressive. Another thing I love about my Sonos system is the app on your computer and cell that allows you to listen to thousands of live commercial radio stations from around the world and this is not some compressed crap like SiriusXM, this is directly from the stations broadcast with fantastic quality and separation. I am also able to play my songs from iTunes that is loaded on an external hard drive. I told a friend about a year ago that I considered my Sonos to be one of the most wise purchases I have made in many years. Do yourself a favor and investigate Sonos.

Back in the day as a teenager, I had a pair of Bose 901 speakers which I bought used from my older brother.  I thought they were incredible.  They were also monstrosities in my 10' x 12' childhood bedroom along with a full rack of stereo equipment (amplifier, pre-amp, equalizer, cassette deck. turntable).  I can't imagine using them now considering the superior sound quality and minimal footprint of today's components.  I have a sound bar and sub-woofer in my family room.  Even without front or rear surround speakers, it feels like the room is rumbling.  I agree about the quality of Sonos and Harmon Kardon speakers, but there are other options for those who aren't "purists" or don't have the budget for higher-end speakers which provide good sound.   

 

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

3 hours ago, RJD said:

...I had a pair of Bose 901 speakers. 

901's are still GREAT speakers as long as you have the proper receiver to drive them.  It's one of the few pieces of Bose that most audiophiles agree is worth the investment.

I'm also a fan of their snazzy mid-century design.  Beautiful cabinets.  

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

On 11/9/2021 at 2:37 PM, maninsoma said:

Nice to know there's at least one other person here who is into sound quality.  My budget is significantly lower than yours, but still probably far higher than most people would be willing to spend...maybe around $25,000 for my entire system.

For $25k, you can have a killer setup.

McIntosh receiver.  Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESLs.  A Hsu sub.  Easily under the $15k mark, if you shop it.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

23 hours ago, cougar said:

Do yourself a favor and investigate Sonos.

Sonos is a solid brand.  While it's nowhere near audiophile quality, it's easy, versatile and looks great in most room designs.

 

[gallahadesquire]

I looked for a long time for speakers for my PC tower. I discovered the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1. It’s THX certified it was $149 on sale at Best Buy. Are use that as the external speakers for my TV via the headphone jack, and they’re really amazing.

[+ RJD]

49 minutes ago, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

901's are still GREAT speakers as long as you have the proper receiver to drive them.  It's one of the few pieces of Bose that most audiophiles agree is worth the investment.

I'm also a fan of their snazzy mid-century design.  Beautiful cabinets.  

That's exactly what I had to do.  I had an older, not very powerful receiver with smaller bookshelf speakers, which worked fine together.  But there weren't nearly enough watts to drive the 901's to their potential.  I purchased an Onkyo amplifier and a Numark graphic equalizer.  The difference was remarkable.  

The solid wood cabinets are beautiful.  They were heavy suckers to move between the weight of the wood and components inside

[maninsoma]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:58 PM, Benjamin_Nicholas said:

For $25k, you can have a killer setup.

McIntosh receiver.  Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESLs.  A Hsu sub.  Easily under the $15k mark, if you shop it.

Yes, I probably shouldn't have used the word "budget" as that implies I'm actively shopping for something.  I meant to convey that if I add up how much my current system costs, it's probably around $25,000 (though I spent less on it because I purchased some of it used).

[Guest]

On 11/7/2021 at 6:19 PM, Doe Be Doe said:

Do people still have stereos for your house?If not how do play music?

 

Steve Martin already got rid of his in the 70s, in favor of a googlephonic system with a moonrock needle! 😁

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadraphonic_sound

Edited November 14, 2021 by Unicorn