For the FAO of stereoists

[Jobbo]

I love that sketch. Probably watch it every year or so. Almost too accurate.

[Ascender]

That sketch has never been more relevant for today's world!

Saw this on Reddit and it makes my head hurt!

[KiwiDave]

Is that like a 'different set of speakers for each album I listen to' kind of thing going on?

[Jobbo]

After posting that I probably use our Apple HomePod more than other stereos, I have decided to get a couple of HomePod Minis to add to it as a stereo pair in the same room. They will all sync so effectively it’ll be a sub and satellites but more importantly it’ll fill the space with sound better. I’ve read a few people online saying they tried it and it works really well. Just keeping an eye open for Black Friday deals now.

[Nefarious]

I just bought a NAD C160 preamp and a pair of C270 power amps, and just serviced and recapped.

It was a price I couldn't turn down, but I'm not quite sure what to do with them. There are already 4 amps in the living room system (2 Arcams for the B&Ws, a Yamaha for the surround stuff and the 2 Polk middles, and a monster Reckhorn for the sub)

[mik]

I just bought a NAD C160 preamp and a pair of C270 power amps, and just serviced and recapped.

I read that and thought "hmmm - from memory the C270 was a pretty chunky amp?" and just checked. Yes. Yes it (they) is (are).

Nice to get a pair that have just been recapped too

[Nefarious]

Oh yeah, they're absolute monsters.

But I've already had to go through the whole house and fit weatherstrip on all the internal doors to stop them resonating. I am not short on power.

[Jobbo]

As if by magic, Homepod Minis were discounted by 15% at O2 today so I've ordered two. Looking forward to seeing whether my wife notices once I've put them up; I've got some wall brackets from Amazon too so they're going to be nice and subtle.

[Jobbo]

Got home last night to find the HomePod Minis had arrived. They're nice objects though not as unobtrusive as, say, Bose satellites - mostly due to the 240v supply. But still its nice and wife-friendly and very much a contrast to Mike's photo above: spot the Homepods in this picture (there are two visible, one a full size Homepod 2 and one a wall mounted Mini):


(The white Mini is visible high up behind the Chrismas tree, the midnight Homepod 2 is between the two vase/bowl things on the cupboard on the right and barely visible even in the flesh because it tones so well with the wallpaper).

The two Minis are set up as a stereo pair. I assumed they would be a bit bass-light but actually, on their own they do have some bass which was unexpected. Still sound better with the 'Reduce Bass' setting enabled and the full size Homepod (also with 'Reduce Bass' enabled) working with them. And because it was so easy to sync them for playback it got me thinking; you could add more round the house for multi-room playback via Airplay 2. I'd not really played with it before; I'd always just thought of Airplay as being Apple's Bluetooth audio implementation which gave better sound quality.

Wiim users may recall that their devices lost the ability to broadcast to Airplay 2, but they haven't lost the ability to receive it. That was obvious from the Airplay menu on my phone. So I added more devices to play to: two Wiims at the other end of the house. And it worked perfectly, though awkward initally to get the volume balanced in each room when your Wiim is connected to a normal amp or soundbar with its own separate volume control.



I even found that I could cast a Youtube video from my phone to the TV and the audio streams to all the Airplay devices. That only worked for the first video though; I clicked on another in the playlist and the video displayed on my phone not the TV screen. Audio still worked fine to all speakers.

Overall I'm pleased with the multi-room ability which is a decent replacement for my Squeezeboxes (the wifi of which doesn't like the up to date mesh network; they're just a bit old). The downside is that you're tied to a streaming service which is compatible with Apple (I use Youtube Music) or playing from your phone or Apple computer. Control relies on your phone even if you're not playing directly from it - unless you are happy to shout commands at Siri. I've no idea if the rest of the family will be able to control it or even change the volume. The Wiims work as a high quality way to play Airplay streams via a proper hi-fi - I don't think Apple make a device which does this now because Homepods don't have output sockets. Otherwise for me Wiims are a dead end and I'll just use the ones I have for this purpose until Apple fuck up Airplay 2.

I may buy a few more Homepods to dot around the place. A stereo pair of Minis is £168.30 currently so I'll see if they get cheaper still at Black Friday.

[Ascender]

Firstly, your house looks stunning. Well done

And I would never have found those HomePods without your description.

The Minis are pretty good for size v cost v performance and like you, we've got them dotted around for music and also Apple TV speakers in bedrooms etc.

You're right, unless everyone has a compatible device to hand, is part of the same Home etc then I guess proper control options are limited. At one point we thought about an old iPad Mini just lying around the place which would just be used for doing stuff in the Home app and streaming music to the HomePods.

I've been surprised by how much Mrs Mike in particular is happy to use Siri for playing music - picking stuff, radio channels, volume, multi-room etc. That all seems to work pretty reliably.

[Jobbo]

I suspect Mrs Jobbo is going to be more resistant but I'm going to have to try her and find out

The large Homepod being almost exactly the same colour as the wallpaper was a total fluke but having achieved that, I now want to make my hifi blend in unobtrusively everywhere. And that's very hard to achieve.

What's the Apple TV speaker you refer to? I have never bought an Apple TV; I'm only half immersed in their ecosystem (due mainly to the iPhone) and just assumed it was another TV box which duplicates functions we already have with Sky, Chromecast or simply built in to the telly.

[240PP]

No hallway TV listed. Fail.

[Jobbo]

Ooh, that's an omission. We don't have a TV in the kitchen either.

[Ascender]

You can pair Homepods and Homepod minis with Apple TVs to be their default audio out (and they support atmos). So if you're looking for a non-soundbar solution they can be pretty good if you're going to have them around anyway. The big ones are pretty decent if you don't want a soundbar or full amp & speakers setup. And for playing music the rest of the time.

[KiwiDave]

Replacement Wiim Ultra arrived today. Successfully set up and given a (one track) quick run - no screen glitching. Will give it a longer run and try some other bits with it over the weekend, but fingers crossed we're sweet.

Sidenote, the retailer I bought it from weren't so helpful, but it went back to the importer/distributor here who was amazing. Told me I was the first customer ever to have followed the support process correctly by logging a ticket with Wiim first through the app, which then makes their job painless trying to write the stock off/replace it. I assume the alternative is they have to test it and argue the case with Wiim directly otherwise and the whole thing is more drawn out.

[mik]

Good stuff Dave.

I just received and set up my new Wiim Pro. Fancied one for a couple of months, but as I was in no desperate rush I waited for Black Friday. Reduced from £149 to £115.

I didn't need the functionality of the Wiim Ultra, but I wanted RCA output rather than optical, so that meant the Pro rather than the cheaper Mini. It's still small enough to slot away out of view.

This means I no will longer use the Bluetooth built into the amp when streaming tunez from Spotify. The sound quality was decent enough, but BlueTooth range is bobbins, and using a dedicated streamer will avoid my music being punctuated by chimes at a squadillion decibels 'cos I'd forgotten to switch my phone to mute & the German Shepherd has just set off one of the Ring cameras outside.....

[KiwiDave]

I'm picturing the dogs being in on this... 'watch this, Dad's about to shit himself!'

Silly question though, even on the old amp did you not stream to it via the Spotify connect, as in choosing from 'devices' and controlling the stream on your amp via the phone?

[mik]

Silly question though, even on the old amp did you not stream to it via the Spotify connect

I used to connect to my 1991 NAD amp via an Airstream.

My new Cambridge Audio amp has Bluetooth built in - connect to it and play - it’s not visible from the Spotify app

WiiM sounds good though and makes the whole process more seamless.

[Jobbo]

My wife has been placing Christmas decorations around the speakers - particularly the full size HomePod which is now guarded by a pair of ceramic snowmen. This affects sound quality

[KiwiDave]

My wife has been placing Christmas decorations around the speakers - particularly the full size HomePod which is now guarded by a pair of ceramic snowmen. This affects sound quality

I thought that sentence was going to end "... and the baubels vibrate on the speaker cabinets and sound like a road drill three doors down."