Hi. Looking to upgrade my music situation. I currently play music either on a record player (vinyl) with some old wireless unconnectable stereo (only 3.5 mm jack) which produces a suprisingly nice sound.

Or digital, phone scrolling jellyfin or playing internet radio and such playing on a basic portable bluetooth speaker (JBL Go 2) connected to the phone. It’s very mobile and i take it to whichever room i want to listen to music, but it’s also rather low sound quality compared to the stereo and i’m getting annoyed always having to plug it in to charge it.

I’m looking into more solid options like a Bose Soundtouch, a Sonos, an Ikea Symfonisk, etc. Better sound, still affordable price range (< 200 €). No google, no alexa. Rather no this-speakers-proprietary-app is needed to set it up either.

Things I want:

  • higher sound quality (in stereo) (that shouldn’t be hard to find :)
  • If with mic built in: relative certainty that no corp gets access (no sending data over the internet to their own servers) or physical kill switch for mic (i’m not planning on using voice activated home assist)
  • plugs in to wall outlet, no recharging.
  • can integrate with Home assistant (don’t run it yet, but want to experiment) and then mainly be able to go in low-power standby mode and be woken by home assistant

Things that would be fun, but not super-important

  • also be permanently connected to the dumb TV (it has a 3.5 mm out)
  • if i buy multiple: connect to each other, play on multiple speakers simultaniously

Which speakers do you suggest? What are the best price-quality-nodatagrabbing deals out there atm?

  • TJA!English
    421·
    9 hours ago

    Hey, FYI: I just downvoted you because of this crappy ai generated image. Which does not contribute anything to your post. And looking at the votes, it seems I am not the only one.

  • cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    9·
    8 hours ago

    Any Japanese made surround sound receiver and speakers than you can pick up from a thrift store or craigslist will sound way better than the modern junk. It will have a big, heavy power transformer and linear amplifiers. There will be no internet connected spyware either. If you find one from the 90’s, it will likely have a phono preamp for your record player too.

  • deegeese@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    6·
    8 hours ago

    I used to love Sonos but the old CEO fucked it up to replace fast local control with flaky slow cloud BS.

    They can’t revert because their stupid new headphones require the new version.

    I’m not buying any more of their kit unless they fix the user experience.

  • talentedkiwiEnglish
    8·
    9 hours ago

    Take a look at the home assistant voice preview device.

    It has a 3.5mm jack out to connect to better speakers. You should be able to integrate some aspect of audio playback.

    From the FAQ

    Can I play music on this device?

    Yes, if you plug an external speaker into the 3.5mm audio port. The built-in speaker is meant for voice feedback and is not optimized for listening to music, but the included DAC is capable of playing lossless audio on a suitable external speaker. We recommend using Music Assistant to control music playback.

  • Telorand@reddthat.comEnglish
    5·
    9 hours ago

    Not a Sonos.

    While I like the sound of my Sonos One, their app fucking sucks, and you have to use it to do anything (and I am supremely patient with technology). I am so close to just trashing it and the only thing stopping me is that I don’t yet have a replacement for it.