Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

Here's the layout of the room. I'm not even sure where to put the speakers.


The orange triangle is my entertainment center where I have the tivo and bluray, etc.

vansmack wrote:
You have a receiver in there?  That would make it a lot easier. 

I do not have a receiver in there. To be quite honest, I'm not sure what a receiver is or does. I basically want you to post a link to something and go, "Julian, buy this." I know absolutely nothing about home theater setup. The guy at Best Buy tried to sell me a soundbar and I nearly bought it trying to conceal I did not know what it was.

A receiver is just a fancy name for Stereo.  Many inputs and outputs, connect to speakers for sound.

OK.  Here are your options.

SIMPLEST SOLUTION - just buy a sound bar for the TV room.  Immediate impact on the sound quality in the TV Room for TV, Blu-ray, TiVo streaming, etc.  There are many options from $200-$700, the sweetspot for just sound being around $400.  The increase in price can lead to thinner design, more channels for audio, and added subwoofers.  Samsungs wireless solution for your TV with wireless subwoofer is $500

NEXT STEP UP - invest in a wireless sound bar for the TV Room to build a system for the future.  SONOS, Bose, LG, etc. all have this option at $500-$700.  This would allow you to have all the benefits of the simple solution, and provide options for the future.

THE ALL IN SOLUTION - What options?  This all in solution.  Wireless soundbar for the TV room ($500-$700), add a SONOS Connect like device to your stereo in the parlor room ($350).  This would give you all the advantages of the simple solution AND allow you to stream your Parlor room music to the TV Room and vice versa.  You could then add wireless, movable speakers to your system for flexibility.

OK, so I'm looking at the SONOS soundbar and subwoofer which are like $700 each. I get how it plays anything connected to the TV. I get that I can buy wireless speakers as I go and connect multiple rooms to one system.

What I don't understand is how/can I play actual physical media on it somehow? If I want to play an actual CD or a vinyl record, how would I connect that to this?

Julian, wrote:
OK, so I'm looking at the SONOS soundbar and subwoofer which are like $700 each. I get how it plays anything connected to the TV. I get that I can buy wireless speakers as I go and connect multiple rooms to one system.

What I don't understand is how/can I play actual physical media on it somehow? If I want to play an actual CD or a vinyl record, how would I connect that to this?

I wouldn't buy the SONOS subwoofer unless you really wanted a subwoofer.  It's the most egregiously priced device of the bunch.

What are your record player and CD player hooked up to for sound?  What you'll want to do is hook that device up to a SONOS Connect.  That has a line in and output connections that you control with your phone or tablet. 

   

vansmack wrote:
What are your record player and CD player hooked up to for sound?  What you'll want to do is hook that device up to a SONOS Connect.  That has a line in and output connections that you control with your phone or tablet. 

Speakers. … Oh, I see now.

Pre-Amp: thing for connecting and choosing your sources (cassette player, vinyl player, etc.)

Amp: thing that enloudens your sources before they go to the speakers

Integrated Amp: thing that combines Pre-Amp and Amp into one thing

Receiver: an Integrated Amp that includes a tuner (for listening to over-the-air radio, if you're still into that thing)

ßèétſ wrote:
(for listening to over-the-air radio, if you're still into that thing)

Someone has to listen to NPR and keep Relaxer employed.

I got this bluetooth solution for around 4, and have been quite happy with it. 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olstemplatemapper.jsp?id=pcat16010&type=page&skuId=6819316&ld=37.54069900512695&lg=-77.43364715576172&rd=25&dt=ob

Perhaps it's just because I'm an analog man in a digital world, but I find it hard to believe that wireless soundbars/speakers can give deliver sound quality as good as wired ones.

Oh you're right, they dont.  My setup is optical audio + wireless sub.

ggw wrote:
Perhaps it's just because I'm an analog man in a digital world, but I find it hard to believe that wireless soundbars/speakers can give deliver sound quality as good as wired ones.

They can't… the last thing you want to do is run your record player through a Sonos device.

I have Sonos as well, but have CD player/record player running direct into receiver going out to speakers.

Yada wrote:
They can't… the last thing you want to do is run your record player through a Sonos device.

Can you expand your thoughts on that? Smackie seems pretty hyped on Sonos and not being able to add a turntable to it would be a deal breaker for me.

Julian, wrote:

Yada wrote:
They can't… the last thing you want to do is run your record player through a Sonos device.

Can you expand your thoughts on that? Smackie seems pretty hyped on Sonos and not being able to add a turntable to it would be a deal breaker for me.

You can.  Yada chooses not to.

Yada, is your SONOS Play:1, 3, 5 or Soundbar+Sub and how many are in your collection?

ggw wrote:
Perhaps it's just because I'm an analog man in a digital world, but I find it hard to believe that wireless soundbars/speakers can give deliver sound quality as good as wired ones.

At your age with as many concerts as you've been to it won't make a difference.

vansmack wrote:

Julian, wrote:

Yada wrote:
They can't… the last thing you want to do is run your record player through a Sonos device.

Can you expand your thoughts on that? Smackie seems pretty hyped on Sonos and not being able to add a turntable to it would be a deal breaker for me.

You can.  Yada chooses not to.

Yada, is your SONOS Play:1, 3, 5 or Soundbar+Sub and how many are in your collection?

At this time, I don't use any Sonos speakers, just Sonos connect.

Yada wrote:
At this time, I don't use any Sonos speakers, just Sonos connect.

Thank you.  No more questions your honor.

OK, Smacks, I actually did a fair amount of reading about this last night. I think I like the modest entry option and piecemeal out additional speakers as I decide to expand the thing.

To get started, I think I'm going to get the Sonos Soundbar and a connect. The connect will work with that receiver you're giving away, yes? And then I can just take my currently existing turntable and buy a component CD player and hook them up to the receiver and would be able to play the music in the TV room too, right?

Can I have the amp both hooked up to the Connect and my current speakers at the same time?

Then, if I want a few months down the road, I can get actual Sonos speakers for each room? I'm still a little confused on which of the 1, 3, 5 models to get, and how many I need for each room. I saw somewhere that 2 3-series and a soundbar replicates 5.1 surround sound?

what's your bill rate for audio consultation?

Sidehatch wrote:
what's your bill rate for audio consultation?

I just offered to loan him my champagne handbag this morning for his upcoming polo match as a thank you!