S John Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 If there’s broader interest maybe y’all can make this a whole thread about whatever it is that floats your boat during home leisure time. But I do have a specific question and I’ve kind of exhausted myself on internet product reviews and I feel that someone here might be able to advise. I am constructing two floor to ceiling built-in shelving type units in my house. One is a corner bookshelf and the other is going to function like an entertainment center (but will also have built in cabinets and yet more bookshelves). One of the reasons for this project is that over the years we’ve accumulated a lot of specific use furniture and while a lot of the individual pieces are great it’s just starting to clutter shit up. It’s time to consolidate and make some cuts. With the two built-ins I am eliminating 2-3 standalone bookshelves, a TV stand, a buffet table, and another large standalone shelving unit we have for records and a record player. My question is really about the sound for the TV and record player. Our turntable is probably from the late 80s and it’s time for retirement. It also comes with a pair of huge speakers a requires a receiver unit which is bulky and totally obsolete at this point. For the TV we’ve been using a sound bar that works fine but it’s like 4 feet long and I don’t want to build a special compartment for it and I also don’t want it sitting in front of the TV. I think the most elegant solution is to go a different direction for TV sound. long story short, in the spirit of streamlining my life I would like to shit can the old record player set up entirely and eliminate the TV sound bar. I want to get a new Bluetooth capable turntable and then I want to replace the sound bar and the old speakers with a single set of Bluetooth speakers that I can easily use for both TV and music. looking for ideas or recs on Bluetooth speakers that can perform well as both TV and music speakers but small enough to fit in a standard size bookcase kinda structure. Nothing larger than 10 or so inches deep and 12 or so inches tall. And if anyone uses a Bluetooth capable turntable that they like, let me know. Any ideas? Anyone do something similar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 In my experience, bluetooth speakers are fine for music, but throw a TV picture into the mix, you're going to run into audio sync issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S John Posted December 24, 2020 Author Share Posted December 24, 2020 12 minutes ago, Spockydog said: In my experience, bluetooth speakers are fine for music, but throw a TV picture into the mix, you're going to run into audio sync issues. Interesting, I would not have thought of that. I knew a thread here was a good idea! I do want the speakers to live on shelves next to the TV. Wonder if I can find speakers that can connect to the TV with a standard optical input but are still Bluetooth capable for when I want to pair them with the record player. That’s probably something that exists, right? 7 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said: Not with Sonos. It is seamless. Dang, looks like, as I suspected, you have to pony up for that kinda quality. Must conceal this information from my wife when discussing options or she’ll definitely pick the Sonos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S John Posted December 24, 2020 Author Share Posted December 24, 2020 19 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said: Your only drawback with Sonos is that it won’t work with another sound system, so I don’t think you can pair it with a Bluetooth enabled record player (is there such a thing??) There is! I haven’t gone too far into researching them yet but I saw one at Target a couple of weeks ago and that is actually what got the gears turning on the idea of consolidating sound for both TV and music. One other thing I’m noticing on the Sonos is that (so far) the ones I’ve seen are all Alexa, google assistant, etc, enabled which great but isn’t something that I use. Makes me think I might be able to get comparable sound quality (and the seamless sync with the TV picture) for a little less cash if I sacrifice the additional tech features that I don’t foresee using anyway. I’m oddly resistant to new technology and have trouble figuring out how Alexa would integrate into my life except in the very specific situation in which my hands are occupied and I want to skip to the next song at that exact moment. Maybe that’s why we still have a record player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I’ll be lurking in this thread for intel. The house we bought this year has a movie theater in the basement, with surround sound and sub-woofer already wired for the whole room. I’m lucky that it works fine as is because I wouldn’t know how to modify it if I needed to. And I’d hate to pay a fortune to an AV guy if it’s something I should know myself. So y’all can educate me. The house is also wired with Sonos speakers for music, but on a separate system from the movie theater, obviously. That Sonos system is a bit annoying because the app can only use music from pre-set subscription services like Amazon Prime or Spotify. You cannot just play music that’s stored on your iPhone, not unless you upload it onto the hard drive of the Sonos server, which seems to be complicated (I don’t know if I have the access passwords for it). So all the CDs I uploaded to Apple music years ago, all the purchases from iTunes, and all the custom play-lists are unavailable to Sonos. Also, one of the Sonos speakers has stopped working. I plan to experiment with fixing or replacing it. I’m just hoping it’s a hardware problem in the specific speaker, not a wiring problem (wires look to be intact) or a system problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 We have a Bluetooth turntable that we use with a portable JBL Flip. That speaker is sufficient for the time being as we live in a studio apartment and no one needs to hear or feel MC's grindcore faves. Anyways, the turntable is from Sony which MC bought during summer quarantine and we like it. We set it up quickly and haven't had any issues to this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 10 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said: Not with Sonos. It is seamless. Well, there are enough sonos audio lip sync troubleshooting queries on google to suggest it's not as seamless as you suggest. Sonos is undoubtedly top quality kit, but bluetooth audio/visual is generally quite flaky. We have one of these, Onkyo TX-RZ1100. Pretty high end, bluetooth enabled. But the bluetooth is flaky as hecc, and a week after getting it, we abandoned the bluetooth connectivity and went back to good old fashioned speaker cables. As with computers, if you are physically able to connect your A/V kit, then you should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S John Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 On 12/24/2020 at 9:28 AM, kairparavel said: We have a Bluetooth turntable that we use with a portable JBL Flip. That speaker is sufficient for the time being as we live in a studio apartment and no one needs to hear or feel MC's grindcore faves. Anyways, the turntable is from Sony which MC bought during summer quarantine and we like it. We set it up quickly and haven't had any issues to this point. I ended up buying this and quite happy with it. It does exactly what I wanted it to do. Thanks! as for speakers I went with these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B077Y6PHKQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title they have good sound, pair easily with the above record player (or our phones) via Bluetooth, and I am able to use a fiber optic audio player to hard connect to my tv so I don’t have to worry about syncing issues. I also love the size, they fit nicely into my bookcase without being obscenely large. The sub is a bit on the big side but is small enough to fit in a 12” deep cabinet. my only complaint is that I don’t really like the remote that came with the speakers. It’s perfectly functional I just don’t like the shape of it - it’s a circle - and I’m also a little annoyed since I moved away from a Tv-dedicated soundbar the new speakers aren’t compatible with my TV remote meaning I actually need the speaker remote that I don’t like for TV volume. Not a huge deal but I thought society was moving away from multiple remotes. anyway, mission accomplished. I figured out how to use the same set of speakers for Bluetooth record player and as a sound bar replacement for the tv. Thanks for the input everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Oop North Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 I was about to come in here and recommend Edifer but you beat me to it. I don't have the same speakers, but they are similar - R1700s. Great speakers. Much better value than Sonos. I have them wired for sound, but the bluetooth is a nice convenience if you want to cast something from a phone or tablet. Perfect for Disney princess dance parties. If you don't like the remote you could always get a universal remote like a Logitech Harmony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lollygag Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Speaker placement also has a very big impact on sound quality. Never place your speaker perfectly perpendicular to a flat surface because the sound will just bounce back and forth in the room. If you angle your speakers so the sound waves hit a flat surface at an angle, it makes the sound richer as the waves now bounce around the room at various angles which fills it. Think of how a prism splits a single beam of light because of the angles. Also the surface the sound is bouncing off changes it. Sound bouncing off a flat, empty wall be different than sound bouncing off a glass window or door which will be different bouncing off of curtains or furniture, etc. Think of the hollow, echoiness of an empty room and the same sound in a furnished room with curtains, etc - sounds are warmer and richer because of there's more to bounce off of. Some folks get very technical. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-position-your-speakers-perfectly/ https://www.crutchfield.com/S-gU9WW9LQ2SY/learn/home-stereo-speaker-placement.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litechick Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 I have nothing useful to add with regards to equipment purchase but I do love my cable management. Expensive for what it is, but I can't not have it. No Sensible Girl Could Live Without It AC/DC all the way. Because, duh. I am litechick. Need to get at those wires? No problem. Too Lazy to Bend Down? No problem. 21st Century Basic Necessity Have fun with home entertainment. I think I enjoy my cable management more than the entertainment it supports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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