Options for my kitchen/dining room... (Convert existing amp+speakers to wireless?)

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Soldato
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Hello all. I'm sure this has been asked a million times but since buying and renovating our lovely terraced house we have one thing lacking and that's a good sound system in the kitchen/dining room. We currently have been making do with one Google Mini on the kitchen countertop, and one on a plug socket mount in the dining room. But it's just doing my head in now.. especially seen as I have a two Marantz amps (one hifi, one AV) sat gathering dust along with a pair of old Gale floorstanding speakers.

The plan is below. Because of the layout it's quite hard to think where to position speakers without them being too obtrusive (my girlfriend would happily stick with what we've got :rolleyes: )

k3r69pr.png


My thinking is that perhaps I could put the two floorstanders where the red boxes are drawn, and the amp possibly in the drinks cabinet we have in the corner where the green box is. The problem would be cabling. I see a lot of ways of converting an old amp to be wireless, but really I'd rather not having cables going to the speakers. So is there a way of converting them, and thus not have speaker cable running along the skirting? :confused:

If the floorstanders look crap, I could buy some bookshelfs to go on stands. Might look less obtrusive. I'm not sure what the sound would be like with the speakers at those angles, and if it would carry enough into the kitchen when we're cooking? :confused:

Any thoughts?
 
kitfit1 said:
Is the floor in the dining area solid or suspended ?
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Suspended, it's an Edwardian house (built 1903). I guess you're thinking about running cables under the floor? Damn wish we thought of that when we were knocking walls down and putting up steels!
hornetstinger said:
Probably would be better for in ceiling or maybe a few on walls?
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I'll get nowhere suggesting either of those to my other half, unfortunately. It's a very traditionally-decorated house downstairs (I can post a pic tomorrow but think dark walls, we actually have William Morris wallpaper on two walls in the dining room). What I'm saying is nothing that looks too modern built-in is gonna fly. I'm not sure even two speakers is going to fly yet :p

And what's music dsp? :confused:
 
Scam said:
I'll get nowhere suggesting either of those to my other half, unfortunately. It's a very traditionally-decorated house downstairs (I can post a pic tomorrow but think dark walls, we actually have William Morris wallpaper on two walls in the dining room). What I'm saying is nothing that looks too modern built-in is gonna fly. I'm not sure even two speakers is going to fly yet :p
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Start the process now of accepting that you'll be lucky to even be allowed a couple of those IKEA Sonos speakers disguised as lamps :p
 
hornetstinger said:
A mode on a AVR, like DTS Music, Pro Logic IIx music etc.
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My AVR is a Marantz SR5012. What does that actually do then? Makes it sound better when your speakers aren't in good positions for stereo? And yes the Gales were budget, happy to replace them. Maybe if I get something in a walnut veneer it'd work with the decor :o
Kenai said:
Start the process now of accepting that you'll be lucky to even be allowed a couple of those IKEA Sonos speakers disguised as lamps :p
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The reason the SR5012 is homeless now is because I had to accept the fact it wouldn't work in our lounge. See thread here. It got replaced with a Sennheiser Ambeo soundbar and sub, did mean I got a new telly though...

So anyway, no way to make old speakers true wireless? :confused: If not, we use Google Home so happy to look at 'proper' Google Cast enabled speakers like the Denon's etc. Shame to ditch the amps though.
 
yes your avr has all channel stereo and music modes. No it won't make it sound better as that's down to placement, but if you have four speakers then it'll spread sound over a wider area.

These are available in walnut

Elysian 4 - WHARFEDALE

www.wharfedale.co.uk www.wharfedale.co.uk

:D

If all you want is background music, where speakers are inobtrusive maybe something like this? I wouldn't want a dining room to have speakers in the way on the floor tbh.

D300 3D Surround Speaker - WHARFEDALE

www.wharfedale.co.uk www.wharfedale.co.uk

''

The DALI ALTECO-1 adds Atmos, DTS-X and Auro-3D height information to a home cinema setup. It's also a discreet on-wall stereo speaker. Find out more.
www.dali-speakers.com www.dali-speakers.com
 
hornetstinger said:
Just get a Wiim Amp Pro.
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Doesnt that require cables to the speakers anyway..
dlockers said:
This was serous OP. It's simple to use, wife proof, can be added to with good quality wireless speakers inexpensively... Supports room zones etc. doesn't look ugly either.
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I've heard all about the Sonos nonsense of late. My Dad has pretty complex setups (loads of speakers/amps, own music server, vinyl, even a jukebox!) in multiple locations and he is very close to ditching them now..

Should I just look at something like the Q Acoustics M20s? Bluetooth though, how does that compare to the quality of Google/Chrome Cast? I understand I'd still be able to add them to groups in my Google Home right?
 
Scam said:
Doesnt that require cables to the speakers anyway..

I've heard all about the Sonos nonsense of late. My Dad has pretty complex setups (loads of speakers/amps, own music server, vinyl, even a jukebox!) in multiple locations and he is very close to ditching them now..

Should I just look at something like the Q Acoustics M20s? Bluetooth though, how does that compare to the quality of Google/Chrome Cast? I understand I'd still be able to add them to groups in my Google Home right?
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Aye but if you just want a nice sound bar and a couple of speakers it works great.

I also get away with the larger Alexa's for basic radio/music.
 
Ultimately you're never going to be particularly bothered about stereo sound in a room like that, because you'll never be sat in a space where you're going to notice the left/right balance. You just need something which is going to fill the room adequately which presumably the small Google Mini's aren't doing.

As @dlockers says. A Sonos speaker will likely do the job absolutely fine. You could even try something like this which would fit the aesthetics. Unsure how it would link to Google Home though for groups.

Edifier D32 Tabletop Speaker Review: Why spend more on cool looking sound? - HomeTheaterReview

Despite its compact size and budget price, the D32 delivers stellar sound while keeping things simple without over-complicated apps or multi-speaker configurations. It's an outstanding value that I can highly recommend.
hometheaterreview.com hometheaterreview.com

or this definitely has Google built in

Loading…

www.jbl.com

Possibly even 2 of the Nest Audio units? Would fare better than the mini's
 
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You can convert your speakers to wireless but it's a bit techie. Essentially it's a small computer/WiFi enabled device like a Pi Zero or similar, then an amplifier, stuck to the back of the speaker. Obviously you need a power cable to each speaker!

It's very doable it's just a DIY solution that ends up as a Google Cast-able type device on your network.
 
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LuckyBenski said:
It's very doable it's just a DIY solution that ends up as a Google Cast-able type device on your network.
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Yeah that sounds a little DIY. Doable but I also live with a partner and if things don’t “just work” I never hear the end of it :p I do have an old Chromecast Audio kicking around mind.

I remembered a while ago that I was looking at the Denon Home 150(s). Similar price range to the QAs I posted above but supports Google Cast / WiFi. Just curious if that might be a better option than the QAs which are only Bluetooth. Same family as my Marantz amps, I do like their sound generally.
 
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