Smart speaker questions.

[Dave7]

I came close to getting one before realising I needed eg Spotify and as I don't listen to that much music decided against it.
Our grandson has now loaded Spotify to my phone as part of a family package. So.......
1. Anyone recommend a good smart speaker.
2. Do I bluetooth music from Spotify to the speaker.
3. Anything I need to watch out for ?

 

[Tenkaykev]

I came close to getting one before realising I needed eg Spotify and as I don't listen to that much music decided against it.
Our grandson has now loaded Spotify to my phone as part of a family package. So.......
1. Anyone recommend a good smart speaker.
2. Do I bluetooth music from Spotify to the speaker.
3. Anything I need to watch out for ?

Depends how much you want to spend Dave. We’ve got a couple of “ “ Alexa” speakers from Amazon, which work quite well ( our four year old granddaughter came to visit a while back, walked into the room and said “ Alexa, play radio six music “ 😁
Visited our daughter in Edinburgh recently and they have Sonos speakers which I was very impressed with. I downloaded the Sonos app to my phone, and being on the same wireless network as the speakers I could send music from my phone to any particular speaker ( or all of them )
We’re probably going to get Sonos ourselves as Mrs Tenkaykev was very impressed ( and IKEA do table lamps that contain a Sonos speaker )

 

[Venod]

We have a Yamaha setup that is very good, a main amp with speakers and subwoofer in the living room with smart speakers in the kitchen and bedroom.

https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/contents/audio_visual/musiccast/index.html

 

[Arrowfoot]

Your grandson would be the best bet for good advice. These things are in their zone of interest.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Option 2, pair phone with speaker. You do this once. Then use the Spotify app when you want to listen to some music.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Depends how much you want to spend Dave. We’ve got a couple of “ “ Alexa” speakers from Amazon, which work quite well

When I visit a mate with a smart speaker I say “Alexa, play pinky and perky full volume”. The speaker can’t hear him trying to stop it and he has to unplug it in the end. Amuses me anyway.

 

[MontyVeda]

You truly are merciless, Ming!

 

[Venod]

I came close to getting one before realising I needed eg Spotify and as I don't listen to that much music decided against it.

You can stream other things from your phone to a smart speaker, radio stations podcasts etc, connect the smart speaker to your wifi and phone to wifi for best quality, Bluetooth can also be used if speaker has it.

 

[Dave7]

You can stream other things from your phone to a smart speaker, radio stations podcasts etc, connect the smart speaker to your wifi and phone to wifi for best quality, Bluetooth can also be used if speaker has it.

You had me as far as the 1st sentence .
1. Without using my phone can I just instruct eg Alexa, play Smooth Radio.
2.I don't know what a podcast is.
3. Re wifi to speaker/phone etc I will get my granddaughter to sort that.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

You truly are merciless, Ming!

I am hoping if I do it often enough it’ll start suggesting similar music such as Rupert the Bear and other classics.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

You had me as far as the 1st sentence .
1. Without using my phone can I just instruct eg Alexa, play Smooth Radio.
2.I don't know what a podcast is.
3. Re wifi to speaker/phone etc I will get my granddaughter to sort that.

A podcast is just a recorded show of some description.

Heaps of the things available via Spotify. You should easily find something of interest if you feel inclined to take a look.

Don't forget that headphones jacked into your phone will sound pretty decent with Spotify as a source.

I do most of my curating with some full size studio quality headphones jacked to my phone or tablet and the sound is more than OK.

Decent unit, run Spotify or Tunein radio to it from your phone.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/amazon-echo-4th-generation

 

[Tenkaykev]

A podcast is just a recorded show of some description.

Heaps of the things available via Spotify. You should easily find something of interest if you feel inclined to take a look.

Don't forget that headphones jacked into your phone will sound pretty decent with Spotify as a source.

I do most of my curating with some full size studio quality headphones jacked to my phone or tablet and the sound is more than OK.

Decent unit, run Spotify or Tunein radio to it from your phone.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/amazon-echo-4th-generation

I see that’s on offer from Amazon, £60 at the moment

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Depends what you want to do, we too have a couple of Alexa's or should that be Alexi? it's easy to walk into a room & say "Alexa play xxxxx from Spotify" Or "Alexa play Radio Y" they are good enough quality for what we want. We also have a Bosse Bluetooth speaker which goes outside when we have a BBQ or sometimes when I'm watching TV on the laptop in the garden for better quality sound.

As with anything sound related it's horses for courses & depends how deep your pockets are.

 

[Colin Grigson]

If you value good design I would recommend our wireless B & O … a little pricey but great sound and looks great (in my opinion) …

 

[Electric_Andy]

I bought my partner a Tribit wireless speaker, think it was £40. Anker do a pretty good one for the money as well. That's it you want a budget one which is small and lacks bass.

My partner also has Sonos, I find the interface hideous and complicated, it often has a mind of it's own and decides to alter the volume on it's own. The portable Sonos speaker is great though