UKC

I want to upgrade my sound system, but every Wi Fi system on the market like Sonos or the apple AirPort seems too restrictive and expensive.

I currently have a conventional Ariston amp and I run through the aux channel via a phono lead to my computer headphone jack. I want to get rid of the wire and go via wi fi from my laptop, but want to keep my amp and speaker.

The key point is that I want to be able to play music to my stereo direct from vimeo, youtube etc, with the option to run iTunes, spotify, netflix etc for the audio.
I basically want to connect to the stereo from wi fi and play whatever would be coming out of my laptop or phone speaker. Using sonos, the software interface is terrible.

Help!

In reply to ogreville:

Could you take up some floorboards and lay a variety of wires - speaker cable, USB, hdmi, optical etc.

In reply to ogreville:



Ariston Help? It's a bloody washing machine!

In reply to ogreville:

I do that using Sonos with an ancient NAD amp. Works fine.

In reply to ogreville:
Get a thingy like the ones they do for the TV. This seems to do what you want...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pure-Jongo-Wireless-Adapter-Bluetooth/dp/B00CGYN47...

Connect as Wifi or bluetooth speakers to your PC, phone etc

Just sits on top of your Amp connected by phono leads

In reply to Dave:


yeah, but do you not need to use the sonos software which is fed by Spotify or iTunes? you can't play anything from youtube as far as I know....no?

In reply to pencilled in:

I'd like to be able to move my laptop or phone around. also, these phono wires tend to not last too long in my hands and need replaced all the time

In reply to ogreville:

Have a look at a raspberry pi equiped with a digiberry running kodi. Control it via a TV or tablet on you wifi. That's what I use. Very happy with it. Can also stream music to the tablet headphones.

In reply to Pbob:

Or better still get an old netbook, less pissing about than a PI.

In reply to ogreville:

We have the Jongo adapter mentioned above and it works well for multi-room audio. It can be a little temperamental, particularly if you want to use it for Bluetooth, but for £20 is good value. They also offer standalone speakers which hook into the same system, the phone app used to control them all is pretty easy to use. Money no object I'd go for Sonos, but it is and I'm happy with the Pure system.

I also have a few Raspberry Pis, although none set up for multi-room audio. I'm sure they would offer more customisability, but my experience of anything on the RPi is that you have to enjoy computer related fiddling if you want to get anything up and running.

In reply to ogreville:

I cromecast for my phone/tablet etc to my TV that has a load of speakers etc. Works ok for films, music, youtube etc. Worth a look

In reply to Sam W:
The problem with the Jongo (and all other similar systems I have looked at )is that you need to use a restrictive app to play music via your computer or phone. As far as I can see, they are always fed from a limited selection of other sources such as iTunes, radio streaming apps, spotify etc, just like the Sonos app, but none of them support youtube.
The system must support youtube, Vimeo and Netflix/Now TV for film audio or I'd never use it.

For those of you suggesting a Raspberry Pi set-up, surely there is something simpler available. I've looked in to this and it's probably beyond my technical expertise or patience.

There must be a plug and play Sonos style system out there that supports Youtube.

Edit - sorry, to be even more of a fussy sh@t, I have no TV, so can't run something like Chromecast that needs an HDMI connection to work (I know, I'm hard work!!)

In reply to ogreville:

Audio Chromecast?

https://www.google.com/chromecast/audio/

In reply to ogreville:

Yep, Chromecast Audio plus an Apt-X Bluetooth receiver each plugged into a phono input on your amplifier. Be aware, Spotify doesnt play well with Chromecast for a lot of people though. I ended up swapping to Deeper, which works well.

In reply to ogreville:

ok, chromecast it is then worth a try for £30 a pop!

In reply to ogreville:

Arcam miniblink??

In reply to ogreville:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=654414 for a recent similar discussion.

But a CCA is a good option. Shame you missed the £15 offer of a few months ago...

In reply to ogreville:

We use an X-Mini 2 Bluetooth speaker for that, plug the 4.5mm into the amp, connect to it via Bluetooth and you are away.

In reply to ogreville:

The Jongo system should allow you to play YouTube via Bluetooth. You still through the app, but it will (should) push all audio from your phone through the speakers. Definitely works with one speaker, should work with more (although unfortunately specifically not with our Evoke F4, so I haven't actually tested)

In reply to ogreville:

The tech they use is called CaskeID if you want to investigate further

In reply to Sam W:


I've learned something new today. I was going to bleat on about the fact that you can only connect one Bluetooth device at a time to an android device. That was until I read up that that the Jongo Speakers work their magic by syncing with each other once you connect to one of their speakers.

Shame they were not that good when I started looking into wifi speakers a few years ago and stuck with Sonos.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/the-ultimate-multi-room-audio-guide