[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Any BHPians using or have experienced Apple's Homepods? Both, the mini and regular? How are they?

Had used one briefly at an Air Bnb accommodation last week. The owner had rigged up two, like a stereo channel setup.

This was the Home Pod Mini. It sounds surprisingly good for a speaker that is so small. The catch is you need to be on the Apple eco system. It will not work outside of this no matter what you do. On the plus side, lets say you have a Apple TV in the house and thats connected to your TV, it can beam sound over the network and play TV audio over the Home Pod. Seamless implementation.

I'd consider one only for the sake of convenience and if space is at a premium. A stand mount speaker is still a better bet in terms of overall sound and there are quite a number of streaming speaker options you can buy from KEF, SVS, etc. It won't be anywhere near as compact (nor as cheap) but you are guaranteed better sound quality.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Thank you.

I got it in Stockholm, Sweden for 9979 SEK. I just went for the Arc now, will be adding Era 100s next and later a sub mini.

Sounds decent with the Arc alone, definitely missing out on the base because of not having a subwoofer.

Oh! That's higher priced than price available in US.

I initially got the ARC (Ordered the full set) but, the SUB and SL ONE's came later as I wanted only WHITE color.

So I have experienced listening to ARC as stand alone product for about 3 weeks and then the whole set up.

ARC- Alone is really amazing and was superior compared to the full POLK set up I had before.

ARC + SUB GEN 3 + SL ONE's- You will be transported to a different world of music quality.

I'm so tempted to add the ERA 300 to my current set-up. Need to go take a demo of it first.

[vsrivatsa]

What is the best way to clean speakers?



I mean the external parts of the speaker? I did some vacuuming but it did not seem to clear all the dust from long term that has settled on the speaker surface.

Was not sure if it is safe to wipe with wet microfiber cloth or do we get any specific cleaning liquid for it ?

[directinjection]

Has anyone tried Dali Oberon 9 speakers? What would be correct amplifier(s) to connect with them for: (a) 2 channel set up, no subwoofer and (b) 5.1 channel home theatre set up?

Would a pre-amp be necessary to ensure that the main amplifier lasts long*?

I guess one can go in for a 5.1 home theatre amp with two Oberon 9 speakers to begin with and add the rest of the 5.1 speakers later.

*Long for me means 15-20 years!

[amrutmhatre90]

Originally Posted by directinjection

Has anyone tried Dali Oberon 9 speakers? What would be correct amplifier(s) to connect with them for: (a) 2 channel set up, no subwoofer and (b) 5.1 channel home theatre set up?

Would a pre-amp be necessary to ensure that the main amplifier lasts long*?

I guess one can go in for a 5.1 home theatre amp with two Oberon 9 speakers to begin with and add the rest of the 5.1 speakers later.

*Long for me means 15-20 years!

What are your needs depends the most, what is the music vs movies ratio? for me it is 70-30%

If you go separates route then only the need for pre and power amp comes into picture. Or you can get away with an Integrated Amplifier, some new IAs come with builtin DACs too, just feed your TV signal via Optical or ARC to these.

AVRs on other hand are superb for movies, having owned few years back, I can safely say you would visit theatres lesser if done right.
But they are finicky, surely won’t last 15-20yrs as these have too much processing going on and heat up a lot. Also these will cost a bomb if you do the whole setup vs Integrated amplifiers.

I moved on to 2ch setup and I am more than happy.
this is my chain
- Mini Desktop PC and WiiM Pro for DSD, FLACs or Tidal streaming
- Pro Ject T1 for Vinyls
- Audiolab 7000a Integrated amplifier, has inbuilt DAC with HDMI, USB, Coax & Optical
- Wharfdale Linton Heritage

I feel I have reached endgame now, I am on a road to collect LPs and spend most stuff there.

here is my setup:

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by mobike008

ARC- Alone is really amazing and was superior compared to the full POLK set up I had before.

Ooh, did you really felt it was that good. In my living room, I felt the arc is definitely lacking bass. To be fair, I was listening to songs that were too bass heavy so not a fair comparison. But in my bedroom the Arc felt better.

How is your streaming setup? eARC from TV to Sonos.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Was not sure if it is safe to wipe with wet microfiber cloth

Is Safe. Run that microfiber cloth under a tap or soak it in water. Wring it as dry as you can and wipe the speaker cabinet gently. Do not use any chemical cleaning solvent.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

How is your streaming setup? eARC from TV to Sonos.

Yup. It's via. a HDMI cable through eARC from TV to Sonos.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I'm so tempted to add the ERA 300 to my current set-up. Need to go take a demo of it first.

I have been reading a bit about this on Reddit and watched a few YouTube videos, its mixed review, some people were complaining about the deactivation of central channel speaker on the Era 300 when setup as surrounds in home theater configuration.

Maybe you should wait for the eventual replacement of the Fives, the rumored Era 500.

Anyway, if you do demo the Era 300, could you please update your review about it here.

[Silverfire]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Any BHPians using or have experienced Apple's Homepods? Both, the mini and regular? How are they?

I have a dual pair of HomePod-2s hooked up to my Apple TV. They are a brilliant pair of speakers, with rich sound especially the mids and treble. Since there is no separate sub-woofer, the bass is a little low. HomePods have a dedicated upward firing sub, which is tight, but you won't get the overwhelming thump that a large separate sub can bring.

I use them as a replacement for a home theatre system, and they are way better than my previous Yamaha soundbar, or other soundbars like Bose, JBL that I tested, especially when playing content which is in Dolby Atmos. Based on research across Youtube and Reddit, they come close to 80% of what a 5 channel home theatre system could provide with 0 effort, since you just plug the HomePods in and they are good to go. No installation, wiring etc.

While they are pretty good for watching TV and movies (dialogues are crystal clear thanks to strong mids), they will blow you away when it comes to listening to Music. These are the best speakers I have heard so far, especially if you are in a closed mid-sized room, where the HomePods can bounce the sound off the walls to create their surround effect. Guitars sound beautiful, and these have that special quality that good speakers have, where you can start hearing new details in your favourite songs, that you had completely missed before.

If you are in the Apple ecosystem, these have many delightful features which will please you. You can control the music using Siri, or the Apple TV remote, or any of your iOS devices or even your Apple Watch. It's all very seamless and "just works". The achilles heel is controlling the music via Siri which is slow and poor to understand regional language requests. I circumvent this by using my phone or Apple TV to control the music and never using Siri at all.

Overall I am very happy with the HomePods and at ~65k for a pair, they are pretty unbeatable for the quality you get with 0 hassle of installation, and the speakers taking up such little space in your room.

[catchjyoti]

Originally Posted by Silverfire

I have a dual pair of HomePod-2s hooked up to my Apple TV....Overall I am very happy with the HomePods and at ~65k for a pair, they are pretty unbeatable for the quality you get with 0 hassle of installation, and the speakers taking up such little space in your room.

I am in the process of completing the interiors of my new apartment. As of now I have left space for a soundbar (Yamaha/JBL) and a subwoofer. But your setup gives me another option. Can you please post a picture of the setup? Also how good are the vocals? Like in ghazals or Indian semi-classical (where the music is not that heavy)?

[Silverfire]

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

Can you please post a picture of the setup? Also how good are the vocals? Like in ghazals or Indian semi-classical (where the music is not that heavy)?

HomePods are very small and connect wirelessly with Apple TV. So they can be placed anywhere in your room.

For the best Audio experience as per Apple “ When setting up HomePod for the best surround sound, place the speaker within 25 centimetres (10 inches) of a wall and as close to the centre of your TV as possible. If you use a HomePod stereo pair, place the speakers on either side of the TV. For optimal surround sound, the HomePod speakers should be about 1.2 metres (4 feet) apart from each other.”

This can be achieved by keeping the HomePods on your TV cabinet next to each side of the TV.

I have my TV in a very large room and with the above placement wasn’t getting the feeling of being enveloped in the music. So I have kept the left Homepod next to the TV and the right one on a side table next to my Sofa. This puts me in the middle of the 2 HomePods while maintaining a good sense of right and left, and is a setup I personally prefer.

[1:1]

Originally Posted by amrutmhatre90

What are your needs depends the most, what is the music vs movies ratio? for me it is 70-30%

If you go separates route then only the need for pre and power amp comes into picture. Or you can get away with an Integrated Amplifier, some new IAs come with builtin DACs too, just feed your TV signal via Optical or ARC to these.

AVRs on other hand are superb for movies, having owned few years back, I can safely say you would visit theatres lesser if done right.
But they are finicky, surely won’t last 15-20yrs as these have too much processing going on and heat up a lot. Also these will cost a bomb if you do the whole setup vs Integrated amplifiers.

I moved on to 2ch setup and I am more than happy.
this is my chain
- Mini Desktop PC and WiiM Pro for DSD, FLACs or Tidal streaming
- Pro Ject T1 for Vinyls
- Audiolab 7000a Integrated amplifier, has inbuilt DAC with HDMI, USB, Coax & Optical
- Wharfdale Linton Heritage

I feel I have reached endgame now, I am on a road to collect LPs and spend most stuff there.

here is my setup:

Attachment 2441846

I have been an fan of your setup for some time and have watched almost all videos you posted on youtube as well. Looking at your journey is making me rethink AVR VS Dedicated Two channel listening. I own Elac Debute F5 and recently upgraded to Denon X4500H and added front heights for atmos. Surround effects are fine (many times its just a gimmick) but real fun is in music.
Will surely give a serious thought for dedicated two channel for next upgrade.

[amrutmhatre90]

Originally Posted by 1:1

I have been an fan of your setup for some time and have watched almost all videos you posted on Youtube as well. Looking at your journey is making me rethink AVR VS Dedicated Two channel listening. I own Elac Debute F5 and recently upgraded to Denon X4500H and added front heights for atmos. Surround effects are fine (many times its just a gimmick) but real fun is in music.
Will surely give a serious thought for dedicated two channel for next upgrade.

Since you are in Mumbai, do visit some day to experience the small 2 channel system I have.
Might clear few doubts.

Home Theatre is good, its a brilliant way to enjoy movies at home if done right.

[Thumping Soul]

We just bought our new flat and are in the process of planning out our interior works. This time around, I'm planning to set up a home theatre system, but the primary objective would be listening to music.

And when it comes to music, I enjoy quality & crispness of the audio, rather than loud. And music is going to be the primary usage, over 80% of the time and occasional movies (primarily OTT).

But, I'm also tight on budget and have a max budget of Rs. 1 Lakh for the set-up. I'm planning to start off with a good 2.1 stereo set-up with a good quality AVR (preferably 5 channel) and would probably add in a centre channel & surround at a later date.

I have zeroed in on the following option:

1. Sub Woofer: TAGA HARMONY Harmony TSW-90 95 Watt Subwoofer (Black); Rs.24500 https://www.amazon.in/Taga-Harmony-T...3190486&sr=8-1
2. Tower: 2 nos. of Taga Harmony TAV-807F; Rs.49000 https://www.amazon.in/Taga-Harmony-T...3190486&sr=8-4
3. AVR: Denon AVR-X250BT 5.1 Ch. 4K Ultra HD AV Receiver with Bluetooth (Black); Rs.35400 https://www.amazon.in/Denon-AVR-X250...%2C392&sr=8-10

Wanted to check for your opinion and what could be other alternatives in my budget?

But primarily for aesthetics purposes, I'm looking to invest in a pair of Tower Speakers.