I’m looking for a setup to work with Roon and have been looking at a few options and looking peoples thoughts on each of these setups and if any issues exist.
DALI OBERON 1 C with Sound Hub Compact and Chromecast Audio - I love the sound that tend to come from DALI speakers and while this has been suggested to me by someone, I personally think these are overkill for the bedroom. My other concern is by adding an external component (Google Chromecast) this could create unforeseen problems.
KEF LSX II - Another suggestion from the same person that made the above recommendation and again I feel this may be overkill for my bedroom. My other concern is that to get the best out of these I would have to have a wired connection between each speaker and my network.
Bluesound PULSE FLEX 2i as a Stereo Pair - This is what I thought would be more appropriate for the bedroom and from my perspective these seem too good to be true. They are Roon Ready and wireless so am curious if there are any known catches with these.
Bowers & Wilkins Formation Flex as a Stereo Pair - Again, something which I thought would be more appropriate for the bedroom. Like the above these are Roon Ready, but I am aware that there seems to be a sync issue between these speakers when they are paired as together and potential WiFi issues when connecting to a network.
If anybody has got any other suggestions I am open to it, but I am leaning towards active speakers, so please keep this in mind.
I use the Elac Discovery Z3’s for bedrooms, kitchen, office and whole house music. One box Roon Ready speaker system that is easily portable from room to room, just needs power and an Ethernet connection, or Wi-Fi . You don’t get wide speaker separation with the one box solution but with multiple internal amps and speakers the Z3’s puts out surprisingly good sound.
Are you looking for wide stereo separation using a two-box solution, do you need a TV connection (implying HDMI (preferred) or TOSLINK), what about a subwoofer, there are many many options depending on budget, space requirements, and what you want.
The LSX II will be Roon Ready with a firmware update in the autumn, but my first-gen LSX are Roon Tested and I can stream to them fine natively in Roon and sound great with/without a subwoofer.
I also believe the Bluesound speakers are good options, but if you go that route you may want to consider a good set of passive speakers connected to a Powernode or new Powernode Edge.
Finally, there are a number of all-in-one solutions supporting Roon Tested such as the Discovery, as well as Naim Mu-so family and all the AirPlay- or Chromecast-compatible options.
I’ve got a preference for wide stereo separation using a two box solution, I don’t require a TV connection or subwoofer. My budget is capped at £1200, but my constraint is space, which is why I’m looking at something that is compact as possible and doesn’t catch people’s attention - a big concern if I went with the DALI’s of KEF’s.
I’m open to any brand to be honest. I did briefly look at the passive speakers and Monitor Audio Radio 90 did briefly appeal due to their size, but then after realising the amount of space a amplifier (Loxjie A30) with power supply would take up I decided against it,
I believe you will need to try to find a location to demo each of the options. I know my LSX well as a desktop monitor along with a set of dedicated monitors, but I believe all the options you list are good and only your ears will be able to help you decide.
One note on the LSX compared to the Dali. Both brands natively support 24/96 bitstreams, but it appears that the LSX are able to scale to 24/192 when the speakers are wired together (wireless they support 24/96 the same as the Dalis). I can’t find anything from Dali that allows higher resolution files.
I picked some cheap (free) Sonos Play:3 speakers and run them as a pair but even just one gave pretty OK results for some music to drift off to sleep with or play some mood music without being to overbearing. I ended up with 4 of them from a friends restaurant closing and they were up for grabs.
best part is wife can stream Spotify ( ) from her devices or Roon or apple etc too and it just works. I am not a huge fan of Sonos in years past but this setup has renewed the faith somewhat.
While I have a load of Sonos and they sound pretty good, I struggle to recommend anything but the latest due to a bug where they drop off the network for many. The latest devices all work with Airplay as well making them work much better for people who suffer this issue.
Two Play 3s make a good sound and are way to big for my little study, but they sound great.
I did know about the 24/96 wireless limit, but am not so much bothered by this as this isn’t my main setup and believe that for a complementary setup 24/96 is good enough for me - I also only have a handful of songs above 24/96, so no major loss for me.
You can buy and make them stereo if you are interested in that . There is a new model released a few months back, make sure they are both the same modl if you plan to do that . You can’t mix and match
Didn’t even think about Sonos at all- not sure why, but i always assumed they use they own proprietary system and can only be used with their own app.
Think the PLAY:3 has been discontinued, so will look into this and see if I think this meets my need before debating where I can get a pair of them from.
That’s why I threw it up there, as there are a number of disappointed customers on the forums.
You can also look at the Bluesound Flex devices, I replaced my Sonos Amp with a Bluesound PowerNode 2 and was very happy with it, and it is now in my study and doesn’t miss a beat as a Roon endpoint. Not used a Flex myself, but the Bluesound devices are Roon Ready as well as supporting Spotify Connect, Tidal connect etc.
You could also think about a Devialet Phantom II? I have a larger Phantom I in the bedroom and love it, though you would need refurbished to get close to your budget. Both are Roon Ready but no stereo separation. Do try one out though, as they sound amazing.
I got Kef LSX II about 2 months ago for bedroom use. They are terrific, greatly surpassed expectations. Worked fine with Roon straight away, although show as Uncertified.
Incredible speakers, replaced a pair of Elac active speakers and a Pi. Getting the dedicated stands for them next week to neaten the wiring
) from her devices or Roon or apple etc too and it just works. I am not a huge fan of Sonos in years past but this setup has renewed the faith somewhat.