However, I would like to keep my numerous Alexa speakers, but add speakers that connect to Roon in a more straight forward, less finicky, manner.
I realize my subjects heading’s: “Best/Affordable” is essentially an oxymoron. But what would be the Cheapest/Most Robust multi-room WiFi speakers I could use to distribute (my owned) Roon music throughout the house?
The preferable budget is $100 to $200 per speaker. Sound-wise, I’m seeking background music. For example, my Alexa Dot speakers are OK sound wise. But better sound would be OK as long as the connection to Roon is a robust, no-muss-no-fuss one.
bearFNF: Thanks, Sonos era 100 has made my list as well as the Denon Home 150, although it’s $50 above my $200, price point.
Suedkiez: Thanks for the poll link.
I would like to be able to use whatever speaker as an Alexa speaker. In addition to streaming my Roon music, I would like to – for example – ask it to: "Play iHeart radio channel “X”.
Presently, I’m leaning towards the Denon 150, because it is Roon Ready and thus, would seem to offer the most robust Roon pairing.
There are many other Roon Ready ones, too, though. I have a single Denon 150 for the bathroom. It’s nice for what it is, seemingly well made and the sound is OK. Haven’t had many problems with it but in the 6 months I have had it I had to reboot it twice because it had dropped off the wifi. Not sure how common this is - my wifi coverage is ok in the bathroom.
There’s the newish WiiM Sound, which is Roon Ready. I’ve had WiiM Pro for 2+ years without problem, and the app is very decent.
Sonos is the obvious candidate for multi-room, and I have devices scattered through the house including Era100s. Last year’s Sonos app revamp has of course left a lot of people grumbling. These days I mostly treat Sonos as Roon endpoints for my/Qobuz music. I made a few comments about the Roon-Sonos interaction is this thread.
If it is merely background music and something similar to the dots, then you could look at the Apple HomePod Mini’s. I’d probably be shot for saying it, but for the price you really cannot go wrong if you just want some music playing in the room.
I picked up a fair few recently second hand, nearly half still had Apple Care on them. Paid roughly £50/£55 for blue and yellow ones. Some are paid for stereo, some used for the TV/AppleTV. And, an odd one here and there.
Something a little more impressive then the Sonos range.
I am just selling a pair of B&W Formation Flex (including wall mounts). Text me if interested. They work pretty fine as Roon Ready in different rooms or as a pair.
In fact, for my purposes, it may be the best choice. With the addition of a Home Assistant device connected with a paid subscription to Nabu Casa, I could seemingly use my existing Alexa devices to verbally control Roon’s volume and next track functions.
Wonder If:
Anyone has used the Audio Pro A10 WiiM Edition speakers with a multi-room set-up?
If Yes, was the A10 setup stable/robust and as such, would you recommend the Roon/Multiple A10 WiiM combination?
How about adding voice control like Alexa to the mix? Is anyone successfully doing that? Although not 100% required, voice control would be a nice addition because of all the Alexa speakers that we already have in-place.
I have tried about 5 wireless speakers in the category you are looking for and ended up with the Sonos Era 100. It outperfomed the others at lower volumes, and sounds also good at higher volumes: I liked the clarity without sounding harsh, and to be able to distinguish the individual instruments / voices from each other.
I tried the Denon 150 and the Audio Pro A10 and in my opinion they sound dull in comparison to the Sonos.
Sonos could well be the best of 5, sound wise. But I had an older Sonos One. Trying to connect it to my LAN was a PITA. I spent far too much time on-line with Sonos to figure out the machinations of that older Sonos. The Sonos rep was quite accommodating however.
A couple years ago, I never got the Sonos One to work quite right and gave up. It’s sitting in a cabinet unused. For connections and such, it seemed that the One needed Sonos cloud help/approval connecting. The cloud and Alexa are quite enough for me. I should add that my Modem, Router were hand picked and that my LAN is robust and understandable.
I just want my multi-room, Roon speakers to easily connect and stay that way. So far, the 3-Audio Pro A10, WiiM Editions have been exactly that – easily and robustly connected and easily managed per>room>per>user, via Roon remotes.
For (other than simultaneous, or individual) multi-room “background” music with 3-Audio Pro A10’s, my dedicated 2-channel audio room and my 7.2.4 and 7.2 surround-sound rooms provide all the resolution I need.