Is there such a thing as a good standalone speaker?

Audio Gear Talk
41

I’d expect it to be the best thing that’s ever been made for that cost. Embarrassing money for a stand alone speaker tbh.

42

Beosound A1 is arguably the best truly portable speaker out there. Plus great battery life…

43

Wouldn’t agree with you there. For $ 2600 a pair you get a preamp dac amp speakers that can connect wirelessly to a computer or smart phone. No cables or other equipment needed. I’ve had the model II and now have the model I. Wouldn’t go back to separate components. Sound quality is excellent.

44

Agree, Bluesound fits that need well

45

HomePod Mini? Sounds pretty good, ready to go with AirPlay, lots of pretty colors

#IAmAnAppleFanBoy

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46

Since you like RPis I just want to throw out what I use…

  1. RPi Zero 2 W running RopieeXL (it’s a slightly painful install with a Ethernet dongle, but once you’ve done one it’s easy and for $15+$15 for case/power supply/microSD etc it beats $45+$25 when you can get them
  2. Schiit Modi (or whatever inexpensive but decent DAC I can get on eBay for $30)
  3. TPA based mini amp that I leave always on. Here’s a $34 one from AliExpress if you want to bring your own power supply, but here’s a $65 with coupon one from Amazon that includes a power supply, or the one that Wirecutter likes. There’s a million of these class D TPA amps and they sound much better than they have any right to at the price.
  4. Whatever old speakers I headed lying around. I have some old Paradigm Atoms, some old Missions, some old KEFs. All of these beat the pants off of whatever “single box” transducers there are.

I hide all the stuff - put the speakers on top of cabinets or bookshelves, with the DAC, RPI & Amp just plugged in and sitting behind so they are unseen. Total cost to me (since I have old speakers coming out of my ears and people give them to me on the regular) is <$100 and it sings much much better, simply because the speakers are much much better. Never had an amp, DAC or RPi go bad on me yet. And at idle the whole thing draws a couple of watts. Spotify, Airplay, Roon.

I know it’s not exactly what you want. But I thought I should mention - if you put them someplace where they won’t get touched moved it is a “real system” on a shoestring.

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47

Nothing like re-cycling with a little class D amp. CCA as the streamer, Fosi audio for the amp, speakers from a '70s all-in-one system. Bowl to make it all look good.

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