Klipsch The One II with Google Voice Assistant as a Roon end point - first impressions

Audio Gear Talk
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I’ve been looking for an “all in one” wireless speaker to use as a Roon end point in my Kitchen. The ELAC Discovery Z3 ticks all the boxes from a Looks/Roon/Quality POV but @ $300+ is a bit more than I wanted to spend for a secondary music player. It’s also a little larger than I want.

Hunting around on the internetz I found that the previous generation of the Klipsch “The One” is a Chromecast device and so can be used as a Roon end point (Note well: From what I can see newest generation is not a Chromecast device). And because it’s the previous generation it’s much more reasonably priced - I found one on Amazon for $160 https://a.co/d/5k2odbb.

I figured I’d post my first impressions here so that if other folks are looking for something similar this might help them.

The good:

  • For the size of device 12.5in x 6in x 6in sounds really good - I’m very happy with the sound and its ability to still sound good when loud.
  • I love the retro 1960’s radio look
  • Easy to set up - had it connected to wireless and playing as a Roon end point in about 5 minutes. And Airplay and Bluetooth 30 seconds later.

The (mildly) disappointing:

  • Max output resolution is 48kHz - its not a Chromecast audio device which seems like an odd choice - but to be honest in a device this size its not really that a big a deal - it still sounds good - just not what I was hoping for

  • I didn’t realize (its in the docs but they don’t make it super clear) you can’t group Chromecast playback devices and RAAT devices together - I have 2 scenarios where I want to use it - either a separate end point playing something different or as an extension of my main system in the living room playing the same thing at the same time. So this is a bit of a bummer - easy to workaround by Bluetoothing my phone but kind of reduces the value of being able to connect directly to Roon.

So overall I’m happy with it so far, but I’m a little deflated that it’s not quite the slam dunk exciting solution that combines great looks, great sound quality and Roon connectivity that I thought I’d found.

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It’s always been the case, you can only group like protocols , RAAT + RAAT , etc

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At the price you paid for it I am going to say it over performs and you got a great deal.
If you look at the cost of the new Roon Ready JBL speakers then this is an absolute bargain.

If it has an audio input with line in, Toslink or USB you could always patch a Ropieee into it via a Raspberry Pi.

I have a Sonos Move that I take into the kitchen and often wish I could group it with all the Roon Ready devices so I still had music synced in the other rooms (AirPlay is out of sync when I tried that and it was worse than not having music)

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You are absolutely right, of course. It is a great device for its size and price and I love the looks - I just had a picture in my head of how it was going to work, and because it doesn’t work quite that way I’m a little deflated.

The first generation of its big brother The Three, has line in and USB digital in and so I’m considering that as an alternative - I already have a Ropieee that I’m currently not using. Just trying to decide whether the additional 1.5in all round in size is a big deal or not.

:slight_smile:

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