Music lovers what do you play music on at home?

[Poetrypatty]

Decided it's about time to ditch the CD player and get up to date. What do you recommend for buying music digitally, and for playing it at home?

Alexa.
YouTube on smart TV

I'm not very techie though so maybe you'd want something with better speakers.

Spotify through a combination of ceiling speakers ( connected to a Sonos) and a Sonos bar

Thanks both. Yes I'd like decent speakers so will look into this Spotify/Sonos. @Haricot do you pay a subscription to Spotify or buy things individually? and what do you get it on/how do you connect it to the Sonos? Sorry if this is a silly question I am clueless about this stuff.

Oh I might not be right for this subject because I use a record player but it’s not very up to date

Spotify and Sonos. You can also get cheaper speakers from Ikea that connect to the Sonos app/other Sonos' so I have three Sonos speakers and 3 Ikea ones.

Then I can stream the music through each room in the house at the same time.

The IKEA Sonos speakers are fantastic - called Symfonisk. £100 each. The whole system works through your router and you can play Spotify or just about anything else you can get on your phone all round your house.

My only warning is that we had trouble getting the speakers to work wirelessly through WiFi. I think there was too much interference. We've got them all plugged into network sockets around the house and they're rock solid, but most people won't have network sockets all over the place.

I’ve got a Naim set-up that integrates with streaming. It doubles up as a sound-bar for a TV which is very handy.

Then I’ve got a Pro-Ject record player with a separate speaker set in the main room.

I don’t personally rate Sonos, I think they used to be much better than they are now for sound quality.

Hardware

Living room:
Smart tv > old good quality AV amp > old good quality speakers

Kitchen:
phone or ipad --> Old dab radio with an ipod dock + a bluetooth adapter

Bedroom:
Smart TV just on the inbuilt speakers

Home office:
phone or ipad --> audiopro bluetooth speaker

Car:
phone --> bluetooth radio

DH's music studio:
Laptop --> some hi-falutin' speakers he uses for home recording :)

Music apps:

Usually Spotify. We have the duo account for DH and me.
Amazon Music
Plex. We digitised all our old CDs and set up a Plex server on an old PC to play them
youtube from time to time

All those apps are on both smart TVs and phones.

We don't use Alexa or similar (privacy concerns) so it's all done via our phones. It's a small open plan house so we don't really need music in all rooms, just streaming in the room you happen to be in works fine for us, and means can can listen to separate stuff.

Oh - not music, but now it's all set to up stream from phones I've found I also listen to audiobooks more

We’ve got this Sonos. DS1 bought it us for Christmas last year.

Sonos, regular digital radio or record player as I have lots of vinyl. CDs in the car, cannot figure out how to play music through my phone. DD uses a Walkman #retro.

I love my music but just listen through Alexa these days so following this thread with interest.

Little round Sony speaker for music streamed from phone. In the car, cd player. That's my favourite way of listening to music.

I've also got an ancient Bose and an iPod. That's the best quality.

Also beginning to use eg Sounds played from the laptop more lately.

I have this teeny speaker which is amazing for the size and price
Usually use Apple Music and also tune in radio app

Spotify. You pay monthly and just listen to what you want. Can make playlists and download them. We just play through Bluetooth speakers.

YY to the little Bluetooth speakers. I have one that cost about £100.
DS who's a musician has a similar one and recommended a JRL one. Saves the need for bigger ugly speakers in more than one room.

I use Spotify and through the small Alexa thingy. Spotify is the greatest thing ever invented.

We were using Bluetooth speakers etc but I treated DH to a proper amp and turntable last year which are wired up to our old mission speakers. We can connect our phone to the amp for streaming. We had forgotten what a real sound system sounds like .

We still use the quality Bluetooth speaker in the kitchen but for real music there is no comparison.

Bluetooth ear pods, my husband works nights so I can't have music blaring 😭😭

I have this Bose portable speaker which is awesome and has lasted years.

www.johnlewis.com/bose-soundlink-color-ii-bluetooth-speaker/white/p5065136?sku=236344429&s_ppc=2dx92700063993657130&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKCAiA1uKMBhAGEiwAxzvX9xO7Xueq4tMqIoyVx1YGVhgm6aSK3N7zLGU7CXZJ_uOtxQXdcnTX5hoCu4QQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

@Frenchfancy

We were using Bluetooth speakers etc but I treated DH to a proper amp and turntable last year which are wired up to our old mission speakers. We can connect our phone to the amp for streaming. We had forgotten what a real sound system sounds like .

We still use the quality Bluetooth speaker in the kitchen but for real music there is no comparison.

Yeah I agree. When we set up the smart tv we did a soundoff between various bluetooth speakers (Audio Pro, Bose) and the old AV amp + bookcase speakers, and when you swapped between them the difference was obvious.

I was a bit gutted because I'd hoped to get rid of the big amp and speakers in favour of something less bulky I but couldn't justify the drop in quality.

Apple Music and Marshall wifi speakers, five of them linked through the house, I love the aesthetic of them and the sound quality is absolutely amazing. I don't think they make the ones I have anymore, they seem to be bluetooth not WIFI.

You can preset 7 WIFI radio stations on them and either have them as a linked speaker or a stand alone one through the Marshall app.

Spotify and sonos here too. You can also play other music, like Apple Music and radio apps through the sonos system. It’s really great, would recommend. I’m quite old and cannot believe the amazing sound from one tiny speaker! I’ve been buying one at a time and putting them through the house

Currently we download high-res FLACS where possible, otherwise rip CDs to FLAC, then play them from a FLAC player through either a solid state amp or a tube amp, depending on mood and type of music, running through this equaliser thing (the box of a thousand knobs) and hooked up to a pair of speakers (usually don't listen to music using all the speakers, just in stereo). My partner has an interest in hifi equipment…

When I'm just listening to music myself, I have another FLAC player with a similar selection of music on it that I use with either a headphone amp and a high-impedance set of headphones, or with one of my other sets of headphones that don't need an amp, depending on type of music, listening situation, and mood, because I'm a headphone nerd. Or if I want to listen to something I don't have on the FLAC player, I stream it through Amazon music, although my phone can't handle the highest available quality.

Sorry to jump on my thread, but does anyone have a good non-streaming android app that they'd recommend. I have loads of CDs / downloads from friends / local bands that I'd like to be able to listen to out and about.

(Musicians, just to say, I really love it if I can buy your album on Bandcamp!)