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HomePod Did anyone replace their home theatre setup with HomePod Gen 2?
- Thread starter JSteele
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Years ago I tried the HomePods as a replacement for an entry level soundbar (with 2 rears) and that was a no-no. That experiment lasted less than 60 minutes and just made me appreciate the entry level soundbar more, lol. I have since upgraded and never gave using HomePods for movie/tv audio again. However, if one already has HomePods and no soundbar then they would be okay. The thought of replacing a home theatre setup with HomePods is more than 😂 that person would need help
.I'm replacing my Sonos Play Bar with 2 HomePod gen 2's. It sounds a lot better in my living room than the Sonos Play Bar, surprisingly.
Makes sense in your case though because of the reverb problems you experienced with the sound bar stuck in a niche. Just goes to show that room acoustics will always trump speaker quality, which is why I don’t put much weight on individuals’ claims that speaker x is sooo much better than y. Better for your space - absolutely possible.
I would venture to say though that in your case, a more directional speaker placed at the same location as the HomePods would sound even better. Though one of the things I can imagine apple could do with DSP (who knows for sure what they do) is that if the speaker detects reverb it could cut down the volume of the rear facing drivers to turn itself into a more directional speaker.
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NO
I bought a pair of HP2s - but not for my Living room. I was, however, intrigued with all the hype around it being a great substitute for a sound bar. I temporarily plugged them in and paired then and used them as output for my AppleTV.
Bottom line is no - its not as good.
I am comparing a 2xHP2s setup with a Sonos ARC, SUB, and 2 ones as rears.
Whereas I dont think anyone would realistically expect the HP2s to compete with that setup - it did sound OK of course but certainly makes you keenly aware that there is no substitute for physical rear speakers.
Now... if Apple were to allow HP Minis to be used for rear surround sound - that might be a whole different ball game. Apple could easily enough do this, and you'd end up with a 4.0 setup instead of a 5.1 but I suspect it would then sound comparable to a lot of mid ranged solutions.... though the price for 2 HPs and 2 minis would be off-putting.
I bought a pair of HP2s - but not for my Living room. I was, however, intrigued with all the hype around it being a great substitute for a sound bar. I temporarily plugged them in and paired then and used them as output for my AppleTV.
Bottom line is no - its not as good.
I am comparing a 2xHP2s setup with a Sonos ARC, SUB, and 2 ones as rears.
Whereas I dont think anyone would realistically expect the HP2s to compete with that setup - it did sound OK of course but certainly makes you keenly aware that there is no substitute for physical rear speakers.
Now... if Apple were to allow HP Minis to be used for rear surround sound - that might be a whole different ball game. Apple could easily enough do this, and you'd end up with a 4.0 setup instead of a 5.1 but I suspect it would then sound comparable to a lot of mid ranged solutions.... though the price for 2 HPs and 2 minis would be off-putting.
Yes! I had two sound systems that I replaced. First was my Yamaha YAS-207BL (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072J7PTFB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) that I'd been using for my TV. Second included two HomePod minis, which I had connected to an active subwoofer on an AirPort Express for more bass - I used this for music streaming and my 24-bit files. I sold the minis, gave away the soundbar + subwoofer, and bought two HP G2s, still connected to the subwoofer. Since I'm in the Apple universe (environment?) with a setup of an Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iMac, MacBook Air etc. it felt sensible to get something that was compatible across the board, and could let me not only watch TV but play music across the board from each device. They are pretty impressive if I'm honest.
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Can you elaborate on how you connect the subwoofer into your setup? Common wisdom seems to be that this can’t be done. Thanks!
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The AirPort Express is on my network, with the active subwoofer connected via the 3.5 mm audio input. The AirPort has AirPlay 2, so when I play audio, I send it to the HomePods and the subwoofer - which is what I did with the minis that I just sold.
I’ve been using my gen 2 HPs in lieu of my Sonos Arc no sub or surrounds and find it an acoustically better experience. The bass is more impressive to me than the Arc on its own and dialogue has been super crisp. For music, I find the homepods much more engaging as well.
This is interesting.
Having the Arc myself, I couldnt consider such a change because I also have a pair or rear speakers and a sub. There is simply no substitute for rear placed speakers regardless of the marketing guff you hear.
I did have a try, out of curiosity when the HP2s arrived - but compared to the Sonos 5.1 setup they weren't in the same ball park for me.
However replacing an Arc with 2 HP2s I can understand with the only caveat being the centre channel. Dialogue not coming from dead centre takes a bit of adjustment but substituting a 3.0 system with a 2.0 system can work.
The only other issue as has been pointed out to me by a friend is that there are some apps on the appleTV which dont seem to play well with the Airplay protocol (in the UK BT Sport is an example) and using HPs as sound output doesnt work for such apps - as bizarre as this seems to me.
I find the virtualized center channel to be quite good honestly. If I lived in a house where neighbors wouldn’t destroy me for sub generated bass I’d be on at least a 3.1 system with the sub but that’s not compatible with urban condo living.
And theres far more to the decision making process with everyones personal circumstances being different.
If you have a smaller room, and want decent but not bone shaking sound (neighbours!) then the HP2s are perfectly fine. Add to that the convenience of being wireless - as long as the AppleTV is your only set-top-box - or you have a newer model that supports ARC then its a great solution.
I keep thinking though, again theres no substitute with any system out there to physical rear speakers.
As weve said before .... all Apple need to do is to enable HomePod (mini of course) use as the rear channels and you could have a fantastic sounding 4.0 system - pricey.. but good.
No chance it's as good, I have a 9.1.2 Samsung Atmos Soundbar (which actually replaced my true Home Theater System with a reciever and 5.1 system and the sound bar is way better). There is no way two Homepods is going to come close to a true home system, let alone a simulated Atmos systems.
Correct, there seems to be a lot of confusion there. HomePods can decode and ‘simulate’ the surround portion of atmos tracks but not the part that makes the audio atmos vs surround. How much simulation they can do, Apple never says, but whatever it is, it’s working entirely by bouncing sound around the room. Which of course makes the effect entirely room dependent. And muddy sounding at best.
Going beyond that is physically impossible for a HomePod, since it doesn’t have upfiring speakers - which of course is what defines atmos vs surround. HomePods cannot do atmos.
True atmos requires ceiling speakers; simulated atmos requires upfiring speakers (and a flat ceiling); surround requires center and rear speakers; simulated surround requires a center and multidirectional speaker of some sort (and a very sparse room). HomePods try to do even more than that, and simulate both the rears and the center. It’s a hack and will sound like it. That said, for a small room it may be fine. I don’t think you’ll really get much surround but you’ll get a bigger, more ‘cinematic’ experience I guess. I’m more or less fine with just stereo speakers and the TV audio as a center. But I don’t pretend it’s anything more than it is.
It’s funny that for forever, to treat a room for sound, job #1 was to treat the initial reflection points. But simulated surround and atmos depend on them.
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Yeah HPs obviously can’t replace rear speakers (although personally I don’t care for rear sound but that’s another story). But a dedicated center channel can be omitted if either the viewer stays centered (dialogue will be precisely centered) or if the stereo speakers are positioned directly on either side of the TV (dialogue won’t be precisely center but it will still sound like it’s coming from the TV no matter where you sit in the room). The scenario where a center channel will make a bigger difference is if your stereo speakers are positioned farther away from the TV and you sit off center (eg. a group of people watching). But of course when you sit off center, all the sound balance is thrown off anyway. For this reason, I personally don’t care too much if dialogue stays centered (for non-centered viewers).
But one advantage of a center channel that I can appreciate is the user being able to adjust the dialogue volume to taste. However, this isn’t usually necessary unless the audio mix is bad for some reason or maybe if a viewer is hard of hearing.
Regarding bass, I live in an apartment so unfortunately I can’t have a lot of bass anyway. My HP1s’ have too much bass so I have to use the “reduce bass” setting.
Regarding other devices, fortunately I’m able to route all my audio to my HPs, including from my Blu-ray player (using the newer ATV) and my TV antenna channels (using HDHomeRun). I don’t use any game consoles, but I believe I heard it can be done, and with unnoticeable audio lag.
As mentioned above, whether HPs can be a good alternative ultimately depends on one’s preferences and situation.
Yes, some apps have issues. The NBA app works but it causes my HPs to occasionally momentarily disconnect from my ATV. Quite annoying.
and what did you do with all the opinions you've gathered? Or was this an exercise in forum building
So for now I've kept my Klipsch 5.1 system. I was thinking because humans only have 2 ears, if I put one HP2 on either side of the couch in my small room, the speakers could bring me the illusion of a high quality setup without needing to upgrade. But it sounds like thats not the case from peoples real world testing, marketing be dammed haha. So for now i've left it.
My situation is, i've got an aging AVR that needs replacing and my speakers are only a 5.1 in a small room. As it is I could sell the entire setup and purchase 4 HP2, 2x for my upstairs tv and 2x for my theater room. Was thinking if it was similar or better sounding, would be worth it.
My situation is, i've got an aging AVR that needs replacing and my speakers are only a 5.1 in a small room. As it is I could sell the entire setup and purchase 4 HP2, 2x for my upstairs tv and 2x for my theater room. Was thinking if it was similar or better sounding, would be worth it.
Theater room? Okay, if you sell your setup for 2 HomePods to replace your 5.1 system
I will track you down and place 100 feral cats that can't hold their bladder in your place . Might be better to replace your AVR. Do you want stereo or Dolby Atmos with your theater room?
Long term I want to have dolby atmos supportTheater room? Okay, if you sell your setup for 2 HomePods to replace your 5.1 system
My current AVR supports it, id just have to figure out a way to wire into my ceiling, might piss off the wifey haha 
I ordered a pair of HP2s to use with my ATV4K (2021) hooked up to a Sony A80J. This is in a small bedroom.
I am hoping there is a way to use the TVs OLED speakers and the HP2s! I know I won't be able to use the 'center channel' input on the Sony, but it would be nice to add the HP2s to 'widen' the sound field.
Update - The HomePods Gen 2 are going back to Costco! There is NO L/R Balance control. My TV is off center from my bed and the only way to "center" the dialog is to physically move the speakers. That is not an option for me...
I am hoping there is a way to use the TVs OLED speakers and the HP2s! I know I won't be able to use the 'center channel' input on the Sony, but it would be nice to add the HP2s to 'widen' the sound field.
Update - The HomePods Gen 2 are going back to Costco! There is NO L/R Balance control. My TV is off center from my bed and the only way to "center" the dialog is to physically move the speakers. That is not an option for me...
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