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I'd like to see some opposite reviews, if only for balance.

Also, what's with the 'two first name' brands? Is that what it takes to sound elite? If I create a brand named something like 'Bill Peter' or 'Terry Phil' for in-home theater speakers, can I astronomically mark them up under the guise of exclusivity?

If you can get Apple to lend their brand to it, some of us will spin anything and everything to help you sell it for ANY price. ;)
 
Truly shocking that a $2000 speaker sounds better than a $350 home assistant.

You missed his point completely. He was not saying Homepod should sound as good; he was making the point that audio quality is subjectively based on your own experiences. If you currently listen on an Echo Dot, I’m sure HomePod will sound immeasurably better.
 
I have seen lots of reports that say you can use it as an airplay speaker (even Apple talked briefly about this when they announced it). But for me that isn't enough, I already have Speakers/AMPS/Airport Expresses all round the house. To be worth while to me it needs to be able to play stuff on youtube and Spotify without having my phone to hand.

(apparently) "These are NOT the droids you are looking for" ;)

Cumulative reports, comments, rumors to date imply that this is mostly a smart speaker for AM, not Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, etc unless you allow the "but you can airplay" piece into the discussion. And then it's just an airplay speaker at that point. Ask Siri to play anything on Spotify and see what you get now.

There's always potential for that to change. Conceptually, Apple might be holding back support for non-AM streaming providers for some "but one more thing" big reveal post launch. Or maybe that's more fodder for the infamous "just one software upgrade away" which might leave room for it to become a teleporter or holodeck machine if one wants to really take big leaps. But, based on all I've seen so far, this is not going to bring those options out of the box (without airplaying).

Conceptually, you could start an airplay stream and put your phone down? But I suspect that's far from what you want. If you want non-AM smart speakers, pretty much ALL of the other majors tend to support a good-to-wide variety of other streaming music services. For example, go look at the Sonos 1 page, scroll down to "55 music services available" and click the + icon to reveal all of them.

I can't know yet if Sonos is > or < HomePod (yet) but if a major driver is flexibility to play music from all kinds of sources, it appears likely Sonos wins on that point in a BIG way.
 
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Frequency response: Apple Hz to Apple kHz, front, plus or minus 2 degrees
Tweeters watt RMS, each: Apple Watts
Woofer Watt RMS: Apple Watts, maximum
Peak Watt RMS: Apple Watts

There is only one reason why Apple keep those specs secret: it's not in their interest to publish them.
 
Sonos doesn't do buyers any favors as they don't offer a smart speaker in the same class as HomePod. Of course Sonos One isn't as good as HomePod; it's almost half as expensive.

The question is does two Sonos ones (which costs roughly the same price as one HomePod) sound better than one HomePod?
 
NO frequency response or THD specifications, NO instruction manual or setup guides available, NO clear indication of streaming capabilities or support on Apple website.

NO THANKS Timmy!
 
Well typically “most people” don’t base their personal opinion on what “most people” think.

Why some folks think they must operate as a hive mind I will never understand. Instead of bashing people because there is a different viewpoint. What happened to agreeing to disagree and leaving it at that?

Pretty sure it has less to do with anything related to hive minds or bashing others as it is to do with pointing out that either the reviewer's opinion either isn't very well informed or he's shilling.
 
"equating HomePod's sound quality to a live performance."

Put this guy in front of some Martin Logans and his head will probably explode. lol, such hyperbole.

I don’t know what Martin Logans are (they must be good) but there’s such obvious pro-Apple bias in these “reviews” it’s laughable. They probably think it sounds live compared to Apple EarPods. You have to take these early access reviews with a grain of salt, they’re practically sponsored. I wonder; how many live shows do these reviewers go to? Are these reviews from respected audio or hi-fi magazines? I doubt it.

Personally, I think you have to spend at a bare minimum 10 times what the HomePod costs to even get close to a live sound.

My headphones and headphone DAC combined costs 4 times what this HomePod does and they sound great but not fully live. Only the best of the best can achieve a “live” sound. Perhaps that’s what Martin Logans are! :D
 
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The HomePod does not have a bass driver. Just a midrange.

Have a good day. People like you are unable to have a polite discussion. Someone disagrees with you. You insult them.

A HomePod will output more than a pair of Sonos Ones, regardless of what terminology you want to use to name the components.

Your second sentence is ironic.
 
Pretty sure it has less to do with anything related to hive minds or bashing others as it is to do with pointing out that either the reviewer's opinion either isn't very well informed or he's shilling.

That’s factually incorrect because when others get their HomePods and say they enjoy the quality they will get raked over the coals on here.

See most posts about the X for example. There’s been countless bashing and this attitude that you must be an audiophile to truly enjoy music is crap.

When I enjoy roger waters I am enjoying him as a fan not as someone listening on some high end audio.

That doesn’t make me less of a fan of music nor does it make an audiophile a better fan of music.
 
Also, Apple only need to sell 3.4 million units of this niche product to bring in $1 billion of new revenue. I wish I had a niche like that!
 
Bose offers competitive sound. NOT audiophile, NOR studio. I make no allusions that BOSE is providing that sort of audio experience.

However, BOSE is known for well defined sound seperation, even if they do tend to lean towards mid-range colour to their audio. Also, They have a significant different sound profile between different products. THeir Over ear wired headsets sound completely different from their noise cancelling and again completely different from their bluetooth.

Also, Sound profiles are going to be different depending on the audio and music you are listening to. the Colour of a speaker and it's enjoyability is going to depend wholly on the music you are listening to. For music that's very bass heavy, yeah, My bose headphones tend to sound quite ridiculous. However for symphonic Metal where there's about 100 layers of sounds to it, They provide a very good sound. Plus their sound separation is good for gaming when you're trying to pinpoint where your enemy is based on audio.

agian, I by no means say that Bose is audiophile or even studio quality. They're not. They're still mainstream consumer technology with their own emphasis on certain sound profile. Don't be elitist by taking your attitude. Because I bet you'd be Offended fi I told you that Beats or Apple's audio quality also sucks **** for many types of music too

I am not offended when a truth is said. Because a truth is a truth. I always like to cut through the marketing crap that companies put out there to sell the product. Are Beats crap? Yes! Are Bose speakers crap? yes. But on the same note, I will tell you that Bose used to make good speakers in their early days. But then they just became a marketing company and started selling cheap speakers at high price.

Your statement "Bose is known for well defined sound separation" can be well refuted by the lawsuit filed by Bose against Consumer Reports because Consumer Reports mentioned that Bose Speakers spread the sound all over the room. And that's not what sound separation is. Also, I assume you know that Apple and Bose collaborated to build the iPod sound dock. So it already shows what's Apple's definition of good sound. Also you can google why people hate Bose so much.. or you may have heard "Friends don't let friends buy Bose":D
 
I don’t own any Sonos products but I’ve been on the verge of buying into a pair of One’s. As it stands, currently, Apple Music can only be controlled INSIDE Sonos’ own app? If this is correct, when the AirPlay 2 update comes out for it - should you then be able to control Apple Music outside of Sonos app and in the core Music app?

Also, can you connect some sort of smartplug/echo dot configuration to the HomePod to bring Alexa & that whole feature set?
 
I am not offended when a truth is said. Because a truth is a truth. I always like to cut through the marketing crap that companies put out there to sell the product. Are Beats crap? Yes! Are Bose speakers crap? yes. But on the same note, I will tell you that Bose used to make good speakers in their early days. But then they just became a marketing company and started selling cheap speakers at high price.

Your statement "Bose is known for well defined sound separation" can be well refuted by the lawsuit filed by Bose against Consumer Reports because Consumer Reports mentioned that Bose Speakers spread the sound all over the room. And that's not what sound separation is. Also, I assume you know that Apple and Bose collaborated to build the iPod sound dock. So it already shows what's Apple's definition of good sound. Also you can google why people hate Bose so much.. or you may have heard "Friends don't let friends buy Bose":D
Much of that with Bose might be more recent then than the experience I have. Admittingly my boss stuff is all over 15 years old already
 
I’m curious, when did Apple say HomePod was a “family” (multi-user account) device?
So a family of 4 adults needs 4 pairs of HomePods? So when they sit in the living room their iPhone just pair with 2 of the 8 HomePods installed. Yeah, normal...
 
I don’t own any Sonos products but I’ve been on the verge of buying into a pair of One’s. As it stands, currently, Apple Music can only be controlled INSIDE Sonos’ own app? If this is correct, when the AirPlay 2 update comes out for it - should you then be able to control Apple Music outside of Sonos app and in the core Music app?

Also, can you connect some sort of smartplug/echo dot configuration to the HomePod to bring Alexa & that whole feature set?

Except Sonos is being exceptionally cagey about just how Airplay 2 will work with their system (ie. will it turn the Sonos system into "dumb" speakers or not)...
 
Of the owners I know, they never mention music as a use for their home assistants. They use them for quick fact finding and to make reminders. Perhaps those devices aren't adequate for music. Another possibility is that people are too distracted to actually listen to music in their home.

I don't doubt that Apple's HomePod has superior fidelity. It has to sound much better to someone who has listened to music through earbuds for years. To those persons, welcome to a brave old world...

At the end of the day, I won't buy it until Siri proves to be more than a button presser. Unfortunately, Apple has already admitted that their device is primarily intended for music.
 
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Would be fun if the apple stores had its competitors speakers in display so you could get a comparison there :)

Look over there, I see flying pigs.

And someone hand Satan a heavy coat.

;)

Joke aside: eventually these are likely to be in places like Best Buy and similar. And they'll probably set them up (or be willing to move them) so that customers can do exactly that.
 
I'm an audiophile and it's plenty good enough for me.

Do you have Martin Logans in your kitchen? Den/office? Bedroom? Rec room? Do you refuse to listen to music when you're in any other room except your listening room because the sound isn't "good enough" for your ears?

For sure on that...

As an aside, after I get mine, I'm going to try it out in my car (powered via an inverter) as an experiment and see how it sounds. I might be surprised, assuming it adapts to the environment.

Likely it may be too small of a space, though. I doubt using it in a closet (or equivalent) was a use case Apple designed for.
 
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Comments are entertaining, no doubt:

1. (i) use Spotify, thus the Homepod sucks and I won't buy it;
2. (i) have more expensive speakers than this, thus the Homepod sucks and I won't buy it;
3. it costs more than what I think it's worth, thus the Homepod sucks and I won't buy it;

If you are so dead set against the Homepod, why bother commenting on a product you obviously don't want? Or is it you secretly want it and you just don't want to admit it?
 
Is anyone else concerned about all of the additional signals these devices will be bringing into your home? I mean cellphones are one thing and can be managed by shutting off in the evening, same with a router, but all of these little gadgets all over the house is going to really screw up the environment in there with signal pollution. Bluetooth lightbulbs, bluetooth speakers, bluetooth this and that. Forget not holding a cellphone next to your head, you wont be able to escape the amount of disturbance your body will be picking up on on a level you most likely wont be able to perceive...just a thought. Carry on....
If you are concerned about electromagnetic radiation then make sure you avoid the Sun. Don't use candles either.
 
NO frequency response or THD specifications, NO instruction manual or setup guides available, NO clear indication of streaming capabilities or support on Apple website.

NO THANKS Timmy!

Those specs are usually rubbish anyway. No consistent or standard way of measuring and reporting.
 
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