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If AAPL got their heads out of their asses and created a 5.1 or 7.1 scheme with HP Mini's then look out. I find the HPs to be much more palatable than any sound bar with wireless sub & satellites, and I can't be alone on that.
i’m currently using a stereo pair of first gen HomePods as my living room TV sound system, and a pair of minis for the bedroom TV.

The HomePods in the living room sound better than any sound bars I’ve tested, but I would definitely upgrade to the new HomePods if I could use my minis as rear channel surround speakers. I was actually a bit disappointed this wasn’t added as part of the second gen HomePod rollout.
 
It just didn't "fix" why I never bought one in the first place.
The most ironic part of this is that there’s that joke that Apple could release the same phone this year as last year and reviewers will still go wild for it. And here we kinda are with the “new” HomePod, except the old HomePod is 5 years old!
 
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There are 3 problems with the homepod:

1. Siri is maddening
2. The sound quality is *ok*
3. It needed to start at $250 rather than $300

I really wish we could adjust the sound settings to better fit the room, but we're stuck with whatever Apple deems the proper sound output. We have an original in our living room, and it sounds adequate, but not great.
 
12 South releases new Homepod stand. Why does it look so familiar?

B51427D9-9FFC-46B2-9981-E1FFAB0FBF68.jpeg
 
I still don't get it. Not much new/improved/fixed. it's just like an "update" to the 1st gen. So why did Apple discontinue the product? Maybe something with manufacturing on the 1st gen that forced them to halt production?

I love my 1st gen HomePods. I just don't understand what happened.
 
Damn, grrrlll... talk about feeling like Will Smith slapped someone because of a different girl...

Who said I was disregarding them? I was replying to the post about people receiving Apple review units.
Negative reviews are obviously just as tiresome.

Well you said you liked how „Maxtech (if that's the channel's name) basically ripped into the new speakers on the M2 pro units“ … Sounded like you tend to believe reviews more when they are negative. But many times that supposed „honesty“ is just a different agenda / way to bait clicks.
 
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Well you said you liked how „Maxtech (if that's the channel's name) basically ripped into the new speakers on the M2 pro units“ … Sounded like you tend to believe reviews more when they are negative.
Did you watch the review, or just comment on my post? He earns enough not to have to rely on Apple's freebies to say what he feels... so doesn't just wet his pants when a new product is released from the fruit factory.

And while I have to fight cringing at his ridiculously amphetamine-driven pace and his seemingly constant verge-of-laughing delivery I can say that he seems to say what he thinks, regardless.
 
Well I sold off my first generation because of random clicking. Never while playing music. Was odd. MR member bought it and never complained so maybe they fixed it.

Living on one floor of house so one is enough for now.
 
Apple rerelease a failed product in the hope that this time, it sells.
I don't think it was a failure with the product itself, but more with the launch price. And still, at $299.00 it may be on the high side. But it's a lot easier to setup than the Sonos. And with HomeKit integration, even better. No need to juggle between apps to get it to work.
I was about to buy the 1st Gen, but it got discontinued. I'll think about getting the 2nd Gen one of these days.
What I do need is a set of 5.1 or 7.1 for my TV, but I'll most likely get a traditional set of speakers with their amplifier. But I'm in no rush to get it now.
 
After the initial hype it will flop just like the other one

Which isn't the point. The new one is cheaper to produce, uses a Watch chip rather than an iPhone one, has fewer tweeters and microphones along with some component sharing with the more widely produced HomePod mini. Even if it sells exactly the same they will have a bigger margin per sale whereas they may have even been losing money with the previous one when they reduced the price which is why it was canned.
 
Well I sold off my first generation because of random clicking. Never while playing music. Was odd. MR member bought it and never complained so maybe they fixed it.

Living on one floor of house so one is enough for now.
Clicking could be cause by 'dirty' electricity too. Or it simply was defective; you could have exchange it under warranty.
Hopefully the 2nd Gen will work better for you. If you still get the clicking, try getting a filter like this one (the least expensive I could find, the others go for about $ 75.00):

Or you could find the source of the clicking. It could be a refrigerator or an A/C unit (when they start), or any other equipment that uses motors. Or a lose AC outlet or circuit breaker in your panel (sparking).
 
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The biggest problem which is the same problem that the HomePod Mini has and why I haven't gotten a second one to use it as a stereo pair is that you can't use the speakers for anything non-Apple like an Xbox or PlayStation. I think if they did that both of them would do much better.
 
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There are 3 problems with the homepod:

1. Siri is maddening
2. The sound quality is *ok*
3. It needed to start at $250 rather than $300

I really wish we could adjust the sound settings to better fit the room, but we're stuck with whatever Apple deems the proper sound output. We have an original in our living room, and it sounds adequate, but not great.
I think the HomePod sound quality is far better than OK. While I can't ever call myself any kind of audiophile, I do enjoy well-rounded sound rather than just bass heavy noise. The HomePods have a solid balance in my opinion. Obviously this is highly subjective though.

Fully agree it would be nice to get some sort of EQ settings for the HomePods.
 
The biggest problem which is the same problem that the HomePod Mini has and why I haven't gotten a second one to use it as a stereo pair is that you can't use the speakers for anything non-Apple like an Xbox or PlayStation. I think if they did that both of them would do much better.

I have all my TV and PS5 audio through HomePod minis. You do need an TV but if you do it works brilliantly.
 
So a failed product returns five years later with no real changes, the same price point, and similar acoustics, and Apple expects it to sell now?
I wondered the same thing and I am a fan of the original (other than its faulty behavior in many of them). They must believe the market for this type of product is larger now. They have an entry level device selling well and it is probably easier to up-sell to a more expensive speaker than hitting someone with a $349 speaker as the guinea pig. I bet they wished that they released these in reverse order from the start.

I have always wondered if they cared much about getting more units sold. It is fairly closed off from most of the other music services and requires an iPhone for use (at least it did). Seems they made it into a niche product from the outset, so I am surprised they haven't added more services and allowed it to just be setup with any phone/tablet. Seems that they wanted it to help keep people in their ecosystem, which isn't really the best way to maximize sells of this product.
 
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