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I agree, but talking about speakers. For amps, my goto brand is Denon.
Denon amps are great. The high-end Sonos speakers are also very good for a home theater depending upon the room size. I set up a Sonos system in my parent's house with the Arc, two Ones and a Sub and was actually quite shocked by how loud it got. At some point, sure, if you are building a mini movie theater with several rows of seats, etc., Sonos probably won't cut it, but for the vast majority of home theaters, Sonos is more than adequate. More importantly, Sonos offers a range of products and price points.
 
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Denon amps are great. The high-end Sonos speakers are also very good for a home theater depending upon the room size. I set up a Sonos system in my parent's house with the Arc, two Ones and a Sub and was actually quite shocked by how loud it got. At some point, sure, if you are building a mini movie theater with several rows of seats, etc., Sonos probably won't cut it, but for the vast majority of home theaters, Sonos is more than adequate. More importantly, Sonos offers a range of products and price points.
100% agree with all, and unfortunately for my wallet my standard is mini home theater. But for the loudest smartspeaker with quality out there that uses siri directly is Homepod so that is what I use for getting ready in mornings, etc.
 
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That's a pretty insane take.
damn... and there I was all saying she *wasn't* insane... le sigh...

@robertosh
There are YouTube frikken space laser experts... quantum physics experts, fourth stage cancer surgery experts, Ukraine War (*they call it special operations) experts, flat earth experts, limitless renewable energy experts, global world peace experts, corona vaccine experts, heck, even lip gloss and cheek filler silicone experts... you name it, YouTube apparently has it..
 
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100% agree with all, and unfortunately for my wallet my standard is mini home theater. But for the loudest smartspeaker with quality out there that uses siri directly is Homepod so that is what I use for getting ready in mornings, etc.
I'd argue that the Sonos Five is a much better sounding and louder (and more expensive) smart speaker. Siri is definitely not a selling point in my mind!
 
I don't even know you, not sure why you're replying so frequently to people in this thread.
Awww... poor thing... You're acting all hurt... Are you Tim Apple's love child or something?
Nope don't know you nor care. It's a forum, this is what people did before social media. Had conversations this way.....

I go for best quality end of story (but if you think I am an apple fan boy go right ahead, could care less). Right now, HomePod has that over Alexa and Google, and yes I have tried Echo Studio (doesn't cut it even with sub). If another company makes a better one, that also has microphones and is part of a network (I have a smart home), then I would try it in heartbeat., Trust me, I trashed HomePod minis when they came out because the audio is horrible. Seriously you hate apple why waste time here?

Hurt no, want you to just go away yes, but if you stay I have all the time in the world. Here all day.
 
I'd argue that the Sonos Five is a much better sounding and louder (and more expensive) smart speaker. Siri is definitely not a selling point in my mind!
It has a price tag to match, has a much larger footprint, and doesnt have 360 dispersion. Those are a few of the trade offs if you compare it to a HomePod. Personally, we mainly interact with HomePod via Siri, so it is the big selling point. Works great for use with Hue lights, music, and timers. I see Sonos as being in a separate market.
 
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It has a price tag to match, has a much larger footprint, and doesnt have 360 dispersion. Those are a few of the trade offs if you compare it to a HomePod. Personally, we mainly interact with HomePod via Siri, so it is the big selling point. Works great for use with Hue lights, music, and timers. I see Sonos as being in a separate market.
If sonos would just have siri naturally on it, I would replace my homepod in a minute.
 
It has a price tag to match, has a much larger footprint, and doesnt have 360 dispersion. Those are a few of the trade offs if you compare it to a HomePod. Personally, we mainly interact with HomePod via Siri, so it is the big selling point. Works great for use with Hue lights, music, and timers. I see Sonos as being in a separate market.
I don't agree about the market. With Sonos you can choose Alexa or Google Assistant and control whatever smart devices you want. With Sonos you're also not limited to only controlling Apple services via the assistant.
 
I don't agree about the market. With Sonos you can choose Alexa or Google Assistant and control whatever smart devices you want. With Sonos you're also not limited to only controlling Apple services via the assistant.
Hopefully when MATTER comes out this will fix the no siri issue.
 
I don't agree about the market. With Sonos you can choose Alexa or Google Assistant and control whatever smart devices you want. With Sonos you're also not limited to only controlling Apple services via the assistant.
You need a separate device from either Google or Alexa. It isn't smart enough. I have products that Alexa can control and they are not the same as having it built into the device.
 
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What’s the point? There’s so many Bluetooth speakers on the market, why would Apple enter that space?

What's the point? There's so many cell phones/tablets/streaming boxes/displays/etc. on the market, why would Apple enter that space?

I think the point is... There's not an Apple-branded wireless BT speaker in that space. To me, that's opportunity. That's revenue stream. Sure, that space is well-established - to the point it's kind of plateaued. Which is exactly the type of scenario where Apple has been pretty successful. It's kind of their playbook. If they could offer a wireless BT speaker that leveraged the no-brainer pairing they offer with AirPods, sounded as good as a HomePod mini, at a decent price point, I bet they'd sell more of those than HomePod min and HomePod combined. Just the pairing magic alone could be the feature they tout (hell, I've seen them successfully tout way less of a feature). They could enter the wireless BT speaker market with one or - what Tim would like - a family of speakers (small, medium, large - mini, reg, Pro - speakers for EVERYONE!). And I'm pretty sure they would do well enough to more than warrant any R&D/effort/eergy placed into such an initiative. The potential of their massive, passionate and established user-base simply can not be ignored. I'm in The Ecosystem - lots of Apple computers, tablets, phones, speakers and services. My current BT speaker is a UE Boom. It offers great bang for buck, sounds good enough for where/how it is used and travels with me all over. If Apple stepped into the space, I am 100% certain to take a look at their offering and if it leveraged their seamless pairing, played nice with my other Apple devices, sounded as good as a HomePod mini, I'm highly likely to purchase. Maybe I'm the only one, but I get a feeling I'm not. Then there is also the halo effect... An Apple-branded BT speaker offering could lead to increased iPhone sales.

IDK.. I'm not smart. And it certainly seems there's legit money to be made in that stagnant, Apple-less space.
 
You need a separate device from either Google or Alexa. It isn't smart enough. I have products that Alexa can control and they are not the same as having it built into the device.
Personally I don't care for any of these assistants and don't use them, so I've never enabled Alexa or Google on my Sonos system. So, to use Alexa from Sonos, you need an Amazon device on your network too?
 
Personally I don't care for any of these assistants and don't use them, so I've never enabled Alexa or Google on my Sonos system. So, to use Alexa from Sonos, you need an Amazon device on your network too?
I don't for things I can look up online, but I do for ....Hey Siri shut off master bedroom lights, hey siri lock garage door, etc.
 
Personally I don't care for any of these assistants and don't use them, so I've never enabled Alexa or Google on my Sonos system. So, to use Alexa from Sonos, you need an Amazon device on your network too?
I believe Sonos has both. A few speakers with Mics built in and some where you have to pair to an Alexa device.

The downside is that if you turn this on, you have given Amazon or Google voice an always listening device in your home. Some people prefer Apple from a privacy stand point, but people can make that choice themselves.

If I had a Sonos that worked with Alexa, I would definitely turn it on. Much easier to just play music when you are in the mood without retrieving your phone. For us, the HomePod is for convenience. As I mentioned, it isn't part of our main system, other than controlling it by voice...Alexa also helps in this respect since it can turn off my receiver after HomePod turns it on (Homepod cannot turn it off).

I have a few Echo dots around and their biggest limitation is the mics. I dont have the latest generation, but the versions I have just can't hear you over music without getting near it and/or screaming. I would hope Sonos has better mics that these little Dots, but I haven't seen reviews.
 
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Glad to see the reviews are positive around the sound. This will no doubt outrage anyone saying it was going to be inferior due to fewer drivers over the previous generation. Apple's acoustic division have been consistently improving sound quality in products for several years now, just look at how far the MacBooks have come alone.

I won't be upgrading my first-gen stereo pair though, they do a great job already.

To be fair, most these are Apple's blessed reviewers. Unless the thing burst into flames on their desk, they were going to give it a positive "review."

It's probably fine, and it's not like it matters because you can't get the original anymore anyway, but I am curious to see some more independent comparisons to the original.
 
I believe Sonos has both. A few speakers with Mics built in and some where you have to pair to an Alexa device.
Ok, that's what I thought. If you have a Sonos speaker with a microphone, that's all you need to use Alexa or Google Assistant.

The downside is that if you turn this on, you have given Amazon or Google voice an always listening device in your home. Some people prefer Apple from a privacy stand point, but people can make that choice themselves.
Personally I don't care about privacy. There's no such thing in the digital age and I think some people just make themselves crazy worrying about it. Your phone company, your ISP, everyone is tracking everything you do.

If I had a Sonos that worked with Alexa, I would definitely turn it on. Much easier to just play music when you are in the mood without retrieving your phone. For us, the HomePod is for convenience. As I mentioned, it isn't part of our main system, other than controlling it by voice.
I have some Sonos speakers with a microphone and I've disabled the mic on every one. I've tried voice control a few times and I find it much faster for me to just use my phone or iPad, but everyone's use case is different and I definitely appreciate the appeal of voice control.

I have a few Echo dots around and their biggest limitation is the mics. I dont have the latest generation, but the versions I have just can't hear you over music without getting near it and/or screaming. I would hope Sonos has better mics that these little Dots, but I haven't seen reviews.
I would hope so too!
 
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Quoting the article: “When playing back music, the HomePod’s top will glow in colors that resemble the album artwork of what you’re listening to”

I don’t think this is accurate. Only one review claims this, and all the videos show just the white glow while playing.
maybe he was playing the Beatles White Album
 
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