I have one HomePod in the kitchen which is opposite my living room with home theater set up. I have been in the sound business both retail and professionally since 1967. I am now retired with limited resources so I can't spend thousands on a home theater system, but have managed to put together a system that blows the doors off the HomePod. I like the HomePod for casual listening and it's convenience but in no way is sonically comparable to the big system. It is good for what it is, but not an "Audiophile" device. First thing to realize about sound systems is that loudspeakers are the weakest link. You could do a blind test on a 100 name brand amplifiers and I doubt you could hear much difference other than the dynamic range extra power provides. In my years of selling Hi-Fi systems, the single most common cause of speaker failure (other than poor design) is too little power. When low power amplifiers are driven hard, they clip, or produce DC currents which the main cause of burning out voice coils. Now do a blind test on 100 different loudspeaker pairs and you will hear 100 distinctly different sounds qualities. Which is correct? Unfortunately, none. A lot come close, but each has it's own characteristic sound. Loud speaker blind tests need to be done at the same acoustic level, people will choose the louder of the two. So you buy what you like for the price that you can afford. For many years I had Magnepan MagnaPlanar 6' high flat panel speakers which I loved. Weak in the low frequencies because they were dipole radiators and the bass from each side would cancel depending on placement. Nowhere perfect but and awesome sound. Back to the HomePod, all bass drivers have what is called "free air resonance", a frequency that is highest at that point, Usually the smaller the driver, the higher the free air resonance. (also has to do with impedance, which is a whole different story). The HomePod has a very distinctive low frequency coloration which tends to diminish to your ear, as you listen over time. Very apparent when you first start to listen to it. Any loudspeaker that has that much coloration cannot be considered 'audiophile'. Read the audio magazines like Absolute Sound, where the reviewers wax on about all the different nuances of each component. Sounding like wine tasters, "with a hint of citrus" or some other characteristic. All I am trying to say is, there is nothing wrong with liking the HomPods, they fill a niche we never had in the Hi-Fi business. They sound great for their size, but they are not replacements for traditional loudspeakers in a good system.
