Bose wave radio

[bushmechanic]

I have a pair of blue tooth rock speakers. One has a blown speaker. Wife wants to replace it with something else. Im not sure what to get. The speakers are also solar powered but dont work very long unless they're plugged in.

Where do you use them, and how much do you want to pay? Can you get away with a sub-woofer in that location?

There are tons of nice Bluetooth speakers.

 

[Citation]

When someone says radio, they generally mean radio.

You can get around some of the spying, but if you've got social media accounts, there's no point. Even this site... There are two data-loggers on this very page right now, and the site has no privacy policy.

Amazon doesn't have an incentive to sell your data, but it's still a comfort level thing. The Echo doesn't "spy" so much as it has to listen for prompts. It wouldn't work otherwise.

Beyond that, it's obviously connected to your prime account, which is data you've agreed to share to begin with.

I agree they often mean radio but they are also often willing to accept an alternative that does the same thing. My father has issues with radio reception in his shop. Since he has wifi, a streaming device will probably give him the same radio stations he currently gets.

 

[Citation]

I have a pair of blue tooth rock speakers. One has a blown speaker. Wife wants to replace it with something else. Im not sure what to get. The speakers are also solar powered but dont work very long unless they're plugged in.

What are your objectives? Do you want an a small, all in one, do you want separate speakers? Do you like the idea of an amp/receiver+speakers? How much do you want to spend?

My suggestion is an Amazon Echo Flex or Echo Dot + amp that will be hidden + stereo speakers. The Amazon device can be a BT receiver from your phone or other device that you used in the past. The Echo acts as a BT receiver and sends the sound to the amp via a 1/8" stereo plug.

This is one of the "best sounding" options but not the easiest to setup. The easiest to setup would be either an all in one BT speaker or BT speaker pair.

I've heard good things about the Klipsch options
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKCP7PZ/?tag=atomicindus08-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZDH8DF/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Those are examples and lots of brands make such speakers. I don't have any specific models I recommends but it would probably help if you can narrow down an option.

BTW, in my living room I have this setup which I do recommend.
NHT SB2 - The SuperOnes are less expensive and still really nice.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-hbRygUybeyc/p_228SB2B/NHT-SB2-Black.html

Extron XPA 1002 amp
https://www.extron.com/product/xpa1002
This is an professional installation amp. They are very power efficient when in standby. Mine came from a remodeled classroom. On ebay they can be had for under $50.

My input is either a Chromecast Audio or Logitech BT adapter. The only part of this system that is seen is the speakers. The rest is hidden away. It sounds good though the placement of the speakers is about keeping my wife happy vs best acoustics.

So, yeah, that system is my recommendation

 

[bushmechanic]

What are your objectives? Do you want an a small, all in one, do you want separate speakers? Do you like the idea of an amp/receiver+speakers? How much do you want to spend?

My suggestion is an Amazon Echo Flex or Echo Dot + amp that will be hidden + stereo speakers. The Amazon device can be a BT receiver from your phone or other device that you used in the past. The Echo acts as a BT receiver and sends the sound to the amp via a 1/8" stereo plug.

This is one of the "best sounding" options but not the easiest to setup. The easiest to setup would be either an all in one BT speaker or BT speaker pair.

I've heard good things about the Klipsch options
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKCP7PZ/?tag=atomicindus08-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZDH8DF/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Those are examples and lots of brands make such speakers. I don't have any specific models I recommends but it would probably help if you can narrow down an option.

BTW, in my living room I have this setup which I do recommend.
NHT SB2 - The SuperOnes are less expensive and still really nice.
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-hbRygUybeyc/p_228SB2B/NHT-SB2-Black.html

Extron XPA 1002 amp
https://www.extron.com/product/xpa1002
This is an professional installation amp. They are very power efficient when in standby. Mine came from a remodeled classroom. On ebay they can be had for under $50.

My input is either a Chromecast Audio or Logitech BT adapter. The only part of this system that is seen is the speakers. The rest is hidden away. It sounds good though the placement of the speakers is about keeping my wife happy vs best acoustics.

So, yeah, that system is my recommendation

I've been wanting one of those Klipsch One IIs for a while now.

 

[DeeDubz]

Id like something thats mobile, large enough to hear 100ft away. Wife likes to listen to music outside when she's watering the plants. The rock speaker works out but the speaker is blown.

 

[jeep63]

I have an 'entertainment wall' in my garage. I did not intend for this to happen, but when I could not give the TV away, I hung it on the wall and hooked up a Roku. I usually just put the news on and work away. I do have an old house stereo with some small speakers for music, but I find I just use the spotify app on Roku off the TV. I may pull the receiver or hook it to the TV.




Look for someone selling an old receiver and speakers. Heck, if you were close enough to me I would give you one I have in my loft collecting dust.

 

[KSJeff]

It's fine. I have the cambridge soundworks version and have had it for probably 15 years + and it's still going strong. I initially bought it because it had 3.5mm inputs and I had an external satellite radio. Now I have a little bluetooth receiver plugged into it so I can stream from my phone if I want. But generally in the garage it's sports talk radio.

In my big shop I have a full stereo with four floor standers and two 15" subwoofers, but that's a whole different deal.

Speakers are extremely subjective and almost impossible to recommend. Good luck with your radio choice!

 

[username2]

Yes and no.

No, it is not literally an FM radio so I can't dial in 100.1 and expect to hear the local station. However, it can stream stations so if I want to listen to KFOG, I can just say, "stream KFOG" and listen via the web. I haven't found a station it doesn't stream but I haven't looked very hard either. And of course if my internet is down so is the streaming.

Of course there is also the constantly spying on me aspect.

Having a device listen to me (or watch, in the potential case of smart TVs or a laptop camera) is a step too far, so I definitely wouldn't own one of those Amazon gizmos.

For a purpose-built product, a person might consider an 'internet radio' like a Grace Digital product. They often have FM capability, some can read MP3s from a USB stick, built-in speaker plus aux out. Slightly overpriced in terms of the components inside but a pretty slick way to go.

Keeping track of just your music listening is not much of a privacy problem unless political podcasts become problematic in the future (always possible as the surveillance net tightens on everyone). If you go down the rabbit hole of privacy, a not unreasonable thing, I'd just buy a cheap used laptop of common manufacture and run Tails.

note: as an aside, the only radio that I would find interesting anymore has some sort of live host/DJ and given how rare that can be, the jillions of stations on the web give you a lot more opportunities for that. If some sort of Clear Channel-esque thing is good enough, a person might as well just load up a ton of archived Art Bell or classic rock audio on an mp3 player and avoid the hassle of picking up a stream or frequency.

 

[username2]

I have an 'entertainment wall' in my garage. I did not intend for this to happen, but when I could not give the TV away, I hung it on the wall and hooked up a Roku. .

Given how cheap a Roku or Fire Stick can be when on sale (heck, Amazon would probably just give them away simply to acquire your data for their own purposes) and the fact that a TV has adequate speakers for most people, that's a pretty good idea.

It's not dissimilar to re-purposing an old cell phone as an internet radio (those often have FM also, no?).

A lot of us are drowning in old A/V stuff so you can usually piece something together for cheap.

It seems to me that a proper garage has a vintage Marantz receiver and some Advent or AR speakers, but that's not the sort of thing that's spectacularly cheap anymore.

 

[bushmechanic]

It's fine. I have the cambridge soundworks version and have had it for probably 15 years + and it's still going strong. I initially bought it because it had 3.5mm inputs and I had an external satellite radio. Now I have a little bluetooth receiver plugged into it so I can stream from my phone if I want. But generally in the garage it's sports talk radio.

In my big shop I have a full stereo with four floor standers and two 15" subwoofers, but that's a whole different deal.

Speakers are extremely subjective and almost impossible to recommend. Good luck with your radio choice!

Cambridge Soundworks... That's a pimp multimedia flex, right there.

 

[Citation]

Id like something thats mobile, large enough to hear 100ft away. Wife likes to listen to music outside when she's watering the plants. The rock speaker works out but the speaker is blown.

Does it need to be battery operated? Does it make sense to get an AC powered unit for your needs and a BT speaker for her?

For example, something like this for her (easy to carry, battery operated)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073BVWRSP/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C3ZOM2C/?tag=atomicindus08-20

or this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EMQI2CU/?tag=atomicindus08-20 or this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SLRBDV4/?tag=atomicindus08-20
plus this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RMPHMU/?tag=atomicindus08-20 or this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FKH3VPV/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I only have personal experience with the Dayton speakers (have a set in the kitchen, great value but not as good as my NHT or Paradigm 6" bookshelf speakers). I have no first hand experience with the rest of the items.

 

[BMWBOB]

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but I was gifted a Bose Soundlink Revolve: it is a rechargeable Bluetooth speaker that I use for mobile sound. The battery lasts an amazingly long time and it sounds pretty good for what it is.

In the shop? Nope: Harmon-Kardon Bluetooth amp with some ancient Sansui speakers I had been hording for years!