Internet radio???? What is good and cheap?

Ned Senior

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Hello there,
I use a smart tv in the living room with optical out into a £30 dac then into a marantz stereo amp and out through a decent pair of standmounted jbl speakers
I only ever stream radio, no spotify or similar and no hdd stored music

I would like to have a different source for internet radio
Likely I am moving out and taking all components apart from the tv,
Would prefer iPhone/iPad app control
(Or android)
Similar ish to the sonos control app
I use for my bedroom play ones
A connect is £279 and I would rather spend less than that so does anybody have any suggestions?
I have toyed with bluetooth receiver Idea but am unsure due to battery drain on phone / iPad
This however would be cheapest!!! Are there any of you with experience in this as to what is best to do please??
 
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Not as a dedicated box but pretty much all of the streamers also do internet radio. For example the Pioneer NP30 or NP50 or Denon DNP720 or DNP730 or the Cambridge Audio Stream Magic just to name a few examples.

What's your likely budget? If cheap is a priority you can't go wrong with a raspberryPi and HiFiBerry DAC or cheap USB DAC as long as it works with the RPI, it does depend if you're willing to set it up or simply want plug and play.
 
Thanks Jamie, my main hope would be to be able to visually see what station I am tuning to on my smartphone with a control app, I have no downloaded music stored apart from a handful of stuff on a hardly ever powered on pc
 
I have three play 1 sonos units in the house and I am thinking that maybe my best and cheapest option would be a connect!! This has previousely been recommended to me but I am looking at all options to make an advised choice
 
If you are already invested in he Sonos Ecosystem then a connect seems an obvious choice as it maintains a common UI you are already familiar with. You kit also want to review your internet radio choices in respect of the BBC's change to move their server platform and change codecs as this might means restricted or poorer quality streams for older devices that are either no longer supported with firmware updates or simply not user upgradeable.
 

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