Small streaming system for garden room

Whiskyguy

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I’ve just had a small garden room built to enable better working from home (looks like its with us for a long time yet) and wondered what folk recommend for a small streaming system?

I have Tidal and could Bluetooth from my phone to a small generic Bluetooth speaker, but would ideally like something a little better, but not a fully blown system!

An all in one unit would be ideal. Maximum budget probably £500 ish. Room size is 3.5m x 3m so small and one side is floor to ceiling glass.

Thanks WG
 
I’ve just had a small garden room built to enable better working from home (looks like its with us for a long time yet) and wondered what folk recommend for a small streaming system?

I have Tidal and could Bluetooth from my phone to a small generic Bluetooth speaker, but would ideally like something a little better, but not a fully blown system!

An all in one unit would be ideal. Maximum budget probably £500 ish. Room size is 3.5m x 3m so small and one side is floor to ceiling glass.

Thanks WG

I take it you don't want anything too big or that takes up too much shelf space in there, how about..

- Sonos 5
- A pair of Sonos 1
- Ruark MR1 (not a streamer, so would need to use Bluetooth or add a small streamer like a WXAD-10 if you wanted to stream without having your phone connected)
- Yamaha WXC-50 and a small pair of passive bookshelves
- Slightly over budget, unless you looked at used, but a pair of small active speakers (ie. Genelec G-One or 8010s) and a small streaming pre-amp like the WXA-50, a used Sonos Connect or even a DIY RPi streamer.
 
Last edited:
............... or even a DIY RPi streamer.
just thought I’d add my recent experience with the Raspberry Pi option. Having originally felt a bit intimidated by the whole process, I found the copying of the software to micro sd card (which I thought might be an issue), to be an absolute breeze and I’m currently streaming; FLAC on portable drive> Raspberry Pi 4 > USB out into Dragonfly DAC > amp. Previously My phone was doing the job of the Pi and I was originally running it into a pair of powered speakers.
I have to admit that the setup is a bit messy at the moment, but that’s simply because I haven’t yet decided what case I want for the Pi.
My next step will be to replace the Dragonfly DAC with a DAC board which fits onto the Pi directly and then into a nice new housing. This should tidy things up nicely and I think I’ll also then swap out my hard drive for a 128Gb USB stick.
The software I use has multiple streaming plugins, including Tidal, etc, it’s just that I don’t use these services.
Control is. Is my IPAD or phone.
All in cost of the Pi, attached DAC board, case, PSU and sd will be about £120/130.
Not sure if any of this helps - but it just might give another option
 
Thanks Going Grey but I’m not really looking for a little DIY project just now! Would certainly consider that approach in future though when I have more time on my hands!

I saw that Naim do an all in one called the qB (cubed?) Has anyone had any experience with it? The reviews look great and I do like the Naim house sound - it’s fairly pricey though.

Cheers WG
 
Thanks for the reponse.
I'm lucky that I have plenty of time on my hands, so the initial faffing around wasn't too much of an issue. I do understand that it's not for everyone, though.
Good luck with your search.
 
A little bit out of budget but can play mqa so should match nicely with your tidal subscription

Somesort of trade in promotion will give £80 off if you’re near a store

 
What about a CA minx air 100/200 speaker? I've got the air 100 and it sounds pretty decent for what it is. Easily fills the kitchen/dinner which is 40 odd SQM. Loads available used on eBay.
 
I had the same dilemma as you. I have a new summer house / home office and wanted something for £500 that would be compact, sound good and allow Spotify connect. I stupidly bought a Bluesound Mini on budget so if you're looking at these, please test first. It's hopeless. I don't normally buy without testing but with lockdown fully underway I wanted something quick.

I already have a B&W Zeppelin Air in the lounge which sounds good for a one box speaker solution despite not having the full network streaming options so I was expecting similar sound quality for the same money. I'd not be so disappointed if it cost £150 but it doesn't. The sound quality is bang average at best.

The app is terrible and works about 40% of the time and it takes a good minute to turn on and similar to turn off. It works, just and I'm using it to play my 256GB FLAC on USB, internet radio stations and Spotify but in all honesty, I'm going to sell it and spend more on a proper compact one box stereo solution. I'm looking at a Naim Atom with B&W bookshelf speakers which is way over your budget (and mine in all honesty) but I'd be more tempted to look at a good network streaming amp and stereo speakers.

You can get a Yamaha RN-602 for peanuts these days and maybe grab a decent used pair of bookshelf speakers for just over your budget. It will be a much, much better solution that what I ended up with!
 

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