[sheamus]

I have a Chromecast audio hooked up to my stereo is the basement, and I also have one hooked to an ancient receiver and even older set of floor speakers out in the garage.

Now I'd like to Put something on the main level of our house, specifically the kitchen to listen to music while cooking. The main level is about 600 sq. ft, but kitchen/dining area is about half that. It isn't closed off, but there is a hallway to living room (i.e., not really open concept).

There just isn't room to put an amp, floor speakers, and sub in that area. So I am looking for a decent set of bookshelf speakers to stick on a shelf, with a Chromecast. I would prefer active speakers, as it means not having to mess around with an amp, but I would consider a small amp if better price and quality wise.

I listen to really everything, but more Clapton than Skrillx, and more Waylon than Drake, More Piano Guys than traditional symphony, etc. I don't need to rock out, but just to fill the room nicely. I can go the basement if I want it loud.

I'd prefer to stay around $100. The Edifier R1280T's look like they really fit the bill, and I love the natural wood aesthetic. Would they sound pretty small in that room? (No place local sells them to try out). Would the R1280DB's be worth another $30 to get the optical in? Or would I even notice a difference on speakers that small? What else should I be considering in this price range? Is there is there a go-to answer in this case?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'd prefer to stay around $100. The Edifier R1280T's look like they really fit the bill, and I love the natural wood aesthetic. Would they sound pretty small in that room? (No place local sells them to try out). Would the R1280DB's be worth another $30 to get the optical in? Or would I even notice a difference on speakers that small? What else should I be considering in this price range? Is there is there a go-to answer in this case?

As much as those are decent speakers, the one thing they'll do well for you is fill that room. However, is having speakers that are still relatively large and with cables running between them something worth it for a situation where you're not sitting smack in the middle to enjoy their imaging capabilities over, say, convenient BT?

I have the Sonic Gear Quatro 2 flanking my laptop in my home office, but down in the kitchen I just use BT speakers for all the convenience. I put mine on the shelf so the bass reverberates on that shelf (ie like putting a subwoofer in a corner of the room) and I can blast tracks like this with enough bass to accompany my cooking, whether I'm tossing food on a wok or searing meat while plating kimchi. Bonus with using a smartphone for a source is I can keep it in my pocket, and the timer interrupts the music, like when I need to take out soft boiled/in-shell poached eggs (I haven't spent on a fancy sous vide cooker yet - I'm using a pot and thermometer), or when I have to turn/flip a steak. Your kitchen's larger than mine but you can easily move the BT speaker closer to you whether you're on the stove or the counter.

I would have put up a second pair of the Quatro 2 down in the kitchen since they'll have even more bass on the shelf, but their USB power source requires more current than what my powerbanks can dish out. If you have a 2400mAh, 5v output power bank they might work, but depending on where you are, the Quatro might not be the most economical choice (they're going for over $40 on Amazon; I got them locally for about $11).

Plus depending on what and how you cook and how powerful your kitchen exhaust is you might just end up finding smoked oil condensing on the speakers, so best use something cheap. My carbon steel and cast iron - woks, skillets, grill pans, griddles, etc - get a lot of oil smoking that I have to keep all windows open. During a storm I couldn't do that and when I came back for the speaker in the morning there was an oily residue on them.

 

[sheamus]

I find Chromecast to be much more convenient than BT, and to sound better as well.

I have a couple options for placement.
1. On a standalone wooden pantry in dining room facing towards the kitchen counter, I work on. The pantry is about 4' wide, so there would not be much separation.
2. On top of my cupboards, I have about a 2ft between the top of the cupboards and ceiling with a small ledge to conceal wires. They would then project over my head into dining room (to where pantry sits, about 15ft) and hopefully bounce back for a nice sound. I like this option best, as the aesthetics of the speakers matter less.

Neither placement is perfect for sure, but should still give a nice sound.

You raise a great point about grease etc. I have pulled ornaments off the cupboard-ledge and found grease on them, and we have a pretty darn clean house. But it makes me think I don't want to be spending too much money on something that could get dirty/smoky.

I could just buy Lepy amp, and some used speakers off of kijiji/craigslist...

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I find Chromecast to be much more convenient than BT, and to sound better as well.

Even if you're not sitting smack in the middle? In any case if you're willing to deal with wires in the kitchen then at least that isn't a problem for you.

I have a couple options for placement.
1. On a standalone wooden pantry in dining room facing towards the kitchen counter, I work on. The pantry is about 4' wide, so there would not be much separation.

Hence my point about BT speakers - there won't be any real stereo image anyway. It's not like you have the counter and the stove smack in the middle of the speakers much less you facing the speakers to get a real stereo image.

That said, if you're willing to deal with wires and use speakers that size, then the one advantage they have is a heck of a lot of power on their built in amps, though not necessarily the ones you can get for $100. There's the HiVi D1080 for $150 with a lot more power. If they fit and you can spend the extra $50, I've used these in my room and with the door closed, I can hear the bass pounding in the bath across the hall, even with the shower running.

For that kind of money you can also look into the Edifier E10BT - they have active bass drivers working with passive units on each speaker. More compact too. Haven't heard them yet but the only reason why I'm using the Quatro 2 in my home office is because the E10BT isn't locally available and shipping cost+import taxes will be insane if I order it.

2. On top of my cupboards, I have about a 2ft between the top of the cupboards and ceiling with a small ledge to conceal wires. They would then project over my head into dining room (to where pantry sits, about 15ft) and hopefully bounce back for a nice sound. I like this option best, as the aesthetics of the speakers matter less.

I'd go with this one if the larger bookshelf speakers you're looking at will fit, more so if more of the sound can go into the dining room.

I could just buy Lepy amp, and some used speakers off of kijiji/craigslist...

At the low output level of those amps you'd need a very high sensitivity speaker for it to fill the kitchen and dining area as well as the R1700 (or heck the D1080) likely will.

You raise a great point about grease etc. I have pulled ornaments off the cupboard-ledge and found grease on them, and we have a pretty darn clean house. But it makes me think I don't want to be spending too much money on something that could get dirty/smoky.

It's not about being filthy per se, but unless you take the time to wipe everything in the kitchen every day or you cook with low temperature and barely any fluid (neither water nor oil; heck most oil I smoke technically doesn't even start as liquid but as a film on the iron cookware), there's bound to be some grease ending up on the stuff in the kitchen. Only other way to avoid that happening in the first place is a an exhaust system smack over the stove.

 

[sheamus]

Thanks for all the help.

I actually was looking at the D1080's, as they are available locally. I also just noticed a closeout flyer, which has the Polk TSi200's for the same price as the Swan D1080's... but I would need to amp the Polk's. I am guessing the D1080's would sound better than Polks connected to a little Lepy 2020?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I actually was looking at the D1080's, as they are available locally. I also just noticed a closeout flyer, which has the Polk TSi200's for the same price as the Swan D1080's... but I would need to amp the Polk's. I am guessing the D1080's would sound better than Polks connected to a little Lepy 2020?

They'll get louder while staying cleaner. Those cheap Class D amps provide a lot of power for their size but in the end it's still a small amp (not like NuForce or Bel Canto Class D amps), and Class D when really cranked up starts piling on distortion a lot faster than Class A/B (at the same output though the latter amp will always be a lot bigger). That said, for those who will only listen at moderate volume while sitting close, power isn't a problem, but if your goal is to fill the room from a static position (ie unlike how I move BT speakers from near the stove/counter to the bar when I move there or the dining table next to it), then it's easier to err on more power.

 

[sheamus]

Hmmm, I just realized that I have a $75 amazon.com gift card, which is almost impossible to use from Canada (they don't crossover to amazon.ca). Maybe I could trade the gift card for a small amp on the fs/ft forums here. What is the next step up from the 2020 which would provide a little more power and could drive the tsi200's a little harder, which I may be able to pickup for about $50-75 USD used?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Hmmm, I just realized that I have a $75 amazon.com gift card, which is almost impossible to use from Canada (they don't crossover to amazon.ca). Maybe I could trade the gift card for a small amp on the fs/ft forums here. What is the next step up from the 2020 which would provide a little more power and could drive the tsi200's a little harder, which I may be able to pickup for about $50-75 USD used?

Topping has a 50watt per channel amp on Amazon. If you can't find it used maybe you can find a way to trade the gift card for cash.