I have a passing interest in all of this, and bought a wireless speaker
- similar to a Sonos (Cambridge Air) - but returned it for a number of
reasons. I think their popularity is because of:

Convenience - all in one box, compact and no wires (except perhaps mains
and ethernet).

Connectivity - especially Spotify. Also home based music storage (NAS etc)

Control - pretty comprehensive control options - certainly more than
buttons - available via 3rd party and dedicated smart device apps

Sound quality - I think the market for these things is for people who
want to listen to music and speech, and place fidelity beneath the
things listed above. Of say the twenty or so people that have listened
to my hifi (so know a decent sound is possible), only one has a
traditional source-amp-stereo speaker setup.

I'm not sure about stereo. Maybe people aren't that bothered? I have a
friend-musician who actually hates it - not entirely sure why, other
than music sounds better without.

My experience of the Cambridge was that the sound was the least of the
worries - the faff and lack or reliability actually getting it to play -
and keep playing - what I wanted just ruled it out. A radio-cassette
would have been better. I'll probably end up using a radio-streaming
device - I have one (Roberts 83i) in my study and it works pretty well,
playing my main sources - NAS, DAB and internet radio. But the sound's
not much at all, and it won't play lossless files like flac.

On the TV - I have a sound base - a cheapish (£100) Tannoy and think
it's great. I take it for what it is and appreciate that my lounge isn't
a room dominated by sound reproduction equipment (actually it is, come
to think of it, but that's not my point!). It also gives me decent
dynamic range late at night - not possible with a hifi (for me, terraced
house).

On cash - yep, eye rollingly disappointing. But those lucky enough to
have a disposable income might be forgiven for thinking there's little
else to do other than respond to hype and spend. Apple's reason for
being, some might say.


On 21/09/2017 08:18, Brian Gaff wrote:
Yes exactly what I was thinking, and Google Amazon and apple speakers seem
to have a similar claim. In at least one case they seem to have speakers in
them facing sidewards and phased weirdly, This is the old idea we used to
see in those Ghetto blasters to 'enhance' the image. It is certainly
ambient, but stereo in the correct sense of the word, no its a compromise
due to size and the fact the speakers are together.
Funny old world.
They also do a sound bar for tellies, and this actually sounds OK but once
again its not really hi fi, but impressive compared to the crap speakers in
the tv of course, mind you the one I saw cost the same as the whole tv did.

BLimey, and people say they are strapped for cash.
Bose seem to have gone down the same route.
Brian



--
Cheers, Rob