Squeezebox and/or other ideas

[Interspy24]

Just curious if anyone has one and would like to comment on the sound quality. Ive been looking to add streaming/flac content to my bedroom setup and the squeezebox boom seems like a great option. My only question is how the speakers sound. Its not a large area, but I definitely dont want "bad" sound quality. Obviously they wont sound as good as a elt/x-ls/170 setup but just curious if anyone has experiences with one. For $200 they seem like a great value expect the sound quality seems up in the air imo.

I have a panny xr55 receiver. The duet seems like a great choice but a bit expensive when its all said and done (amp, duet, and speakers).

Is using an older squeezebox and active speakers a feasible option? I havent had any experience with the behringer or mstudio active speakers and reviews seem mixed. I have quite a few speakers already, Id prefer not going this route unless the positives outweight the negatives.

Ideally something like a super budget Pioneer x-z9 would be awesome. It seems that most of the shelf systems compromise on the speakers and/or can't play with flac files. Any suggestions would be welcomed, thanks!

[Michael Perry]

I've had my SB Boom for a couple of months, 2 surprises; much smaller, and sounds bigger/better than expected. The sound quality is much better than bad.

[Interspy24]

I've had my SB Boom for a couple of months, 2 surprises; much smaller, and sounds bigger/better than expected. The sound quality is much better than bad.

Thanks for your feedback. Do you mind me asking how big of an area it is being used in - living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc? Just curious how it sounds when turned up. I dont listen that loud, but just curious.I'll see if the local Best Buy has one to listen to. I really like how everything is integrated and the sb software seems to be a good bet.

Given a choice I'd like to use the SB's streaming capability and little amp paired with a set of bookshelf speakers for better sound. However, I realize its hard to do everything well and still keep costs down.

I think down the road I could get a duet or v3 for the living room as well (currently using xbmc).

[Michael Perry]

It's in my master bath, listen as I get ready for work. The room is 11' x15', plays pretty loud to be heard over the shower and still sounds good.

[Interspy24]

It's in my master bath, listen as I get ready for work. The room is 11' x15', plays pretty loud to be heard over the shower and still sounds good.

Thanks again!

[Interspy24]

Quick update - I ended up buying a squeezebox boom!

I set it up and it sounds better than expected. The internet radio function is great, its nice to explore some different stations and have easy access to them. I haven't setup my all my flac files (maybe tonight) but I'm looking forward to it.

My main complaint is some of the stations have low bitates and have some background noise. Right now I'm looking to pick about 15-20 higher quality stations and basically stick to using those for the most part.

Obviously this doesnt sound as nice as a bookshelf setup, but I'm very impressed with the compact size and bigger than suggested sound. The fact I can access all my music and have decent sound in an all in one package is nice. Im now considering adding a sd classic/v3 or duet for the living room.

Btw these are on sale at Amazon for $170. If you have any questons, feel free to ask!

[HAL]

Another idea for the living room setup would be the Squeezebox Touch that has replaced the SB Duet. I have the Touch and getting started integrating it into the main music setup.

I have a SB Duet running the upstairs system and have great sound quality with an Onix A-120 MKII integrated and X-LS Classics with Ninja Master XO's.

Just a thought.

[Interspy24]

Another idea for the living room setup would be the Squeezebox Touch that has replaced the SB Duet. I have the Touch and getting started integrating it into the main music setup.

I have a SB Duet running the upstairs system and have great sound quality with an Onix A-120 MKII integrated and X-LS Classics with Ninja Master XO's.

Just a thought.

Just saw this, thanks for the suggestion.

Just curious what are the advantages to the Touch or the Duet? From your usage do you find any advantages/disadvantages to each? For my use the actual touch features don't seem that relevant, I think I'd rather have a remote unless I'm not understading the product correctly.

[HAL]

The Duet has a handheld remote with display, where the Touch has a remote without display. It depends on how far away the unit is from the user. The display is much larger on the Touch than on the Duet remote.

The Touch is supposed to have better sound quality than the Duet. Will get to compare them at some point, but not very soon. I have not even setup the Touch at this point, just been to busy. What I really like is being able to set them up near the audio setup with short audio cables. The external S/PDIF interface will be useful to me for adding an external DAC which I already have.

An upgrade path for better sound for each is a linear power supply instead of the switching supply that is sent with the units. This is what the DIY folks are doing over at AC and some other forums.

[Bucketfoot]

Myself, I like that the Duet has the display right there on the remote. All of my equipment is behind my main seating area, so not having this would be a rather large pain in the @$$.

[etcarroll]

Myself, I like that the Duet has the display right there on the remote. All of my equipment is behind my main seating area, so not having this would be a rather large pain in the @$$.

+1 for Duet, and having display in your hand, as well as for linear power supply.

[Interspy24]

The Duet has a handheld remote with display, where the Touch has a remote without display. It depends on how far away the unit is from the user. The display is much larger on the Touch than on the Duet remote.

The Touch is supposed to have better sound quality than the Duet. Will get to compare them at some point, but not very soon. I have not even setup the Touch at this point, just been to busy. What I really like is being able to set them up near the audio setup with short audio cables. The external S/PDIF interface will be useful to me for adding an external DAC which I already have.

An upgrade path for better sound for each is a linear power supply instead of the switching supply that is sent with the units. This is what the DIY folks are doing over at AC and some other forums.

Right, to "me" it would seem that the display on the remote would be easier. As you stated I guess i depends on your listening space and how far the unit it.

When you get some time, definitely compare them and tell us what you think. I'm curious to see if its an audible difference and/or you prefer one over the other, thanks.

[InfernoSTi]

Doesn't it seem curious that Logitech specs the Touch as "24-bit/96Hz sample rate" but the Duet as "24-bit" only? That tells me the Touch has a superior audio function and will accommodate higher resolution files that the Duet won't. Their own marketing material says this about the Touch and Duet:

Touch:
You are a music lover and you want high fidelity sound and easy access to all your music. You are someone who has a personal music collection on an external USB drive. Supports sampling rates up to 24 bit / 96 kHz

Duet:
You are an entertainer, you love having friends over and listening to your favorite new music. But you don't want to have to go to the stereo every time you want to play a new track. You want music in every room of your home and you want to be able to control it from anywhere.

Clearly, the Touch is aimed at a higher fidelity market than the Duet, which is the entertainment/connivence/gadget market.

Just my two cents worth....

John

[InfernoSTi]

Guys, I'm digging up an old post to say that I recently bought a Logitech Touch (found a special direct from Logitech for $239 and couldn't pass it up). I want to report some initial findings.

As folks know, I'm a two channel guy who has been dabbling in DIY OB and tube amps. I've also become a big fan of FLAC format, especially 24 bit high resolution (48, 96, 192, etc) sample rates. When I'm seriously listening, I use Decibel for Mac via Toslink optical and an offboard DAC.

But sometimes you want good sound and convenient playback: grab the remote, select the album and hit play. And I wanted to play both from my iTunes and FLAC digital libraries without a lot of fuss. And I wanted better than average sound quality.

So I have been Jonesing for a Touch because it plays up to 24/96 and downsamples higher res FLAC to 96 for easy playback while also playing one's iTunes library and using a simple remote control and visual interface that you don't have to sit at the computer to use.

I am very happy with the sound quality and interface of the Touch. Surprisingly, I like the analog out best: smooth, detailed sound with decent imaging and dynamics. Not as nice as my Mac/DAC but close enough that I don't feel like I'm listening to a substandard setup.

I was less than overwhelmed by the digital out to my DAC. I need to work on that because it should be much better than it was...I suspect a setup issue, perhaps.

I am thinking I will find some additional benefits as there are some features I am interested in exploring, including a USB port that I think may support a direct connection to a USB hard drive. This would make this a wonderful office music server setup, perhaps. My Ushers or JohnBlue speakers, a small tube amp such as my custom 6CL6 SPUD amp, and the Touch/HHD and instant high quality office music!

So for the money, I have to recommend the Logitech Touch 100% for playback of iTunes libraries and FLAC libraries (including high res files) with a nice interface.

Cheers, John

[PhenomeNhan]

I'm also getting the touch, although the touchscreen will be of no use to me. The big color display will new a great feature, however, esp when I have guests over. With apps available for the Androids, iphone, ipads, etc., the duet's remote screen (and hefty price tag doesn't make sense). The 24/96 is a must-have feature. I wish it supports the higher rez files, but the $240 price doesn't hurt. Don't know if you can hook up to a DAC to play higher rez files. I recently started ripping my DVD-Audio files to FLAC and WAV and plan to get stuff off of HDTracks in addition to that.

Now if only Logitech's site would behave and let me order from my phone! Il just have to wait touse my computer when I get home.