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Looking to ditch Sonos Beam (sound bar) - any hardware and software recommendations? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml to c/homelab@lemmy.ml

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I've been using a sound bar from Sonos with my TV for several years now, but in an effort to ditch the last appliances that unnecessarily require accounts and internet access, I am looking to ditch it in favor of something that is entirely contained within my own network.

What I think are my requirements:

No microphone
Ability to directly play audio from my Android (running Calyx OS), something I cannot do with the Sonos.
HDMI ARC-connection to TV so that it can be controlled by my remote
Sound must not be abysmal, but I am no audiophile. Preferably stand-alone without subwoofer
Maximum 90 cm in length so that it fits under my TV, preferably in black / dark grey with a clean look

So far I've found something like this, which I believe gives me enough flexibility with HDMI ARC, Bluetooth and 3.5mm, even though it comes with a subwoofer: https://www.tcl.com/eu/en/soundbar/p733w

In terms of software, I have long been considering something like balenaSound to replace the Sonos functionality, but I'll soon be setting up Home Assistant to run my lights, and I see that there is a Snapcast integration that might work for me here?

Are there anyone here who have done something similar and have found setups that work well or that I should stay away from?

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[–] LordXenu@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does everything have to be all in one, or are you open to exploring passive speakers and a receiver?

Since this is in Homelab, I’m assuming you have access to a 19” rack. You could rack mount any amplifier (I like crown amps personally) and then feed either a Bluetooth or Raspberry Pi using a line/headphone amp. That also gives you the ability to continuing adding amps to feed more speakers around the house. That’s my homelab answer.

Home theater answer would be to look at a home theater receiver.

[–] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for the reply, and sorry for seemingly ignoring it - been fighting off a cold and massive headaches the last couple of days.

To answer your questions: no, it does not need to be an all-in-one solution (e.g. the draft solution I had pictured included an RPi connecetd to the speaker that runs balenaSound or Snapcast), but I hope to keep it simple and neat.

My "homelab" (I realize now I need to start putting that in quotes 😅 ) consists of a dedicated mini-PC hosting some services through Docker and soon a Raspberry Pi with a Zigbee-receiver running Home Assistant and an MQTT broker. So I don't have a very sophisticated setup, although I do hope to one day get there. So for the time being, your solution is a bit too advanced for me, but I have saved it in my notes for future reference!

[–] LordXenu@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

No need to put homelab in quotes, it’s whatever is your lab. We all have different setups that grow and shrink as we learn.

Let me show you a smaller option than a full rack amp. I used this exact setup before except using an AirPort Express instead of the pi.

I would do the Pi (your plan) -> this -> bookshelf speakers like these.

[–] czardestructo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Bose sound bars meet all your requirements. They have microphones but the mute button on it is a hardware disconnect of the microphone power. You can play audio over Bluetooth. Also has hdmi arc. You won't be able to use Home Assistant though.

[–] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Nice, and I actually did find one that doesn't seem to have a microphone at all (https://www.bose.com/p/home-theater/bose-tv-speaker/TVSPKR-SOUNDBAR.html). I thought I had looked at these before and discarded them for some reason, but maybe I just looked at the wrong models.

Regarding Home Assistant, I think I can pull it off with a RPi connected with AUX to the speaker. So that was one of the things I was hoping someone had some experience with here, either balenaSound or Snapcast or something similar.

[–] zifnab25@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No microphone

Its funny, because I'd love to have a sound setup that accepts audio. I do FoundryVTT games regularly from my couch, and being able to talk at my TV, rather than setting up a bluetooth headset, would be great for hybrid home/remote games.

I know my TV has a built in mic, because it occasionally goes into "Did You Say Something?" mode based on keywords I never bothered to figure out. But I can't get it to sync with the server I've set it up against.

Damned near everything has a mic in it, but nobody wants to let you use it for what you want.

[–] cyberwolfie@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Hehe, different use cases :) I typically prefer not to have things like microphones if I don't have a use for it, particularly on devices connected to the internet like the Sonos one (afaik) is.