Whole-House Audio from IKEA? | Symfonisk Speaker Review
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- The Swedish furniture giant is back with another lineup of speakers, this time designed for whole-house audio. But do the cheapest entries in the Sonos landscape cut it?
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9:12 Cat casually just chillin out at the shelf
I just bought 2 and love them! The price was definitely a factor. They sounded good for the price point and would let me get my feet wet in the Sonos ecosystem.
I was given one of these recently as a present. I use it as a stand-alone speaker in the kitchen. Whether I listen via Apple Airplay or via the Sonos app on either iPhone or iPad, the sound is pretty good, for my purposes. I’d definitely recommend it for the every day casual listening experience.
1960: Home stereo with big speakers
1970: Quadraphonic with big speakers
1990: Home Dolby Surround with big speakers
2000: Home surround on small speakers
2015: Mono on tiny speakers
2025: Pterodactyls playing stone records with their beaks
Yep. People (the kids) have no idea. I have a crapload of stuff from about 1970-1980 and it sounds fantastic.
tube amps - all cone drivers - a lens made of steam-bent plywood - crossover capacitors that weighed a pound - the speakers set in tress at La Honda by Ken Kesey - all teh signal coming from reel to reel tapes from Riverside label & recorded by Rudy van Gelder.
And somehow since that day the industry found a need for & created, auto-tune
Haha good one!
Lets be honest here... Audiophile speakers today sound better than they ever did before, but they come at a price. Most people don't want to spend thousands of Dollars/Euros/whatever on huge boxes that clutter up the living room. I have two KRK Rokit 8 G3s in my home studio with a 12S2 sub and two Elac Uni-Fi UF5s as my main audiophile speakers. All of them sound gorgeous but still... Most people don't care all that much. The "lamp" is pretty much a Sonos Play 1, which is the same price as the lamp itself. I'm not a fan of Sonos at all. I don't like the way they sound, I don't like how restrictive they are and I don't like how much they cost but you've got to give it to them, they have found their piece of the marketshare. Give me the option for multiroom play over Echo and Google Assistant as well as audio over Bluetooth and I would probably get a couple of them.
DezzyTee what brand would you recommend for starting out a home cinema system for around £500? I feel I’ve gone full circle with soundbars and realised anything quality with add ons will be way more that £500.
I was surprised to see that there wasn't cheap particle board behind the grill.
a feature that I really like in this speaker is Spotify connect. So the speaker can play a spotify playlist without the need of a phone or laptop streaming the audio to it.
Walled garden
6:18 The only true centerpiece for an audiophile setup is a pit of burning money. 😂
Everyone knows that true audiophiles only listen to Bose systems... 🤣
👍😂
@@sbrazenor2 I know that was a joke but it still hurt badly... Fun fact... This is a Sonos speaker and Sonos is using Bose technology.
Average people have forgotten how music sounds like. They listen to music with a telephone. Consumer plastic shit don't last and sounds awful. I'm using Neumann.
en-de.neumann.com/kh-310-a
@@sbrazenor2 Bose is not even HiFi.
I recommended Eneby to a friend based on your video. We absolutely love it and agree that it has pretty amazing sound for the price!
Please do a teardown like the other ikea speaker it was awesome
The Ikea lamp speaker is exactly the same internally as the Sonos One (which is €199 here) and a little cheaper, with a lamp added. The bookshelf is completely different internally. There are many reviewers that confirm this, so this reviews is not so on the point. So with the lamp he is actually criticizing the Sonos One and Play:1 :P
@@davithdevries6774 one thing that is not the same between the lamp and the original ONE other than the obvious is that the lamp doesn't have a microphone.
@@Mac2thaPac yes I meant identical to the "old" Play:1, which doesn't have the mic. Easy to mix those up, the Play :1 isn't officially sold anymore now the One is out, but it is still available in most stores for a slight discount.
I have purchased the lamp version and I disagree with your comments as I have KEF home cinema set up and the quality of the sound is comparable to that setup. I think you are missing the point and forgetting the price point of this speaker as it is nearly half the cost of the Apple Homepod and includes a lamp and gives me a simple and cost effective way of playing my music through it without having to fire up my system. If you have Amazon Prime you can also AirPlay the music instead of using Bluetooth and when you compare it with Bose stand alone speakers as well as Sonos speakers the cost is impressive. Mine sits in the corner of our living room and is used for background music.
Never... Just never use Bose as any kind of quality comparison... The only good thing I've heard from Bose in like ever was in my Audi A6 audio system.... That's about it.
Totally, plus it’s easy to forget that integrating a light fitting in to a speaker reduces clutter in your household. Throw a Philips Hue lamp in to the unit and now you’ve got a smart lamp-speaker for a fraction of the cost of a HomePod.
hello ray, i'm conducting a university research on Smart products of IKEA. Can i ask you some questions about your feedback on SYMFONISK lamp by email? I'll leave here my e-mail: ilaria.rivara@gmail.com
thanks
ilaria
@@rh9329 doesn't it lack the mic?
Kaitlyn L I consider it not having a mic to be a feature. The idea of an always on internet connected microphone sitting in your bedroom is pretty unsettling. There’s always dozens of mobile devices around the home begging to deliver voice assistant services at the press of a button. The Symfonisk Lamp has been a winner. Wire it in with a network cable for best performance.
I'm really excited to see whole home audio start to drop in price. AAAaaaaannnnnnddddd Airplay 2 and HomeKit. Sign me up!
An ikea product that’s pre assembled?!
You can turn off the lamp when having a movienight, an if you put lets say philips hue RGB in them and use ilightshow the bulbs can flash with the music and i think that could look really nice :) and if you have the back of the sofa to a window then this would fit nice on the window sill , posing as a lamp for the evenings and back-speakers on movienight :)
Good review Collin. I am actually thinking of buying the lamp model. It should replace the current lamp on the dressoir and serve as a speaker for internet radio.
Completely unrelated to the speaker, but I love that t-shirt!
I got the lamps for my bedroom. They look and sound fantastic. If I add a soundbar to my bedroom, they will work as surrounds in that setup also. Nobody would put the lamps next to a TV. They could work as surrounds in a living room also.
I appreciate that they included the Ethernet jack, makes is an option for a more commercial environment like a small company that wants a nice in office sound system. At $100 I think it’s a reasonable. At $50-$75 I’d be buying it right now.
This reminds me of when I visited someone's office 2 years ago and they had a white Sonos Play:1 in the break room that was streaming some radio station 24/7, and of course no access to the associated account so I didn't want to touch it.
Kevin Bhasi the guy with the login probably left years ago lol
@@Mrcaffinebean
🥴
This is the best review of this speaker. Thumbs up. Subscribed.
The lamp speaker is excellent. It gets rid of another item in a room, another annoying plug, and for a mono speaker, frequently where lamps are, is where one would wish to have sound anyway.
I have a Sonos One. I can play my music to my Sonos device without using the Sonos App. I can cast my music directly to it with my Android device, like Apple can with Airplay
Absolutely correct, Jeff. I frequently play direct from Spotify to my Sonos speakers without using the Sonos app.
Same for me with the Sonos playbar, ours does double duty via toslink to the TV and Spotify on Android directly from the app
I have the lamp speaker next to my bed, it's nice for late night podcasts/ jazz. It's more expensive because it's a 360 speaker.
Its actually not a 360 speaker believe it or not
I'd _REALLY_ like a wifi speaker like this that *_DOESN'T_* require an account. Just let me stream over my local network to the speakers. Why do I need to log into an account for that?
Yeah I immediately lost interest in anything with a Sonos label after hearing that.
I agree. I wish the Sonos ecosystem was more open. That said, I don't think you need to sign up or log into any Sonos service to use the mobile app. Also, there are also lots of open source projects that can stream from local media servers to the speakers.
some stand-alone "internet radio" units have this feature, streaming over samba or DLNA. I have one I got from a garage sale from the mid-2000s and it's a bit slow but does the job with no frills. other than that, your best bet would probably be to just get a cheap android phone or tablet to have set up with your speakers. maybe a fancy new AV receiver would do it too?
I don't get why so many smarthome devices need an account and/or have to call the mothersbip regularly to check for updates, so you have to update your smartphone app for the 3rd time in a week
Check out Bluesound. Completely stand alone and can stream hi-res FLAC from your NAS (besides Spotify, Airplay, etc.). Unfortunately you _do_ need an app/client for most features, but it doesn’t involve accounts or cloud services.
cool shirt! i want one
These are acctually really easy to build. It's like building Lego now.
The lamp speaker is basically a Sonos One (not Play:1). For which the price is a steal.
They said it is very close to the Play 1.... Not the One
Unrelated but, I received my miniamp1 and absolutely agree with you on the sound ! For $25 all inc. great little Amp, I too used inefficient speakers and was very satisfied 😉 quite impressed I may ad.
Thanks 👌
Imagine saying "hey IKEA, what's the weather?"
I for one welcome our swedish overlords!
Interesting. If I had one here, I would put something inside the port and cause the bass alignment to become aperiodic. That might tame the bass. Either plug it completely or put something that might resist the airflow, maybe not a lot needed, like light cotton balls, then experiment with the amount. This restiveness makes the box look like a larger sealed box (known as aperiodic) and even more damped than stopping up the port completely. Then report back here, would like to know. Yes, I am known as a loudspeaker designer.
The sonos app is a deal breaker. thanks for the review.
They would probably be great for rear speakers for a Sonos soundbar
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the lamp sounded a bit better. Would be cool on a nightstand for listening while chillin’ in bed or something. Then again, the other one with the wall mount could be cool AS a nightstand.
Well done as always, good sir. I love your attention to detail when filming (pan down on the speaker to reveal the microphone), and the side by side comparison of original track to speaker/mic. Totally fair commentary, and informative.
Are you doing to do a teardown video?
i saw this at ikea like 2 hours ago at ikea and didn't expect them to do a crossover with sonos
Better idea, go to your local Good Will Store. There you will find speakers and stereo system’s pennies on the dollar.
You could also use a Raspberry Pi
Indeed added a 30$ home mini and 20$ bluetooth amplifier to speakers from the eighties, made the basses kick in at 50hz
And how can I hook those dirt cheap legacy hardware to work in a multi-room setup? No sarcasm, just asking for real needs.
Is the sonos connection nice enough that hooking up two of these in tandem as 'one soundbar' sorta deal that you get more performance for a lower price than entry level 'premium' soundbars?
I think the lamp is best suited for your bedside
I have two of them set up as beside lamps, but they are also act as rear speakers for the Sonos Beam soundbar above the bedroom TV
I agree. But I was disappointed to find the knob on the side is not a dimmer, just on/off. I don’t want a bedside lamp to switch on at full power when getting up in the middle of the night, but you need some light when reading in bed. Should have been a dimmer if you ask me....
@@klaasa.deraad6355Good idea. I've never had a dimmer on my bedside lamp so I've never thought about that
Best review so far.
That "wave your phone around so we can tune the speaker" feature is such a gimmick. 😂
What do you mean they only just started to use the EQ Tuner? It's been around for years and is in all their products lmao!
What do you think of the idea of replacing the speakers with higher quality and using the Sonos electronics? The most recent Maker Magazine describes this process in • "Hack the Sonos-Ikea Symfonisk to make high-quality, networked bookshelf speakers on a budget"
I saw that article, and I think the results would be hit or miss. The biggest concern would be the crossover point and if it's appropriate for the new speaker drivers. The other thing to consider is if there's any DSP/EQ being done in software to get the stock drivers to sound "better" -- if so, it could make new drivers sound bad or weird.
@@ThisDoesNotCompute Thanks!
Thanks!
I came for this review, however I have just one question: where did you get that amazing "Great Wave of Kanagawa" wall paper? I want one!
Thanks!
It’s actually painted on, not wallpaper. Took me about a month to finish.
You need to brush up on your feature knowledge. Sonos does (and I believe it actually always has had) support for Spotify direct on Android. So you do not need the Sonos app for that on Android.
I bought the IKEA lamp speaker but found it's treble to be a little bright
oh no you didnt... :)
Sonos has done the phone tuning for an eternity.
Speakers in:
2018: Have no jacks
2019: Have no bluetooth
2020: Have no ports
2021: Have no circuitry
2022: Have no drivers
In 2023 we will buy wiggling air.
what's the sound quality compared to their play one smart speaker? that's what i'm most interested in, because that thing is always on sale for 150. thanks.
How can I connect this speaker to my Sharp Roku TV?
That's not ironic, that's apt
wow the best pronunciation i´ve heard of the name from a npn swede :)
People can be transistors?
Great review...i have a Sonos Beam, is a good idea add a couple of these on the left and right back of my sofa to improve the Beam sound ? Is just for Tv and soft music in the livingroom.
Does the auto tune only work with Apple phones ĺive other sonos products? Could this and the lamp çonnect with alexa,studio or echo dot?
I have a question on the Symfonisk: does changing the volume on the speaker reflect in Airplay 2 on your device, or are they independent? With our current setup, someone turns a speaker down in one of our rooms, and the next time you play music, you are trying to figure out why no music is coming through in that room. Thanks, and great review!
IIRC when using this with Airplay, the two volume controls are tied together - change the volume using the buttons on the speaker and it’ll change on your phone too.
Are there any soundbars, that arent as ridiculously expensive as the sonos beam that would work with these speakers and integrate with google home?
5:40 - It it just me or is there next to no difference between Direct Audio and Symfonisk audio playback? So much so that I find it hard to believe that actually is the speaker making that sound.
Just another kind of speaker from IKEA to me but made for a different purpose.
Hi, could You maybe compare this symfonisk to bluetooth speaker JBL Charge 4-relating to quality? I own one JBL so it would be useful to hear Your opinion. Thanks
I have this speaker and to be honest, I regret even paying money for it. I cannot connect to it. I have tried literally all the troubleshooting tips and nothing works. The light that is apparently supposed to blink "orange" only flashes white. I don't know what to do with this thing
So in sense this speaker is more or best for Symfonic music (just what the name of it suggests "Symfonisk") than popular music like Rock, Pop and so on.
Is it better than the Sonos Play?
Is the wall behind you wall papered?
i need a speaker at the bath room , is this good ?
Does the ethernet cable have to be connected at all times for it to operate properly?? because I saw during the setup it said once you've paired the speaker with the SONOS app you can move it around to any area of the house, am I right or wrong, if right how do I use it w/o the ethernet cable because I wanna move it!!!
You can connect it to WiFi instead of wired Ethernet - the Sonos app can help you set that up.
I hate google for killing the Chromecast.
Nice one! What is the name of the little square speaker at the end of the video?
He said the name....
Eneby (also sold att IKEA)
Open it
Whats inside??
I think paired with an Arc and sonos sub this would be ideal with 2 setup a rear surround......
Anyone have something setup similar?
I don’t have the sub yet, but currently looking at videos to decide if I want these or the Sonos one sl as surrounds for my arc
Don’t have the arc but playbase setup. Surrounds sound great. The ikeas are play:1 in disguise, they are about 80% of one, okay for surrounds.
@@TravionMusic Adding rears gives much more immersive feelings. Sub is always nice to have for action-packed movies.
@@curionion I agree, I ended up getting the Sonos one for rears. I see the sub gen 3 on Etsy for $355
@@TravionMusic Haha ones really?? I use SL as rears but that was when ikea wasn’t introduced yet. You could have saved some bucks if going that as they are nearly the same. Is that a new unit or 2nd hand?? That’s a grab for sure if gen 3
Ecosystem? Ecosystem? From all ecosystems I know Sonos and Ikea's are the most open I know off... (All smart Ikea products with homekit, Alexa and Google home..., Sonos speakers work with Google home, alexa, Apple homekit... Thats no ecosystem...
Sigh, more expensive, more complex, less useful. IoT in all it's glory.
Thanks, I'm sticking with my Revox Symbol B (mk1) speakers. At 50kg a piece, it's hardly portable, but the sound... the sound is why I buy hifi stuff :) Oh, and it's already a whole house (or in my case, whole flat) setup, because if I turn up the volume high enough, I can hear the living room speakers across the entire 40m2 flat :D
Ehhh? What about the midrange?
Can you connect 2 or 3 speakers at the same time?
Thanks!!!
Yes, Sonos can do whole house sound. Only caveat is they all have to be Sonos products
what drives me crazy about sonos is the lack of a backup non-wifi/app function. even on models with an aux input, you need to use the app to switch to it. if your wifi goes out, or your phone isn't in the room and your friend wants to plug in, youre out of luck. i was genuinely surprised to find out theres no button combo or hold-command or anything to switch to aux input in a pinch. and it looks like this one doesn't even feature a wired input. disappointing
killervacuum about a week or two ago I read that Sonos is launching a WiFi/Bluetooth model this fall. That way you can take your speaker outside or to places with limited or no WiFi and keep playing. I’m not buying these ikea speakers until I’ve seen what the new Sonos model will be like
Oh... Nice !
Everyone has a internet plug in the kitchen... Next to the sink !
🤦
that's not what "begs the question" means
Imo you should be able to connect the speaker to google home and then stream music that way
There's no Alexa compatibility?
Yes, you can control with Alexa if you set up the Sonos skill.
Plz can u review the Ikea sonos lamp speaker
I talked about it in this video.
This thing looks so fucking cool, but yeah, being tied to the Sonos app on devices is a huge turnoff
You need to rename those Apple TVs.
There is nothing like doing a Direct Audio Playback demo while on mute.... sigh
Uh does he even talk about home automation?
Does it work with Smartthings, like some other Sonos speakers?
Google home?
Does it have a mic? 2 mics, heck google Mini nest has 2 mics and newer Sonos speakers have microphones to listen to spoken commands.
It's a smart speaker man, you think the goal of wifi speakers is Spotify? Not turn on my lights or notification and 2 way chat when there is someone at the front door?
he said multiple times it has no mic
You have not cover completely what sonos offer as app. You have not even mention that speaker can integrate with Alexa. You have not mention that idea of sonos Eco system is to have speakers in multiple rooms and you can control all from sonos app. Streaming from Google music play or tune in etc is missing... Please update your review as this is not accurate review. Comparing blue tooth speaker with such sonos capable speaker is comparing potatoes and apples... Sorry I hope you will not take that feedback to harsh but it is simply not accurate. You can even setup alarm or timer or reminder thru sonos and alexa so this is not just a speaker... You do not need to have phone app on all the time, you can start music stream and go to work and speaker will not stop playing... Good luck with updated video on that product.
Man I love this look but sonos is going downhill real quickly with stupid corporate policy. Glitchy software and a horrific new app.. The price point on this is right. Never heard them so I cant comment on that but for the price of their ecosystem they better be top of the line in sound. Maybe ikea should buy em up lol
Mmm it’s fairly priced. The lamp speaker looks ugly. There are speakers from Sony made from glass with a lamp that look gorgeous. But it’s lacking bass. Nevertheless I think you can’t go wrong with these ikea sonos speakers.
It’s a Play1 with lower quality elements inside, 😉
But the light can not be dimmed , serious downside i think. There too bright.
Yes they can, IKEA launched a brighter E14 fitting smart bulb which I have fitted to my two,
cros13 thank you !
Sonos lost me long ago when they lied into upgrading their devices saying that they will continue to work with older versions of the control app albeit with limited functionality. Well, that was not the case: upgrading the firmware required to upgrade the iOS control app which required to upgrade the iOS itself which I couldn't / I didn't want to. Then they bricked older devices with their Recycle Mode which was an even bigger failure. I'll never buy Sonos again.... when my devices will stop working I'll replace them with something else.
bathroom speaker
Expensive novelty audio, this era won't be remembered fondly.
I agree. Hundreds of shitty speakers sitting on the shelves of thrift stores with no service left to play them. On the other hand, my mid-70s stereos still play everything.
@@fergusontea they are powered wifi speakers. They will work just fine for decades.
Im only 33 years old but i hate them little speakers i love my 16 inch speakers with a 4 inch mid and 2 inch twitters
Then buy those kind of speakers, no one cares if you don't like these kind. This is a review of the speakers to let you determine if you want to get them or not, not to showcase your opinions
poor conections
Doesn't impress me at all, can buy stereo speakers for less and they sound better.
Yeah this isn’t competing against those.
Proper left and right channels please.. [sigh]
For 200 bucks you can buy a proper pair of stereo speakers. This is just a toy!
I'm the only person my age (17) that I know who owns a proper stereo system, yet I get idiots telling me that their Sonos sounds fantastic and can "shake the house"
You are right, however, it's all about confience these days. People do love to listen to music, but don't want a big set of speakers etc in their living area. It's not that people can't tell the difference between speakers, sometimes good is enough.
@@TuncayAyhan most of the small 90s Minisystems sound better than the crap they have now though, that's the bit I don't get.
Arlen Moulton okay yes it may sound a bit better but what about people that just want ease of use and are happy with ‘pretty good’ sound quality... like the Sonos system
I have a Yamaha Aventage receiver with Ascend Acoustics speakers. I skeptically bought The Sonos Arc with One SL surrounds and sub for my home theater, because I bought a house that I don’t know how long I will live in for, so didn’t want to drill holes everywhere, and wanted an uncluttered look. Well, it is amazing. Then I got these Symfonisk lamps for my bedroom, and on their own they sound really good. I get it. People have pretty low expectations on sound quality these days and rave about anything, but I’m not one of them. I think you shouldn’t knock it until you try it.
Probably the worst audio I have heard in my life. Standard Sonos wireless.
I have no interest in these due to the fact it requires an account and app to use them something that is utterly unnecessary.
It struggles with playing female voices? What a sexist speaker.
Maybe it's my ears, but I heard him say "emale (e-mail?) vocals" twice!. Is it my ears, his recording, or his voice?
@@driekberndsen1917 Your ears, or your speakers, I'd say. He didn't put a lot of force behind the f, it was very breathy, but it was definitely there.
No way am I buying this turd of a speaker that won't work with Android. What an absolute fail from IKEA.
What do you mean: won't work with Android? Its probably one of the cheapest sounding home network speaker on the market. It plays music better than a Bluetooth speaker, as Bluetooth has limits for audio quality... I have Android and not being able to stream all of the sound of my phone doesn't bother me.
@@Giruno56 good for you mate. For the rest of us, we just want it to work and not have to install yet another app that won't be supported in 3 years when IKEA decides they have stopped supporting it. It should just work with industry standards, like every other speaker on the market
You can link to your Google account and use as essentially a Chromecast. Completely works with Android
@@thegingerpowerranger dude it isn't getting support from Ikea but from Sonos itself, and it works perfectly fine i have 2 a 3 speaker in every room and it works like a dream
Very misleading video title