We made an Apple home theatre. It was bad

The HomePod is back! At a new starting price of $299, it has some upgrades, some downgrades, and a price cut which isn't really a price cut. So, is it worth it?

Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
1:02 The new stuff!
1:48 Getting set up
2:35 It just works!... or does it?
3:35 Thanks War Thunder
4:05 How are the HomePods for music?
4:57 They sound... different
5:37 Let's talk about another option! option...option... (it's the Echo)
6:42 The competition isn't that bad!
7:30 Let's investigate the new HomePods
9:10 Disappointing discoveries, but there are more choices!
10:24 Making a great alternative better
10:58 Who is the HomePod for?

[macaddress]

Which speakers would you buy (or which are you currently using) for your home theatre setup? Let us know!


Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

[andrewm]

Using multidirectional speakers for traditionally fixed use cases is likely the major issue here. No amount of smart wall bouncing can outdo purposely facing the driver at you.

[GrandpaJeffrey]

I live in an apartment, and use two apple home pods with my 4K Apple TV. It works really well and doesn’t bother my neighbours. I have listened to a lot of speaker “experts” on YouTube and find that so many of the audiophiles who do this type of analysis often miss the point of this type of speaker. 1. They do “just work” and 2. For movies they really do sound excellent, you basically said so your self in this video. 3. I generally do not “crank” it up very loud in any circumstance. I am living my life, cooking, cleaning, crafting, reading with the kids, while the speakers play our favourite songs and the music seems to come from everywhere all at once. I have no problem with you making a value proposition/comparison, but with the speakers being a one wire connection means I don’t have ugly wires running all over the place, and that makes them worth much more than audiophile speakers you show in this video. I can add a mini in an adjacent room and still enjoy the bass from the bigger home HomePods in the living room. (Tried it, love it) It really is a wonderful system. I don’t do the audiophile thing, where I sit and hold my chin trying to figure out if the orchestra is really in my pants. I listen to my music from odd angles, not centered in front of the tv or speakers, and from this perspective they sound even better than the audiophile system. -my opinion. Thanks

[devlatyan]

One thing is, Amazon recommends that the echo studio should be placed at least 6 feet from the wall. I’ve placed both my studios on each side of my couch. It really makes a difference as no speaker is being blocked.

[arondyte]

I just grabbed my first HomePod 2 a few weeks ago and I was honestly blown away by the sound so I’m planning on grabbing a 2nd one a few months down the road along with an Apple TV 4K. I never really owned one of the OG ones so I don’t have really have the problem of nitpicking between the 2. I also prefer a speaker that can do double duty of being moved around the house instead of just being anchored to a stationary TV sound system set-up.

[bencecsik]

I think for a full picture you should’ve compared against sonos as well. They support AirPlay and their room tuning is said to be really good

[DrAnimePhD]

You can already tell it's gonna be a really good video if the thumbnail has Jonathan giving his "I am dead inside" face that he had in the refurbished iMac vid.

[KC-bijw]

10:33 I have that Belkin Airplay device. I got it hooked up to my 90's era stereo stack. The biggest complaint I have is that it adds a fade in at the start of every audio, if they could fix that, this thing would be a hit.

[rtk]

I've found that the best setup for me is a traditional AVR and speakers. If you primarily use an apple TV, you can use a homepod mini to control the whole thing as long as you specify to do it on the TV (Hey siri, play this song on the apple TV). You get all the sound of good speakers and a fair bit of the smarts from a smart speaker.

[adamr]

Apple’s AirPort Express can be found for $50 or less and supports Airplay 2. You can use it to either connect non-Apple speakers or use it to connect a subwoofer with a pair of HomePod (minis) for a fuller sound experience.

[michaelbabiuk]

I have the original HomePod speakers and have been using them as a stereo pair in an Apple TV 4K home theater arrangement since "day one". However, I noticed that when I placed them on free standing speaker pedestals that the sound scape improved dramatically as opposed to the way they were placed on a shelf away from the wall mounted HDTV as shown in the video. (An arrangement that was very similar to the way I initially installed and placed my HomePods. I don't know why that would make a sound difference - but it did.

[TJWasiuk]

I always get compliments from guests when they come over and I have music playing or a movie going on my dual OG HomePods. I also have mine more spaced out and not sitting in front of the TV. I find that it works better for the room I have them in.

[jorgelozadamusic]

I actually like the look of the boxy speakers! Gives the setup more character!

[Carolyne_games]

I live in a small apartment and a HomePod mini really gets the job done most of the time. I think the way HomePods are designed make them a really good “single-speaker” option, but for more complicated multi-speaker setups they don’t seem quite there yet 🧐

[TheJ_G]

I have the first gen dual HomePod setup, and it’s amazing for home theater application. Way better sounding than anything at comparable price. Punching way above its price. I also think it takes little time for it to adjust to different rooms.

[Pastronomer]

I'd love a proper home theatre setup, but for my little rented apartment, a Sonos Beam, two Ones and the Sub Mini is a fantastic setup

[AdamMckeithan]

I pick up two OG home pods for $150 each a few years back. Use them as my living room tv speakers. Still haven’t heard a system that sounds better for total of 300.

[nestornieves]

I've been considering the Amazon speakers. Wish you would've used the accompanying subwoofers they sell for em. I've read decent things online for it

[folteaiustindaniel]

The dolby atmos is something that works differently for most audio devices. For some it does make the vocals distant, leaving a hole in the mids, for some it keeps the voice in the centre while expanding everything else. And OF COURSE that you'll get the sound to float around you only in between the homepods, but it's normal. Every 2.0 or 2.1 system is lile that.

[schmoogen]

It’s videos like this that make me wonder why lmg didn’t just make an ecosystem channel with different flavors of video. Because I’d love to see this with the nest speakers and googletv, or Samsungs connectivity in smartthings to phones etc.
Like videos for apple, Samsung, google, etc with specific hosts, but each getting the focused treatment on nuances and deficits of each hardware stack.