what to buy ? Ease of use over SQ really

[sound_cycle]

Hi,

My parents (83 / 78) have decided that they are buying a music system (upto 25K) and asked me for suggestions.

They listen mostly to old hindi film music, some Carnatic, from a bunch of CDs. But also radio

To that I add the requirement of relatively small size and portability.

I liked the sound from this Bose SoundLink Mini II Wireless Bluetooth Speakers when a friend got it over.

It kinda fits budget, is portable, and has a decent sound. You can stream from a phone

Where I am stumped is source where they can play their CDs / radio.

Or am I asking the wrong questions and should do this differently ?

ciao
gr

 

[mpw]

basically you want

cd player
amp
tuber
internet radio
streaming
bluetooth

then Marantz or denon DAB series ???

 

[MaSh]

For them it has to be outright convenience over absolute sound quality.

I would pick a Sony mini hifi or a portable boombox. You get features like CD, cassette, radio, Bluetooth, nfc, etc.

http://www.sony.co.in/electronics/boomboxes-radios-portable-cd-players/t/boomboxes

MaSh

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

 

[TCHeN]

For absolute ease of use get them an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot and any boombox or hifi with 3.5 mm analog input.

Setup Spotify or any similar service once and that's it. They just have to speak and voila it plays.

My parents love it. Have even home automation going on with fans and lights.

Very easy to use.

 

[prem]

Get the Bose Wave 4. It does all of what your parents want. It's around 30k

http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/B01KX0...ose+wave+4&dpPl=1&dpID=41sX3ZihOkL&ref=plSrch

It has a CD player, AM/FM radio and streaming through Bluetooth. You will have to buy a separate Bluetooth adapter though

 

[LobsterB]

For absolute ease of use get them an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot and any boombox or hifi with 3.5 mm analog input.

Setup Spotify or any similar service once and that's it. They just have to speak and voila it plays.

My parents love it. Have even home automation going on with fans and lights.

Very easy to use.

I agree, Google Home is another option with Google Play Music as an additional subscription option.

 

[elangoas]

Where I am stumped is source where they can play their CDs / radio.

Or am I asking the wrong questions and should do this differently ?

ciao
gr

A Compact hi-fi system should do all that you are looking for,but may not be portable..

One of these will fit your requirements - Mini Systems | ONKYO Asia and Oceania Website

I think Onkyo CS-265..

 

[newlash09]

Hi sound cycle....

There is this LG OM4560 on Amazon ( as per the reviews seems to be going for less than Amazon pricing from LG retailers )

Does everything you are looking for. And as per available literature, seems to be having app control too. In my opinion nothing beats having an app for convenience. Sound quality will be nowhere near the Bose wave system. But should be easier to operate. Cheers

 

[sound_cycle]

Get the Bose Wave 4. It does all of what your parents want. It's around 30k

Thanks.

They have (almost) decided to get it, but do not want me to get it / order it for them. I could not convince them that online purchase is okay for electronics and that practically all my rig is acquired off the 'net.

Dad has decided he has to go see/ hear/ buy it and will go to Phoenix mall some evening

ciao
gr

 

[gopib]

Went through this dilemma a few weeks ago. Bought a Bose wave 4. Some days later came across Saregama Carvaan and bought that too. (After having spent 40 k on Bose decided as a lark to spend another 6K). Guess what, today Carvaan is more used than Bose (apologis ...hardly used). The music is random just like a Radio, portable- it goes all round the house, rechargeable, several choices. They have somehow managed an old radioish kind of sound. Check it out - may fit your bill....cheers

 

[newlash09]

Hi Gopib...

Thanks for the suggesting the carvaan. Looks very promising indeed. How would you rate it's audio quality. I would love to plug it into aux in port on my stereo amp from the carvaan's head phone out, of the sound quality is decent enough. Thanks.

 

[gopib]

I would not further amplify the output, though I have not tried it. The source is mp3 so do not expect much. However for ease of use it scores 100%. Besides the canned songs, you can add your own through usb or stream through bluetooth. To me, if you have listened to radio in the 70's and 80's then this is a good replacement minus the static and other disturbances or the commercials of the current period. Also you get most episodes of Amin Sayani's geetmala . All in all a good package for folks who want something simple. There are some gotcha's from a current generation perspective but they are too trivial for the intended application.

 

[Naturelover]

At the initial release of the Carvaan, the main issues were that you could not select a song and that you could not restart where you left off.
It was to make the experience as close to the radio as possible.
Wonder if that has been changed.

 

[newlash09]

Thanks Gopib for the detailed feed back...

Just bought one for my uncle ( mamaji) , who got me into music and reading. Hope he relives the fond memories of penning long song lists and getting them recorded at a dealer on audio tapes and gifting them every summer when I visited my granny

 

[sound_cycle]

So, after all these days eventually what they liked and got, earlier this week,was a Bose wave sound touch iv

My son was in Chennai before me and has it all set it up. So I have had to do nothing. Especially the detailed explanation


It's now playing Romeo and Juliet. I didn't realize that I have gotten so used to a maggiefied sound.


The son assures me that I am being more than usually silly/stupid/snooty and that it works out well for my parents, and sounds just fine

Ciao
GR