Which speakers to pick for ipad kitchen audio setup?

[bizilux]

Hello everyone,

Im new here, but i guess i do now a bit about sound etc... Afterall i do own sennheiser HD 600 headphones (if thats any indication

Anyways, me and my GF recently refurbished and moved into apartment and we were thinking of buying some old iPad 2nd gen for 50€ and having it permanently docked on wall near cooking area. It would serve us as a way to look up recipes and to play some youtube music.
(i know youtube music is poor quality etc, but for kitchen i dont care, we bith like deep house, and we just click random mix on youtube and we are both happy).

But... I would need 2 speakers to go with ipad. I would probably put them on top of cabinets, one on left end and one on right end.
They would probably be wired into iPad, but i dont know if theres a way to make sound monochrome with ipad?
Im obviously looking for something quite cheap, sort of 100€ range max? We do not spend alot od time in kitchen anyways. And room is only 11square meters big.

And im not even thinking about Alexa etc, we both are against these "spy" things.

Heres a pic of our kitchen which is still under construction

https://imgur.com/sKWJTXq

Thanks for any input and suggestions and ideas

 

[lovinthehd]

That's pretty skinny budget for a pair of active speakers (i.e. speakers with their own amplifiers built-in, since your iPad can't provide amplification for passive speakers). Maybe JBL LSR305s but the best price I saw over the holidaze was USD 200/pr. Audioengine or M-Audio perhaps. Maybe a pair of bluetooth speakers may work better. I'm not really sure what brands available for this sort of gear available your side of the ocean either.

Why would you prefer monaural? Not an apple guy so no idea what the iPad can do with summing to mono or not...but would think it might be an option in some sort of audio app.

 

[bizilux]

I was thinking more in line of PC speakers, just for example:
Logitech Z200: https://www.amazon.com/Z200-Stereo-Sound-Multiple-Devices/dp/B00EZ9XKCM/ref=lp_172471_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1517227500&sr=1-4

Or am i looking in wrong direction?

the thing is, they cant be super loud anyways because its old apartment building and walls are not really soundproof at all so I would annoy neighbors.

another problem with wired speakers would arise because there would be 5 meters of space between them, so I would need to find speakers where i can change wire to longer one, or else Bluetooth is the answer i suppose

correct me if im wrong but i've read that Left and Right channels will not work nicely if you are not centered and that mono is the answer if you just want to fill the room and enjoy music anywhere in room and not centered?

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes those are also active speakers....just normally "computer speakers" are off my radar, but could work in your circumstance. I'd still want larger drivers and more capable speakers, but that's me.

 

[bizilux]

yeah they are not exceptional by any means, but i guess for youtube music they would be good enough. I'll check around if there are any okay ones for the price

what about 1 soundbar in the middle on top of cupboards and thats it? i guess cheap ones are also trash

 

[slipperybidness]

@bizilux
If this were me, here is what I would do.

I would purchase these speakers (I actually have had these in my garage for the last 2 years). I run these in my garage directly from an old Pio CD player.
https://www.amazon.com/Mackie-CR-CR3-Reference-Multimedia/dp/B00KVEIY4E/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1517238530&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=mackie+cr3&psc=1

I would not use the ipad directly for my tunes. Rather, I would use the ipad to control a dedicated streamer. I have an RPi streamer in my man cave. Rpi is excellent for this application, but it is not plug and play.

https://volumio.org/product/allo-kali-piano-2-1-bundle/

Hey, on a side note, maybe check out some somafm.com

My favorite internet radio stations, better quality than youtube typically. Not a lot of deep house, but likely you will find a station that you like.

 

[lovinthehd]

yeah they are not exceptional by any means, but i guess for youtube music they would be good enough. I'll check around if there are any okay ones for the price

what about 1 soundbar in the middle on top of cupboards and thats it? i guess cheap ones are also trash

One consideration is your liking of deep house music, so don't you want at least a little bit of bass capability? Tiny drivers without support of a sub just wouldn't do it for me. Soundbars are just about the same place on my radar as computer speakers so really don't know what's out there, but may be a consideration.

 

[its phillip]

Definitely skip youtube. Use soundcloud instead.

Save for better speakers as well.

 

[sholling]

Hello everyone,

Im new here, but i guess i do now a bit about sound etc... Afterall i do own sennheiser HD 600 headphones (if thats any indication

Anyways, me and my GF recently refurbished and moved into apartment and we were thinking of buying some old iPad 2nd gen for 50€ and having it permanently docked on wall near cooking area. It would serve us as a way to look up recipes and to play some youtube music.
(i know youtube music is poor quality etc, but for kitchen i dont care, we bith like deep house, and we just click random mix on youtube and we are both happy).

But... I would need 2 speakers to go with ipad. I would probably put them on top of cabinets, one on left end and one on right end.
They would probably be wired into iPad, but i dont know if theres a way to make sound monochrome with ipad?
Im obviously looking for something quite cheap, sort of 100€ range max? We do not spend alot od time in kitchen anyways. And room is only 11square meters big.

And im not even thinking about Alexa etc, we both are against these "spy" things.

Heres a pic of our kitchen which is still under construction

https://imgur.com/sKWJTXq

Thanks for any input and suggestions and ideas

I'd see if you can find a set of Edifier R1280T ($100US) or R1280DB ($129US) (the Bluetooth version) in your area and with the correct voltage for your area. If necessary you could lay them on their sides. No they aren't gee wiz "audiophile speakers" but they are very good for the money. If they are going on top of the cabinets I'd place them on noise isolating stands that will angle them down. Perhaps Audioengine DS-2 stands if they they are large enough or these foam pads.

 

[zieglj01]

Look at Swan
https://www.amazon.com/Swan-Speakers-D1010MKII-Bookshelf-Near-Field/dp/B004D2A6UK/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1517372742&sr=1-9&keywords=hivi+speakers