Did I waste my money on unnecessary wattage?

[ryanosaur]

I think in terms of Silver v Bronze, you have to look deeper. Driver dimensions and how they are applied are meaningless!
A very shallow dive reconfiirmed my thoughts that the current generation Silver lineup is a serious step above the Bronze, and this goes from everything from cabinet construction to driver design, and possibly XO design. The current Silvers have much more in common with the previous generation of Golds and the Platinums than they do with the Bronze lineup.

 

[mossman77]

I think in terms of Silver v Bronze, you have to look deeper. Driver dimensions and how they are applied are meaningless!
A very shallow dive reconfiirmed my thoughts that the current generation Silver lineup is a serious step above the Bronze, and this goes from everything from cabinet construction to driver design, and possibly XO design. The current Silvers have much more in common with the previous generation of Golds and the Platinums than they do with the Bronze lineup.

I watched a Youtube video comparing the two and although listening to audio recorded by a cellphone though a cellphone speaker isn't the way to audition a high fidelity speaker, I could definitely tell the Silver sounded better. If I did end up getting floor standers, they would have to be pretty close to the front wall, like 2" max. Not sure how this would affect things. I'm still leaning towards on wall (or in-wall with baffle in a custom enclosure), but am leaving the floor stander option open.

Thoughts on mixing two CP-WT380IDC (closed baffle) in custom on-wall enclosures with a C150 center?

 

[mossman77]

I've been listening to music via an Echo Dot this entire time, and listened to a few songs via bluetooth this evening (using my phone) and everything sounded so much better. Maybe I should consider upgrading to a better streaming box. Even the FM tuner sounded pretty good. Made me smile. Haha.

 

[lovinthehd]

Be careful in comparing different sources, both for level as well as inherent quality. BT has gotten pretty good over the years but still not up to wifi (and depending on the stream may be wifi already).

 

[mossman77]

Be careful in comparing different sources, both for level as well as inherent quality. BT has gotten pretty good over the years but still not up to wifi (and depending on the stream may be wifi already).

Then it must be the Echo Dot? I believe it is the first version released. Maybe the newer ones have better hardware? I'm connecting to my receiver using a 3.5mm to RCA cable. Maybe I should get the 3rd generation Dot and connect via Bluetooth. Playing music over Bluetooth with my phone is substantially better sounding.

 

[lovinthehd]

Then it must be the Echo Dot? I believe it is the first version released. Maybe the newer ones have better hardware? I'm connecting to my receiver using a 3.5mm to RCA cable. Maybe I should get the 3rd generation Dot and connect via Bluetooth. Playing music over Bluetooth with my phone is substantially better sounding.

Couldn't tell you, have no desire to talk to a device (altho I have that in the Fire Stick but it gets so many things wrong its just easier not to use). I'd think the Echo wouldn't use BT except as communication with your controller, rather than dictating the stream.

 

[mossman77]

Couldn't tell you, have no desire to talk to a device (altho I have that in the Fire Stick but it gets so many things wrong its just easier not to use). I'd think the Echo wouldn't use BT except as communication with your controller, rather than dictating the stream.

Looks like my receiver supports internet streaming from Pandora, Spotify, Amazon music, etc. I'll have to look into getting that set up. My daughter likes the speech feature and it's pretty convenient when you think of a song and want to hear it immediately. Even if you have the name wrong it usually finds it. Just wish it sounded better.

 

[mossman77]

Just opened Spotify on my phone and it saw my receiver (Heos capable) and I'm playing music over wifi and it sounds great

 

[lovinthehd]

Looks like my receiver supports internet streaming from Pandora, Spotify, Amazon music, etc. I'll have to look into getting that set up. My daughter likes the speech feature and it's pretty convenient when you think of a song and want to hear it immediately. Even if you have the name wrong it usually finds it. Just wish it sounded better.

The apps in various devices as to capabilities for bitrate/sampling frequency vary. The speech feature is just another aspect, not particularly connected with the stream to the rendering unit.

 

[ijetanar]

Just opened Spotify on my phone and it saw my receiver (Heos capable) and I'm playing music over wifi and it sounds great

for some reason music in spotify sounds really awful on my device. Have you encountered any problems with that so far?

 

[mossman77]

for some reason music in spotify sounds really awful on my device. Have you encountered any problems with that so far?

Check the audio quality setting in the Spotify menu and be sure it is set to "Excellent".