Suggestions for a Streaming radio for kitchen use

If convenience, rather than sound quality, is your primary aim, check out the Sonos Play 3 or 5. Good enough for the kitchen and bathroom, I think. Both can be controlled via Sonos' phone / pad apps for Apple and Android.

Is there a decent UPNP device? I have thought about Sonos too but would rather not get into another whole streaming architecture

Good suggestion by Totemphile.  I have been very pleased with the Sonos Play 5, which sounds noticeably better than the smaller Play 3.  So much so that I bought a second unit and use both in the kitchen area, or take one out to the patio for special occasions.  Sonos has cleverly designed the software such that when using two units in the same room, you can select a stereo mode and the sound quality really improves over mono.  The network and control over an iPad, IPhone, etc. is flawless.  I use the setup everyday and love it.  Sonos makes a subwoofer that is supposed to be amazing with a pair of Play 3 or 5's if you really want to go crazy.

I have a Roberts radio, model is the colour stream. Super unit and really good sound.

It offers DAB radio and Internet radio as well asswift access to my naim system for streaming my music.

Highly recommended

I did some research late last year and found the Revo Heritage G2 - it's a DAB radio etc which will also stream FLACs (and seems to be one of the few if not the only one to do so). Haven't heard it yet though...

Used to have a Sonos Play 5 - fantastic.

Thanks for the feedback - from what I can see the Sonos Play 5 does not have the selection facility to chose which radio /stream you want to hear. or am I not understanding it correctly

I have had a number: now I'm using a Revo iBlik wi-fi and a Pure Evoke Flow.

I must say that the Pure is very slow in connecting, compared to both the Revo and a Pinnacle Soundbridge that is the fastest and most reliable. Yet, has a very good sound and allows the use of a supplementary speaker for stereo (that costs a lot).

The best one I tried, though, is the Squeezebox Radio, the only shortcoming of which, in my opinion, is that it is not UPnP and needs the squeezeserver on a PC or Mac. It must be said, though, the the squeezeserver is one of the best softwares I have tried, and totally free.

M.

The revo iBlik is one of my preferred ones. It connects in a flash, has a number of radios, a decent speaker, and analogue and digital outs.

Problem is - I have discovered later - that when one wants to use it for streaming audio files, in spite of the manual one discovers that only mp3s and WMAs are supported.

M.

Hi Derek,

Sonos is a very good option already delivering a serious sound quality, but a bit more expensive. If you want to lower the budget, have a look  at Tivoli. I use it myself. Tivoli provides "table-radio's" with a good sound quality. Via bluetooth you can stream your music from an iPad or someting else. The antenna for radio reception is very good. The battery is sufficient strong to take out a Tivoli to the garden for some 10 hrs.

Good luck, Iver

Thanks again

to re iterate

I do not want to use WiFi, I want/need to use a power line adapter ie use the mains to transfer the lan around the house.  I have a Sonos Connect and Arcam Sonlik feeding into the hifi. So what I want is an ethernet connected device to play the radio from over the net. Do not want DAB, or FM, just a box with a Radio Stream "tuner or selector", an amplifier and some speakers.  I do not want to be dependent on the existing Sonos Connect unless it would give me synchronized speech on both systems  

Given that we only listen to Radio 4 a Sonos PLay 5 might be a solution.

Hi, Derek,

I tried the Play5 and could not tolerate the latency.  If it will interact with adjacent zones you may not like it.  If not, it could be good.  I like Tivoli radios; I have not heard their Inernet radio product, though.  Looks like that fits your requirements.

Nick

If you want a single box (with its amp and speaker), to connect via Ethernet, I insist: the revo iBlik, the Squeezebox Radio (recommended) or the Pure Evoke Flow.

All have analogue out for external audio facilities.

Max

An irritating aspect of internet radio is the time lag behind DAB or FM broadcasts.  It's not such an issue if you're listening to a music station on one radio only.  If, however, you're listening to a news station that periodically announces the time or has pips on the hour, it will never be accurate over the internet.  Also, if you've got the same station playing on a DAB radio and an internet radio, they will be out of sync. 

Sonos has a good workaround for this, or at least the Sonos Connect that I use.  It will accept a DAB radio as an external source that you can then play through all the Sonos locations that you have.  So you can have all the benefits of streaming to multiple locations via Sonos (wired or wireless) plus time-accurate DAB radio.

Sonos Connect also has an automatic function that allows you to use it as a DAB alarm clock.  You connect a DAB alarm clock as an external source, program its alarm, and then program Sonos to play the external source (locally or across the network) when it detects a signal from it.

http://www.tivoliaudio.com/pro...-fm-walnut-gold.html

BOOOOOM!  Done.

Again thanks - what has become clear is that it is not a pocket money project, so we will continue to use a spare MacBook Pro and add some speakers to it.

Thanks for all the comments

Sorry, just seen this. +1 for Pure Evoke Flow. Relatively cheap and good for a kitchen, conservatory, portable patio network player.. Just make sure you wifi coverage.

I have a Meridian F80, which is an all  in one cd-DVD-am-fm-iPod rig.  It also has a toslink input, which I use to stream Spotify and Internet radio from my Apple MacBook and iPad via Airport Express.   The F80 is long replaced by the M80, which is identical electronically but long  discontinued.  Either of these would be a great unit, and they are broadly available used.   They do not have the Naim sound, but they are an uptick from everything else I have heard in a small, toaster sized setup.

If I ever upgrade my F80 home theater, this unit will go in the kitchen.

Derek,

a 2nd hand Squeezebox Radio (which would be my recommended choice for sound and reliability) can be found on the web. I've just seen a few for well under £100.

Max

Max

Thanks for your suggestion  - is there a specific model I should look of the Squeezebox. Does it it have an alarm clock function?

Thanks

Derek,

it's called the Squeezebox Radio, and it is this:

it has an alarm clock function but am not sure that you can alarm clock with Internet Radio (it might well be, though) while I know that the Pure Evoke Flow:

can, in fact it's how I wake up every morning.

The Evoke Flow has access to a library of sounds that can be enterteining.

Best,

Max

Max - Thanks again everyone for their comments. I bought a UE Smart Radio - basically the Squeezebox replacement. It is working through PowerLine adapters to connect to the big wide world.

I have sorted out how to control it from the smart phone and computer and set the alarm.

The kitchen has a surplus Macbook Pro with some better speakers attached and the UE is now the bedroom clock radio.