Where to start? There are so many places I could. Here’s a short list:
- For the last few months, we’ve had this annoying message popping up on our big TV in the bonus room a few seconds after we turn it on, telling us to “connect the receiver to eARC”. We press “OK” and everything works fine. Tammy was the most aggravated about it and asked me to look into maybe buying a new AV receiver because that seemed the likely culprit.
- I installed HomeBridge a while back and we’ve been able to talk to “Alexa” or “Hey Siri” when we want to control almost anything. With everything on a level playing field, the HomePods have started to be used more, and the Echoes have started to only be used for automation and the grocery list.
- I got a full-size HomePod when Apple discontinued them two years ago, and it really blows away even the full-size Echo Plus. I actually went back to the Apple Store to get another, but they had sold out of their remaining stock.
- Ian got a HomePod mini for his birthday last year and he’s been really happy with it.
- Apple released a new full-size HomePod last month.
- Amazon revealed that they’ve lost 10 billion dollars (with a “B”) on the smart speaker market. How long will they be willing to do that?
As soon as Apple announced the new HomePod, I started making a plan for replacing the Echoes with HomePods, but since I didn’t order one right away, they’re back ordered for a month now.
When Tammy and I were playing Minecraft this afternoon, I thought about what it would be like to have a stereo pair of HomePods in the bonus room as TV speakers. If I did that, I wouldn’t need the AV receiver at all. The price of a new receiver is about the same as a pair of full-size HomePods and some podcasters that I listen to rave about the sound. But since the HomePods weren’t to be found, I couldn’t try that. But I could get a second HomePod mini, pair it with Ian’s (temporarily) and see what that was like…
To make a long story short(er), Miranda and I went to Market Mall after I picked her up from work. Turns out she wanted a speaker for her room that worked better than her Echo Dot. I picked up a yellow mini for her room and an orange one for the living room, and I was going to try my experiment.
After dinner, as a first experiment, I set up
- Ian’s single HomePod mini,
- The new yellow and orange HomePod minis in a stereo pair, and
- The full-size O.G. HomePod as a single,
all in the kitchen. We played Deutschland by Rammstein through each of them in turn (and through the Echo Plus, too), listening to the difference in sound. The full-size HomePod had the best sound, but the pair of minis actually sounded better in stereo. A single HomePod mini was comical by comparison. How does one mini plus one mini add up to better than two? The math is broken, but that’s what it was like. The Echo Plus had good bass, but the sound quality was bad. I could even set up the full-size HomePod to play with the minis, making a three-speaker system that was the best. It was cool.
Then I moved the speakers upstairs to the bonus room, placing the full-size one centered in front of the TV and the yellow and orange as a stereo pair on either side. Then I played Avengers: Endgame through the Bose 5.1 system, HomePod, minis, and the HomePod and minis together. The short version was that none of the HomePod combinations could hold a candle to the Bose. It wasn’t even close. I cranked that up, and it was painfully awesome. The full-size HomePod might do alright in a stereo pair, but it would be a step down. If you were in an apartment or a condo and had to choose something, it would be a good alternative to a sound bar.
Oh, and this afternoon I figured out the eARC error message almost by accident, so all’s well that ends well.
And Ian wanted the orange HomePod mini, so that one’s now in his room.
At least you solved the problem!!