I frequently see efforts that use cheap, popular, globally available off the shelf hardware for more than it was meant to. I love that and it really showcases the benefits of hackable, modifiable things. Someone could make this as an argument of user-serviceable, accessible hardware instead of sealed units that only the manufacturer can open. Also, do we need to talk about "warranty void if seal broken" stickers?
I did the same hack, except using two Symfonisk's and just connecting the existing speaker lines to a pair of floorstanding two-way speakers (Kef iQ70 from the 2010's).<p>The little amp in the Symfonisk is plenty powerful to drive these large speakers. The crossover is completely off by default, but by using Trueplay the crossover gets tuned properly and the sound is pretty damn good (albeit a tad boosted in the highs).<p>It's a great way to get super convenient (Airplay 2) and high quality sound in a room, just with a power cord for each speaker. And these quality Hi-Fi speakers are readily available for cheap second-hand... some pics here: <a href="https://twitter.com/jstsch/status/1529204823912075264/photo/3" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/jstsch/status/1529204823912075264/photo/...</a>
Only with the old guide it made sense to me:<p><a href="https://www.thetylergibson.com/ikea-symfonisk-amp-modification-guide/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thetylergibson.com/ikea-symfonisk-amp-modificati...</a>
I love these kind of hacks. Nicely done. However I must disagree with one thing in the original article:<p>> Brilliant sound<p>I have a Symfonisk bookshelf speaker in my kitchen, and I don’t think the sound is brilliant. It is too boomy for a speaker that is supposed to be placed near a wall or in a bookshelf. The low price forces some compromises and I suspect this is one.
I'm not too familiar with Sonos, but was under the impression that they are just high-end wifi speakers with some proprietary system.
And that Ikea's version is again the same idea, but at a lower cost (and less proprietary?)<p>So what is the actual benefit here? Is it upgrading the speakers of the Ikea model? Or is it adding an amp and wifi to unpowered speakers?
Or more specifically, creating a ceiling wifi speaker for cheap?<p>Because step way down from the Ikea speakers, and you could grab a few Echo Dots for (alarmingly) close to free, and line-out into any powered (or amped) speaker, which would seem to be about the same result? And at least with Spotify, multi-room works quite well.
This of course ignores privacy concerns, which keeps costs down.
I only glanced at this but I couldn't see anything about why you'd want to do this?<p>I'm guessing you get some more functionalities out of it?<p>Or Sonos compatibility?
Has anyone found a cheaper way to get stereo digital output (than the Port) to replace an old Sonos Connect? I have a nice DAC in my pre-amp, so I’d like to use that with streamed digital audio. My original Connect was very expensive and is now incompatible with newer S2 functionality. I have never understood why Sonos devices costs more without an amplifier or speaker! Presumably because they can?
This is a great hack, however I really prefer the easier version of simply connecting the symfonisk board to a decent/great bi-amp speaker.<p>See, in their normal state these Sonos speakers are mono, yet they have this stereo amp in them. What Sonos does is use a crossover with that stereo amp to make it a mono bi-amp (in other works instead of left/right, it's outputting high/low to the tweeter and woofer respectively). If you simply connect one side of the amp to a normal speaker, you'll either get muddy bass or incomprehensible chirping, because the crossover splits the audio)<p>The whole soldering part of the mod here is to work around that fact, and bridge the audio back to a single mono channel. While this has some advantages - more power, and connects to 'regular' speakers, it's a lot more wrk, and a lot riskier.
Nowadays, amplifier modules often have built-in DSP capabilities, eg to psycho-acoustically improve bass or better match the speaker. Has it been verified that this is not the case? Otherwise you'd get a signal that has been altered and is likely a mismatch to any other speaker other than the Symfonisk.
I made a guide to get line output from the Symphonisk two years ago. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/dkrui0/cheaper_sonos_architectural_with_ikea/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/sonos/comments/dkrui0/cheaper_sonos...</a><p>I already had a whole home amplifier and wanted to use some of my AVRs also. Truplay with in ceiling speakers is amazing!
tl;dr: turn a $119 IKEA Symfonisk gen 2 wi-fi bookshelf speaker into a 100W mono Sonos TPA3116D2-based amp.<p>You'll likely need to switch out the PSU to get 100W for real though. Consider looking into used laptop PSUs for bargains.<p>(There was some missing context.)
Question: Is the Sonos thing that you can walk around your house streaming playing whatever on your phone and the speakers know where you are and automagically turn on, connect, and play the sound?<p>Start listening to something in the bedroom, head downstairs for breakfast, bedroom speakers switch off as kitchen speakers take over?<p>Is that it?
Hmm, hacking in a stereo line level out seems more worthwhile. Chip amps can be found super cheap, and will likely give better results (as would a traditional amp)