[tomxor]

There is no way i'm believing this thing actually sounds good unless Apple are using some tech that is not a normal transducer based loud-speaker...

First off: This guy is talking about "measurements" not perceptible quality, and anyone who has reasonable experience in audio quality will know that amp specs and measurements have almost zero correlation to audible sound quality and musicality (THD anyone).

Second: An all in one active load-speaker this small, singular and low powered will never sound "good" compared to the same money spent on actual audio (a basic integrated amp and some bookshelf speaker).

These types of devices are always a bag of compromise for audio quality, in the form of "everything must be small" (speaker diaphragms and drivers suffer because you need both large and small ones to comfortably reproduce the frequency spectrum without seriously fucking with the audio signal), battery powered (D-class amps), and finally mono for some bizarre reason, because who cares about sound anyway.

[lobster_johnson]

The HomePod is wired, not battery-powered. I don't think you've looked at it very closely.

Having purchased the HomePod, it's noticeably better than the bookshelf speakers I own (AudioEngine A2+ and Odyssey LES).

It also sounds as good as my Vizio soundbar/subwoofer combo, though I've not compared it at high volume or with movies.

It is, not unexpectedly, vastly better than my battery-powered BeoPlay P2 Bluetooth speaker.

I'm very impressed.

[tomxor]

Battery powered or not it will be low powered... there is no class-A amp in that little thing unless it's being cooled by liquid nitrogen, it will be Class-D.

I've no doubt many people will be impressed, it's all relative. But if you actually care about audio you could have bought a lot more for you $300 or whatever it is, but then people don't buy these types of things for audio, they buy them for integration.

The fact that you are comparing it to a "soundbar" shows that you probably haven't heard much better. (i'm not trying to be nasty, it's just true of most consumers, we are not living in the HiFi age anymore).

[lobster_johnson]

What $349 speaker will beat the HomePod and provide the same features? Omnidirectionality and built-in AirPlay have to be considered. The HomePod is a single speaker that can fill a room with no additional amp, receiver or subwoofer.

Comparing the HomePod to a class A amplifier is nonsensical. Nobody is pretending it's competing with that segment.

[tomxor]

> What $349 speaker will beat the HomePod and provide the same features?

None, I'm not considering those features, only audio quality.

> Comparing the HomePod to a class A amplifier is nonsensical. Nobody is pretending it's competing with that segment.

The author is implicitly:

> The HomePod is 100% an Audiophile grade Speaker

Your absolutely right, it is nonsensical, it's _physically_ in a different class all together. The author has gotten out his spectrum analyser or whatever and measured a relatively flat frequency response of a sine-wave and concludes... this is good audio: Except, "No" says every amplifier and speaker designer ever.

[sk5t]

You are aware that "class A" and "audiophile" are not synonymous, yes?

I've got one or two respectable 2-channel audio systems around the house (although I remain solidly in the "cables matter almost not at all + the room matters a lot" camp) and am willing to consider that Apple may have produced a very nice-sounding active speaker for $350 a pop if they decided to. Consider how much more manufacturing scale and tech reach Apple has, compared to, say, Dynaudio or a boutique room correction software shop. Give it a fair shake before remounting the audiophile high horse.

[tomxor]

> You are aware that "class A" and "audiophile" are not synonymous, yes?

Yes, it was just an argumentative counter example to the Class-D amp that will inevitably be used by this item.

[dkonofalski]

It is an audiophile grade speaker. For the class of device it is, it's the highest quality, best sounding speaker for the price. If you want a wireless speaker (whatever your reasons for wanting it), the HomePod is the best one, hands down.

[tomxor]

That's like saying a £5 pair of headphones is "audiophile grade" for the price. While it doesn't have a strict definition it definitely doesn't mean good for the price.

[macintux]

I’m sure you’ll offer a list of the thousands of amplifier and speaker designers who feel it’s not good audio?

[tomxor]

Why thank you mr rhetorical... If you are interested go have a look for yourself i'm not a walking audio system design book. In fact, I challenge you to find the inverse instead - empirical proof that the amp specs the author is measuring actually correlate to better sound quality.

[jtbayly]

This device is not battery operated. FYI.