I've been using a sound bar from Sonos with my TV for several years now, but in an effort to ditch the last appliances that unnecessarily require accounts and internet access, I am looking to ditch it in favor of something that is entirely contained within my own network.
What I think are my requirements:
- No microphone
- Ability to directly play audio from my Android (running Calyx OS), something I cannot do with the Sonos.
- HDMI ARC-connection to TV so that it can be controlled by my remote
- Sound must not be abysmal, but I am no audiophile. Preferably stand-alone without subwoofer
- Maximum 90 cm in length so that it fits under my TV, preferably in black / dark grey with a clean look
So far I've found something like this, which I believe gives me enough flexibility with HDMI ARC, Bluetooth and 3.5mm, even though it comes with a subwoofer:
https://www.tcl.com/eu/en/soundbar/p733w
In terms of software, I have long been considering something like balenaSound to replace the Sonos functionality, but I'll soon be setting up Home Assistant to run my lights, and I see that there is a Snapcast integration that might work for me here?
Are there anyone here who have done something similar and have found setups that work well or that I should stay away from?
Bose sound bars meet all your requirements. They have microphones but the mute button on it is a hardware disconnect of the microphone power. You can play audio over Bluetooth. Also has hdmi arc. You won't be able to use Home Assistant though.
Nice, and I actually did find one that doesn't seem to have a microphone at all (https://www.bose.com/p/home-theater/bose-tv-speaker/TVSPKR-SOUNDBAR.html). I thought I had looked at these before and discarded them for some reason, but maybe I just looked at the wrong models.
Regarding Home Assistant, I think I can pull it off with a RPi connected with AUX to the speaker. So that was one of the things I was hoping someone had some experience with here, either balenaSound or Snapcast or something similar.