Considering how popular stereo headphones are, I’d say stereo sound as a format is definitely very much still a thing.  Also, I do believe there is a strong interest in stereo sound in the automobile environment.

That said, it does seam like dedicated home stereo setups have seen notable reductions in interest, with the number of available systems that offer a true stereo sound experience dwindling to meet the decreasing demand.  It would appear that an increasing number of people find it quite acceptable to passively listen to music in the background in a home setting, preferring small size and convenience over stereophonic high fidelity.

However, there will always be a number of audiophiles that strongly prefer a true stereo sound experience in the home setting.  That said, I don’t believe this is what will keep the stereo sound format mainstream.  Rather, at least in my opinion, the format will stay mainstream due to the popularity of the format with headphones and in the automobile environment.

 

I’ve moved from stereo to surround sound with great success. For me, the A6 would probably not be enough envelopment.

BlindZenDriver wrote:

So in my living room I have a nice classic stereo setup as in Squeezebox, D/A converter, high end amp and two big passive speakers (sorry, not B&O) and I am considering a music solution for the bed room. As I try to keep things as simple as possible for the bed room I am considering a BEOPLAY A9 MKII, however I wonder about stereo with such a setup - is there such a thing as to simple a setup?

The question is really both a BEOPLAY A9 MKII question, but also a general one when looking at all the active one speaker setups that are being bought these days. It sort of has me wondering - all the work I did with how my speakers was placed in my living room with my, now old school, setup is that just not needed anymore? Or is it that the convenience of just the one speaker has won over the loss in audio quality? Or is the truth somewhere in between?

Bottom line. Being used to listening to a good classic stereo setup will the A9 work for me, or am I serviced just as well by just cranking up the volume in the living room when locating my self in the bed room?

Also. A bit off topic for this thread, but I plan to have my Logitech Music Server act as a DLNA server to feed the A9. If there is good or bad things about this do say so.

This sounds familiar, as I too am very attached and habituated to stereo sound for music listening - even to the extent that in my main (lounge) 5.1 setup, I only really listen to music using stereo 2.0.   (if I engage the other speakers in the 5.1 setup, it doesn't sound right to me) 

So as very much a stereo fan, I do have an A9 MKII in my bedroom, which is 5m by 5m. 

The A9 is probably (until the Eclipse release recently), one of the best of these one unit speakers / systems ever made. I have no regrets really with it.

However, while I am happy with it as an overkill solution for a modest sized room, and use it more for radio, podcasts (i.e. talk-y stuff), for music it does leave me feeling slightly underwhelmed at times. The separation just isn't there, for all its musical merits.  Compared to the A6 for example, it has lovely depth and balance, and its plenty powerful enough. But I do miss the wider soundstage that a pair of speakers provides.

In the end bedroom listening may always be a compromise vs a lounge setup, being usually smaller, harder to place left right speakers etc.

I'm ok with the compromise, in part as I use it 80% of the time for non-music, in part because sorting out a neat alternative (wall mounting a pair of BL3's) is too much hassle right now.

Not sure if that helps - but sounds like we come from a similar place, preference wise.

Made a longer post....that vanished as I pushed POST

So here in short are my thoughts.

A proper stereo setup/a proper stereo listening experience is very much dependent on where you sit in the room.

The place in front and between the two speakers is called the ‘money seat’, the ‘sweet spot’....which is where you can benefit from the stereo perspective of/the ‘stage’ in the recording.

If you want and need that kind of experience in the bedroom, you must go for an old school stereo setup.

However, it will sound different from the one in yor main room, because the room is another - and as you know, will need some time to find the right place forcthe speakers etc.

The A9 is in fact a stereo setup, but due to the construction you won’t get the wide stereo seperation, that you may be used to in the main room.

The A9 is tuned to have a a uniform tonal balance in the whole room (which a stereo setup can’t have) -  practically no matter where you (as the listener/s) are placed in the room.

(This also makes it easier to place the unit in the room)

Finding out which preferences you have for listening there is priority.

What will work for you in the bedroom, only a test can tell.

But beware, the A9 is very powerfull - worth considering, if the bedroom is rather smallish.

MM

BlindZenDriver wrote:

Also. A bit off topic for this thread, but I plan to have my Logitech Music Server act as a DLNA server to feed the A9. If there is good or bad things about this do say so.

In Bang & Olufsen app/Settings/Music/DLNA you can choose your server.

I don’t use the Logitech Server, but I might as well - no problems there.

MM

 

Stereo is clearly still a thing. A single speaker will never sound as good as the sweet spot of a pair. However, I think many are realizing that 2 speakers do not automatically sound better than one, and, in some cases, one speaker can sound better (or almost as good) than 2 with much less fuss.

2 speakers need appropriate placement relative to the listener. If you’re sitting right next to a speaker, a mono or single point stereo speaker will normally sound better than one channel stereo because you are getting all of the music rather than ~1/2.

Sometimes “appropriate placement” is difficult or impossible or only works for a small area, and you need to cover a large area. Sometimes it is just background music so you don’t care.

I’m an avid stereo guy, but still have a few single point speakers for all of these reasons.

@BlindZenDriver

To your question in the title of the thread: ‘Is stereo still a thing’.

Imo certainly yes....done the right way.

But not in any case!

I enjoy music from a single point speaker as well as music sitting in the 2 channel sweet spot with my main setup.

By the way, I enjoy music in multi channel there too.

MM

The A9 will be enough for you and especially in a bedroom.

I thought the A9 although it’s one sphere has a left channel and a right channel.

Anyway I listen to music on it and I never use a classic stereo separated pair for music.

Mainly I use my BS1.

Many thanks to all of you for the good info. I do now feel a lot more confident about putting up just one unit to provide music in my bedroom - and also that it working with my current Logitech Media Server should not be a problem.

Along with reading your answers here I have also been looking at what B&O writes in their support section, looking especially at the manual and while clear enough it also leaves me with some questions and also I discovered there is a MKIII of the A9. I will research a bit more and I suspect I will have some questions on how one sets up the A9 like fx. can one do so without using an app - is there for instance an build-in web server one can access using WIFI or through an Ethernet cable.

Also I would like to find an review that compares the MKIII with the MKII, the new version has a different speaker arrangement and also sees a big jump in power. It also comes with a price bump or maybe it is just that right now one can buy the last of the MKII's at a discount. Priority one for me is getting the best solution as who remembers a price saving anyway over the long run.