Squeezebox speakers...

[J V]

Small question for the people with Squeezeboxes here... What do you use for active speakers and how do you switch them?

One option would be a master/slave socket, but they are quite expensive for what it is. Another option would be to have some controlled socket that cuts the power to the speakers but unfortunately I'm out of controllable sockets in the kitchen. I was thinking of getting some controlled (zwave/zigbee?) plug adapters for just such purpose, which would add functionality to other things, but am not sure about that one yet.

Initially, I was hoping to find some signal sensing active speakers, but that turns out to be a bit more difficult than I anticipated: most are just usb powered and use the fact that a pc cuts usb power. However, for e.g. in my kitchen, a TV Soundbar could actually work (could be mounted above the window or so). For that purpose, the most entry level one would do and even those quite quickly have signal sensing. On the other hand, some speaker that could double as a handsfree set could be convenient in a kitchen...

Or are there simply relay circuits that one can use to trigger on/off from the Squeezebox? In one of mine, I use an ir blaster to power the amplifier it is connected to...

Thanks,

Jörg

[Christian Fenzl]

Hi Jörg,

there are Wifi-Sockets "out there", that have an adequate price, and can be controlled by virtual out's. If you've found a product, first double-check it's interface.

Another solution would be the 433Mhz socket plugin for LoxBerry.

For the living room, where you possibly want HiFi sound, there are Denon and Yamaha AVRs (and more) with direct TCP or HTTP interfaces (I personally use the AVR interface from Denon).

Check the power consumption of your amps. Switchable sockets need power too. Calculate the savings by switching the amps off, against let it on 24x7.

The LMS plugin "SBNetIO" sends http requests when a zone is powered off and on. You can switch a Loxone virtual in, or directly any switchable plug with http REST interface.

[J V]

I forgot about wifi sockets... But yes any such thing also uses power.

In two rooms, it all is settled: in the living room, the amplifier (an older Marantz SR6001 that has no TCP IP interface) is controlled from the same computer that runs LMS (the computer uses Eventghost to take http commands sent from the Miniserver and then addresses the amplifier via RS232 - I can try to make a wiki article out of this combo), in another room I use an IR blaster connected to the SB to power on (and control the volume of) an iPod dock which has the speakers.

In my kitchen, I currently use a Revo internet radio, but I want to move that one to the bathroom and put another squeezebox in stead. So for that room I still need to get the speakers/amplifier combo, so this gives me a bit of playing room. The easiest solution would be a signal sensing powered speaker, and the search for this actually lead me to a cheap soundbar. The cheapest I can find here (Poland) is an LG for 57 EUR; it has optical in, signal sensing and uses 0.5 W in standby. For sure it will not be super hifi, but it should be more than adequate for a kitchen. The speakerbar shape is not ideal, but I think there is a place where it could go.
In the bedroom I also still want a solution, but there it is less urgent. I have a SB Boom, which I first intended to put in the kitchen; it is quite big to put on a night table but may do for now.

I will just add that work will send me abroad for 2 years, so I will not be working much on the system. Even the things above will probably get done when I return. But if I need to buy something to e.g. listen to music abroad, I might as well get some speaker system that I could reuse. It does mean I will not be very active with programming the miniserver. Now I'm quickly tying up loose ends so that my girlfriend can use the system without problems.