Ikea SYMFONISK Picture Frame Speaker Review

[DanielT]

Please note this speaker was designed by Sonos not Ikea. Sonos does not cater to audiophiles, they cater to the general public. Therefore they work great as a single speaker or a pair in stereo. You could likely add their subwoofer and they have bass and treble adjustments but not a full EQ.

Correct. But I can basically add Sonus to what I wrote and barely change the message I wanted to convey.

Here for those who are interested, a video that IKEA themselves promotes about the speaker. How the collaboration with Sonus developed:

"A SYMPHONIC speaker, art piece or maybe both?
As part of our long-term partnership with Sonos, IKEA recently introduced a new SYMFONISK picture frame with WiFi speaker that allows you to enjoy both room-filling sound and a beautiful piece of art at the same time. Just like previous SYMFONISK products, it's part of the Sonos system, which means listeners can connect to more than 100 streaming services as well as the full range of Sonos products."

Democratic design – IKEA Global

Hej from the IKEA of Sweden design department. Learn how the team works to integrate great function, form, quality, sustainability and a low price into every IKEA product.

about.ikea.com

 

[Tenfilip]

I'm sorry to hear it only supports apple, with not support from chromecast or ldac over bt. I dont know why they ignore android.

 

[Dennis_FL]

I'm sorry to hear it only supports apple, with not support from chromecast or ldac over bt. I dont know why they ignore android.

???

You have bluetooth and the Sonos APP...... why would you need anything else?

 

[artishard116]

Anyone able to compare directly to Sonos Ones? I already have a few in secondary rooms but wondering if these might be less obtrusive while dispersing the sound better.

 

[Tenfilip]

???

You have bluetooth and the Sonos APP...... why would you need anything else?

BT means that the device doesn't stream on it's own, I need a streamer for it. Sonos App sounds like something I need to open and bother with. If you got Chromecast, the device streams on it's own, you can use voice commands for it, add it to other playing devices (often I would play music in more than one room).

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

Has anyone torn these down and made them usable outside the Sonos system? I feel like these could make for superb "stealth" surround speakers using a small amp+minidsp.

 

[m_g_s_g]

Has anyone torn these down and made them usable outside the Sonos system? I feel like these could make for superb "stealth" surround speakers using a small amp+minidsp.

I don't know specifically about this one, but if the standard Ikea Symfonisk bookshelf could serve as reference, there's no passive crossover there, so you may want to protect the tweeter or make sure you get the correct signal first (no 0db bass signal ).

If you don't want/need the internal Sonos amp + streamer, I'm pretty sure you can uninstall the internal circuitry and sell it. There's a market for that, since this can work "okish" as an amplifier for background music with in-ceiling speakers (kitchen/bathroom). The cheapest pure Sonos alternative for that costs north of 600$ (Amp), and it doesn't even allow for Trueplay DSP correction unless you use Sonance speakers.

 

[pjug]

Has anyone tried these with a sub? I am finally getting around to solving problems I have with these with them on a wall in my room. I had two huge peaks below 100 Hz which really sounded ugly. True play did not take them out like I thought it might. But now I have the peaks eq'd with Roon and the speakers sound much better, something I can live with. However, now I am hearing what they are missing on the low end so I'm considering adding a Sonos sub, which I see available locally for <$500. I am not sure I should shell out for it, though, considering the whole idea was to have an OK system for cheap where I am using these. On the other hand do feel like the sound would be good with the sub so maybe I should do it.

 

[Locotek]

Has anyone tried these with a sub? I am finally getting around to solving problems I have with these with them on a wall in my room. I had two huge peaks below 100 Hz which really sounded ugly. True play did not take them out like I thought it might. But now I have the peaks eq'd with Roon and the speakers sound much better, something I can live with. However, now I am hearing what they are missing on the low end so I'm considering adding a Sonos sub, which I see available locally for <$500. I am not sure I should shell out for it, though, considering the whole idea was to have an OK system for cheap where I am using these. On the other hand do feel like the sound would be good with the sub so maybe I should do it.

I'm probably picking up a sonos sub to use with their big sound-bar. Not because it doesn't sound great on its own, but because I've heard it when paired and the difference was significant for music listening.

 

[RickNRoll]

Man, that main woofer is tiny at 3.5 inches/9 cm. Wonder if it uses some kind of transmission line to get that low.

No wonder directivity is wide and good.

If this trend continues woofers will soon be smaller than tweeters.

 

[pjug]

I'm probably picking up a sonos sub to use with their big sound-bar. Not because it doesn't sound great on its own, but because I've heard it when paired and the difference was significant for music listening.

I also wonder if I could do this with a cheaper sub (or one I already have and I am not using), since I am using Roon anyway. Just get a cheap airport express or something for the sub and group with the Ikeas in Roon. I am trying to wrap my head around whether crossing over can be done properly with this arrangement. I can EQ sub and speakers separately and then group them, right? I haven't used grouping in Roon before.

Edit: it seems this idea can't be made to work. DSP does is not applied by Roon after these are grouped. Probably there are other difficulties but it seems I will have to buy a Sonos sub if I want to be happy with the low end. Probably I will just live with it as it is unless I find a great deal on a Sonos sub.

 

[Toslink]

Anyone able to compare directly to Sonos Ones? I already have a few in secondary rooms but wondering if these might be less obtrusive while dispersing the sound better.

I have both in the house and, surprisingly, I prefer the sound of the Symfonisk speaker. The sound is more "airy", more "open" sounding to my ears. I put in an order for the smaller Sonos sub-woofer and plan to add it to the system when it arrives next week. The speakers are in a bedroom, on a dresser, about 5ft apart, leaning against a wall. The bass performance on some songs stuns me at times, and the integration of the sound overall never fails to give me pause. They aways sound incredibly coherent, with a body and richness that always surprises me. Don't get me wrong, they don't hold a candle to my living room system that used an RME DAC (thank you, Amir, for the review that prompted the purchase) and an NAD Masters M-22 Hypex N-Core-based amplifier, but they are really surprisingly well-refined speakers that integrate well into the room.

 

[HighFutility]

Can anyone chime in if these are able to be used with a TV? I'm looking for a small condo setup, and mounting these on the sides of the TV seems awesome.

 

[HeadDoc12]

Can anyone chime in if these are able to be used with a TV? I'm looking for a small condo setup, and mounting these on the sides of the TV seems awesome.

I’m not sure, but Samsung makes something called the Music Frame - a speaker that is also a picture frame. NO IDEA how it sounds or measures, but it will play audio from Samsung TVs made in 2023 or later (depending on the model, of course), by connecting wirelessly.

 

[nick-v]

Can anyone chime in if these are able to be used with a TV? I'm looking for a small condo setup, and mounting these on the sides of the TV seems awesome.

I see "Compatible with Airplay 2" under the Product Details, so if your TV doesn't have Airplay 2 compatibility, you should be able to use an Apple TV or other Airplay 2 device to stream audio to them.

 

[Dennis_FL]

I’m not sure, but Samsung makes something called the Music Frame - a speaker that is also a picture frame. NO IDEA how it sounds or measures, but it will play audio from Samsung TVs made in 2023 or later (depending on the model, of course), by connecting wirelessly.

If you have a Sonos soundbar, they make great surrounds

 

[Toslink]

AirPlay in TVs is restricted as an audio endpoint vs. as a source, so you cannot send audio from the TV to an AirPlay speaker. This has been my experience with these devices. Others may have run across TVs capable of this, but it seems Apple restricts this capability to mobile devices and the AppleTV. So, for your application, using an AppleTV to send the audio to the speakers is best. I do this, and the AppleTV perfectly manages the synchronization of the video and sound.

 

[Toslink]

Great to know. They are a bit of a "diamond in the rough".