Small Simple to use System

Witterings

Well-known member
I'm looking for something for my 90 year old dad who's a complete technophobe to play music on if he wakes up in the night.
A small stereo with a CD player and remote control seems like the most obvious / easiest to use and he'd be familiar with but he'd have to keep getting out of bed to change the CD.
Ideally I'm looking for something I can download mutiple CD's onto (or onto a Memory stick / SD card) and he can just flick through / skip tracks if he wants.

If it was me I'd go with a £20/30 bluetooth speaker and use my phone but he won't know what to do it it loses the BT connection but it gives you an idea of the level of quality needed, it is pretty basic.

A small speaker with a remote control to switch it on and off and Aux in may be an option, I think he's got an MP3 player somewhere (Not sure it still works) and could just take a long lead to plug it in.

If anyone knows of anything that would fit the bill, either a full system or the 2nd option of small speaker, suggestions much appreciated.
 
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For my Dad’s 95th birthday I got him an Amazon Echo, or as nearly everyone seems to call them now, an ‘Alexa’.

Once he learned that the ‘call sign’ wasn’t Alexis - the name of a neighbour ! - he got on pretty well with it. The main problem he had was it being loud enough for his increasing deafness.

Easy to set alarms, play radio stations or preferred genres, ask for news, weather, time etc.
 

Witterings

Well-known member
For my Dad’s 95th birthday I got him an Amazon Echo, or as nearly everyone seems to call them now, an ‘Alexa’.

Once he learned that the ‘call sign’ wasn’t Alexis - the name of a neighbour ! - he got on pretty well with it. The main problem he had was it being loud enough for his increasing deafness.

Easy to set alarms, play radio stations or preferred genres, ask for news, weather, time etc.

I had thought about this as I have 3 around the house, my biggest reason for not doing so he doesn't subscribe to Prime so any music available would be limited unless he either uses it with something like Spotify and is OK with the adverts or pays a subscription but thank you for the suggestion!
 
I had thought about this as I have 3 around the house, my biggest reason for not doing so he doesn't subscribe to Prime so any music available would be limited unless he either uses it with something like Spotify and is OK with the adverts or pays a subscription but thank you for the suggestion!
Dad wasn’t with Prime either but I was surprised how much ‘free’ stuff there was. Only premium tracks were missing. For example, if he wanted a particular Elton John song it might not be available, but many others were.
 
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But you get adverts unless subscribed which if you're trying to use it to aid sleep probably won't be great ... apart from that I agree and was the 1st option I thought about.
No adverts. It'll give you reminders, it flashes a certain colour, if you're expecting a delivery. We've had ours since Christmas and not once have we heard a advert
 
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Witterings

Well-known member
CD Player with FM, DAB and DAB+ Digital Radio | Bluetooth CD Stereo System with Remote, Aux, USB Input and LED Display | Majority Oakington | Compact Hi-Fi with Adjustable Bass and Equalizer | Walnut https://amzn.eu/d/7WIt81Z

something like this maybe?

Yes that does look interesting, I found a cheaper one that looks virtually identical but the reviews on it weren't great, the reviews on that are quite good so a very definite possible ... thank you for that.

I also started looking at if soundbars might have USB / SD playback, I found this which is another possible, not sure if the TV has to be on though

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wohome-Blu...mall+sound+bars+for+tv&qid=1661811815&sr=8-15
 
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DCarmi

Well-known member
Back to the original request...
If £100 is not too steep you might look at the JVC RD 80 from Currys. Reviews look decent and it does USB, Radio and, I believe, mp3 CDs.

There are loads of similar all-in-one micro systems, you could look at.
 
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Witterings

Well-known member
Back to the original request...
If £100 is not too steep you might look at the JVC RD 80 from Currys. Reviews look decent and it does USB, Radio and, I believe, mp3 CDs.

There are loads of similar all-in-one micro systems, you could look at.

Had a look at that and yes it does look quite good ... I also searched microsystems with usb playback and quite a few other results came up .... shows how just using one different word like microsystems instead of compact stereo or compact soundbar can make a huge difference.

That said I'm 95% sure I'm going to go the soundbar route as he can also use it for the TV then as well.
 

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