A lot has changed in the almost 10 years I’ve been with Plex, and a lot of work seems to have been done recently to elevate Plex for music to the same lofty heights that Plex TV & movies have commanded for so long.
Having played about a bit with Plexamp and voice control of Plex using an Echo dot, I’m wondering…
What is the simplest, cleanest, most WAG friendly implementation of playing HQ music from a Plex server to an amplifier/receiver right now?
@SPROCKETSITE , the best way… so far for me 
is PlexAmp on mobile device and have an headless PlexAmp connected to a power speaker set (and Chromecast to another smaller amp in the kitchen) , She can select any device ( I have also a ‘retired’ Facebook portal with plex on it … good speaker and it serves recipes and music from one device)
It takes a bit of education, but after that its fairly easy… ( she still wants a CD playing option while they have not been used for a long while in our house)
We use our cell phones and my Google home speakers. I was doing this before with plexamp on my Galaxy Phone and casting it to the speakers. I created a group with all my google speakers or can cast to just one like the kitchen one.
Several months ago by BF moved in and I created him a managed account. We installed plex and Plexamp on his iPhone and iPad. he can play music in the house and in his Jeep with Plex amp same as I do. He has full access to all the Video, audio and live tv on the fireTV’s. So far it all seems to be working well, he’s caught on to it and we have ripped more CDs to Flac files and placed them on the server so they are available.
One other thing I would like to try is a Google chromecast audio on an input of my living room sound bar so that could be a speaker we could cast to.
Great suggestions both!
Since my original post, I’ve adopted your suggestions, and I’ve been busily comparing them with other potential user friendly setups. So far I’ve tried:
An old smartphone (Android V.7) running Plexamp and connected directly to the amplifier using the phone’s 3.5mm headphone socket and the amp’s phono’s.
A 3rd gen Chromecast, obviously connected to the amp using the HDMI.
An APTX HD/LL bluetooth receiver (1Mii B06) attached to the amplifier via an optical cable, and USB dongle (1Mii B10) with matching codecs to connect up a laptop.
An amazon echo dot with the Plex skill and connected directly to the amplifier using the 3.5mm headphone socket and the amp’s phono’s.
Early days yet, but my initial impression is that with the possible exception of the echo, they’re all pretty great!
Regarding the sound quality between them. I’m sure somebody with a more critical ear could identify differences, but with my modest 4.1 speakers and average ears, there’s no significant difference. That is to say, that they all sound entirely good enough.
Thoughts and observations so far:
An old smartphone works wonderfully with Plexamp, behaving much like a touch screen display for the amp. It sits there with Plexamp on screen 24/7, the play button primed and ready to go, and controlling Plexamp from another devices could scarcely be easier. Also, being a smartphone, there’s always the option of retrieving music from other sources too. If you have an old smartphone kicking about in a drawer, it’s a great way to re-purpose it.
For anyone who’s world barely extends beyond their smartphone, it’s outrageously easy to share the device’s full sound (and screen) to the amp using Chromecast. Once set up, a couple of button presses is all it takes. I haven’t looked into the advantages of using the now discontinued Chromecast Audio, but equally, I haven’t experienced any negatives with using the 3rd Gen. version either. A screen is required for the setup, but beyond that, it seems to happily work without one. The only negatives I’ve found with the Chromecast generally is that devices running versions of Android older than V.8 don’t work with it - at least not natively. Overall, it’s tough to beat, and for £30, it’s a no-brainer!
The Bluetooth receiver and dongle are the most expensive of the options I’ve tried so far, costing a total of £70, but it nevertheless works really well. Chromecast from a Windows PC, while still very straightforward, is just slightly more taxing for the technologically disinterested. That’s the bluetooth receivers strength, establishing a more permanent connection between the device and the receiver, effectively replacing the PC’s built in speakers. Once I realised that it didn’t require bluetooth to be enabled on the PC to connect to the USB dongle (should have RTFM!), it’s worked flawlessly. Whether that unequalled simplicity would be lost if trying to connect multiple devices throughout the home I couldn’t say, but I suspect it would.
Then, there’s the echo dot. Perhaps it’s just a reflection of my turbulent relationship with Alexa, with her frequent inability to understand my requests, her refusal to action them, or her tendency to seemingly forget what she’s agreed to do just a few short minutes ago. For the brief moments when it worked as intended it was impressive. The other 9/10 times, it was a frustrating experience, and it’s the only one of the 4 variations I tried that I can’t recommend, despite acknowledging the potential benefits. YMMV though, so if you have an Alexa device lodging in your home, give it a try.
So there we have it. The options I’ve tried so far, and each one pretty impressive in it’s own right. Hopefully, somebody will find some use in this post.
Speaking of impressive, I know I’m late to the party but I’d just like to say how impressed I’ve been by how clean and WAG friendly Plex has become in recent years. Plex server has been consistently great for me for nearly 10 years, but I’ve always preferred Kodi for clients. That is, until now. With Plexamp and Plex HTPC I’ve now completely moved away from Kodi, and I’m loving the new Plex features and the homogeneity throughout the home.
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