Best Speakers for Small, Medium, Large Apartments

Looking for speakers to put in your new home? Here are our picks for the best speakers for small, medium, and large apartments.

Best Speakers for Small Apartments

Space in New York City can be expensive. If tiny living is your thing, then small apartments can be an economical way to make a home in NYC without breaking the bank. Is your apartment considered small? And if so, what low-profile speakers will fit in your space without sacrificing quality?

What Counts as a Small Apartment?

Small apartments are usually one bedroom or studio (one room) apartments. They can range from tiny (300 sq ft) to a little roomier, but still compact (800 sq. ft).

Top Picks for Speakers in Small Apartments

In small apartments, size is key. You want to find small speakers that can still pack a punch.

Sonos One–$219

Coming in at a reasonable price point of $219, the Sonos One is a small smart speaker that comes with built in voice control. Since it uses Wi-fi to connect to your other devices, you do not need to have a smart home hub or other smart devices to make this speaker work. Instead, you can easily set up your speaker using the Sonos App. This speaker also works with AirPlay 2, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.

You really cannot beat the sound quality of the Sonos One for its size–only 4 lbs, 6 ins tall, and 4.5 ins wide and deep. This mighty but tiny speaker can fit on your bookshelf, your kitchen counter, your coffee table, or anywhere else that works in your small apartment set-up. You can even take advantage of your vertical space by mounting it on the wall.

If you are willing to spend a little more, you can up the sound quality by buying a second Sonos One speaker called the One SL. At $199, this supplemental speaker has no microphone, but it forms a great stereo pair with your Sonos One to give you an even better listening experience.

Vizio V-Series V2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar–$159

This sound bar is a great budget-friendly option for small apartment dwellers. It can connect to your smart devices like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri. For added sound quality, it comes with a 5” wireless subwoofer that you can place anywhere in the room. This gives you extra options for making it work with your smaller space.

Apple HomePod mini–$99

At only $100, the Apple HomePod Mini is a good speaker for the money and for the size. 3.3” tall, this speaker should fit well in any apartment, no matter how small. It connects to your other devices via Wi-fi, Bluetooth 5, and Airplay.

Other selling points on this speaker? The sound quality is surprisingly high, the design is sleek and visually appealing, and it comes with Siri built in. The downsides? You will need to have Apple Music to get the most out of your new speaker. The Apple HomePod mini is, unfortunately, not compatible with Spotify. In order to use Spotify, you will have to go into the app on your phone and then connect it to your speaker using Airplay. While not too difficult, this added step may turn off some buyers.

Best Speakers for Medium Apartments

If your apartment is not quite large, but not quite small, there will be many options for speakers that will work well in your space. Here you can balance sound quality, space, and expense in the way that best fits your personal preferences.

What Counts as a Medium Apartment?

Medium apartments are typically two bedroom units ranging from 800 to 1400 sq. ft. These are fairly common sizes for apartments in the city, where units average about 860 sq. ft. If you have a medium sized apartment, you are in good company.

Top Picks for Speakers in Medium Apartments

Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2–$321

These medium sized speakers are perfect for your medium sized apartment. With dimensions of 7.69” x 14.76” x 10.55”, these Elac speakers will fit on many bookshelves and home entertainment consoles, delivering a clean but rich sound throughout the room. At $321, the price tag is a good deal for the sound quality.

Sonos Five–$549

The Sonos Five is the manufacturer’s biggest wireless speaker. It will give you a big, expansive sound to match its larger size–-14 lbs, 8” x 14” x 6”. Despite being on the bigger size for a wireless speaker, it is remarkably low profile, with a sleek, minimal design. It’s even designed to be rested on either its narrow or long side, giving you extra flexibility when fitting it into your medium sized apartment. Since it’s wireless, you can put it wherever works best in your home entertainment set-up.

Compatible with AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect, this Wi-fi enabled speaker is unfortunately not able to connect to Bluetooth and doesn’t have a mic for voice control. Sonos Five comes in both white and black colorways.

Sonos Arc–$900

This is the best performing soundbar on our list. The Sonos Arc is on the more expensive side, but the sound quality is great and the design is sleek and modern. Enjoy Dolby Atmos sound with the convenient smart features for which Sonos is known–voice enabled technology, TV remote sync, Wi-fi and AirPlay 2 connectivity, and touch control. The Sonos Arc comes in both white and black.

Best Speakers for Large Apartments

New York apartments are growing larger every year. According to data from Urban Digs, the square footage on new developments has gone up on average every year since 2000. So do you have a large apartment? And if you do, what kind of speaker will work best for your home entertainment set-up?

What Counts as a Large Apartment?

In NYC, large apartments are typically units with three bedrooms or more. These can range from 1,200 sq. ft. and up.

Top Picks for Speakers in Large Apartments

Here are some of our picks for the best speakers for large apartments. These speakers are all about sound quality without as much regard to the amount of space they take up.

Fluance XL8F–$600

These tall speakers pack a punch that matches their size. With 8” subwoofers, the Fluance XL8F will give you room-filling bass without sacrificing clarity in the mid and high tones. Great for music and movies, these speakers are reasonably priced for the size and sound quality they provide. If you want an immersive home theater experience in your large apartment without breaking the bank, then the Flaunce XL8F is for you.

KEF Q750–$900

Another set of floor speakers, the KEF Q750 has incredible sound that is sure to please audiophiles. It’s more expensive than the Fluance XL8F, but much cheaper than other sound systems with comparable sound quality (many of which cost well more than $2,000 a piece).

These KEF speakers have a sleek look and come in three colorways–black, white, and walnut. You won’t want to hide these stylish speakers despite their size–36” x 13” x 12”.

SVS Prime Tower Surround System–$1,950

If you are ready to splurge on a full surround sound system for your large apartment, look no further than the SVS Prime Tower Surround System. At $1950, this is a steal as far as surround sound systems go. If you are an audiophile or someone who wants to bring the movie theater into their living room, then this might be the speaker set that best fits your needs.

It comes with five speakers in total: two main towers, two satellite speakers, and one center speaker. A subwoofer is not included, but can be added for around $1,100 more. The surround system comes in two finishes–premium black ash, and the more expensive (and sleek) piano gloss black.

Dali Oberon 5 5.1 Speaker Package

Another great surround sound system is the Dali Oberon 5 5.1 Speaker Package. With a full and warm sound, these speakers are great for your home theater set-up and pair well with supplemental Dolby surround sound speakers.

A pair of the floor-standing speakers–called Dali Oberon 5–will run you from $1,300 to $2,000 depending on the finish you choose. The two bookshelf speaker sized Oberon 1s come in at $600 for the pair, and the subwoofer–the Dali Sub E9-F–is $800. Altogether, this surround sound set is more expensive than our other recommendations, but is still a great value for the wonderful sound quality.

Deciding on the Best Speaker for You

So, which speaker is right for you? Take into consideration both the size of your apartment, the size of your home entertainment set-up, and your budget. Combine these factors with the context of your personal priorities. Are you an audiophile? A movie enthusiast? Or do you just want to listen to music while you mess around in your kitchen?

Your needs will determine what speaker is best for you, regardless of the size of your NYC apartment. Small, medium, or large, you can find the perfect sound system fit for your new home. Keep reading NewDevRev for more recommendations on the best appliances and smart devices for your new development.