We all want to listen to music and watch movies, but we don?t want the technology to get in our way. Thus for LifeEdited 2, we deployed a very capable but very simple system.
Our needs:

Play music from Spotify
Play movies from Netflix & iTunes
Allow guests to use the system without reading a manual
Energy efficiency in all of the above e.g. music can play without the TV being on

What we used:

Apple TV 4th generation
J-Tech HDMI audio extractor (sends Apple TV sound to the speakers)
An energy efficient television (in our case a Vizio 43-inch model)
Kanto YU5 active speakers
Cables: HDMI(2), TOSlink(1)

What we like:

Music sounds great!
Total cost is less than $1,000 No need for a big A/V receiver or subwoofer
To control it, all you need is the tiny Apple TV remote and a phone
Guests have successfully used it

Alternatives:

Rather than an Apple-centric system use a Google Cast system, or an Amazon-centric system, or a Sonos system, or a Roku system
Projectors can also be great for small apartments — less wall space taken up.

This post is one in a series that describes our LifeEdited 2 showcase apartment. LifeEdited 2 embodies our green, space efficient, and minimalist principles. We view LifeEdited 2 as a lab for experiencing things that are consistent with these principles. None of the products above were given to us.

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