Spotify kills integration for some older hi-fi and AV kit

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Are you a Spotify subscriber and owner of hi-fi or AV kit of a certain vintage with built-in Spotify? You could be affected.

Last year Spotify announced that several older generation hi-fi and AV products would lose Spotify Connect integration due to an update to its backend platform. It appears (as reported by The Verge) the time has come.

The news means owners of affected products will no longer be able to stream Spotify’s catalogue directly from their product without the use of a smartphone.

Products include the B&O BeoSound 5 (which we reviewed way back in 2009) as well as the Denon AVR-X4000, Marantz M-CR610 and Yamaha RX-V675 – all 2013 models. The full list – of around 100 models, most of which are at least a few years old – can be found here.

Spotify has told The Verge that “in some cases, manufacturers can update their firmware to be compatible with the new platform”, and we’ve contacted several of the above manufacturers to find out which products that relates to.

Denon's RCD-N8, DRA-N5, AVR-X1000, AVR-X2000, AVR-X3000 and AVR-X4000 can now recieve an update granting them Spotify Connect, while its AVR-1913, AVR-2113, AVR-2313 and AVR-4520 are due the update in March 2018.

Becky Roberts
Becky Roberts
Freelance contributor

Becky is a hi-fi, AV and technology journalist, formerly the Managing Editor at What Hi-Fi? and Editor of Australian Hi-Fi and Audio Esoterica magazines. With over twelve years of journalism experience in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices.

In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.