It isn’t a mono speaker.
The thing can only be considered audiophile if you redefine the word "audiophile" to suit the cult-of-apple narrative.
Just like the macbook "pro".
tl;dr - this is a living area speaker, not a home theatre one.
I'll reserve judgement on using HomePod as a stereo setup until that functionality is actually available.
Bouncing sounds in every direction is bound to sound crap even with the Apple magic fairy dust sprinkled everywhere. "Beam forming", Lol!
What does "this is a living area speaker" actually mean anyway?
Edit: sorry for sounding aggressive... It's just not a product that I'd buy. Good luck to you.
I would be happy to spend more, if it were just me. But my wife has more say on the appearance of our living space, and my large, self-built speakers long since made their exit to the garage. I wasn't actually going to spend the money to get one, but when she saw it, she was the keen one!
> What does "this is a living area speaker" actually mean anyway?
As compared to a dedicated listening setup, where everything is set up to sound good when you sit in a single "sweet spot" location.
> Bouncing sounds in every direction is bound to sound crap.
As I understand, it works out where it is in the room, and uses that to act more like a speaker with an omnidirectional response except towards the walls. So in that sense, it does the opposite of "bouncing sounds in every direction".
> I would personally rather a single OK bookshelf speaker with a T-Amp or any small amp.
The previous setup was exactly this, but with two OK bookshelf speakers. Given the positioning of them; it sounded great at the kitchen table, but the couch in the same room was so far off the axis of the speakers that it sounded pretty bad there. The HomePod sounds great in both spots.