
With thoughts of HomePod stereo pairs running through my head, I did a little research and discovered that Apple has long provided a way to combine multiple audio output devices into a single destination. I wanted to find a way to balance the signal between both pairs of speakers for more accurate stereo sound. I stand pretty much right between them, so routing audio through the iMac (which sits on the right side of my desk) made it seem to come from my right, whereas sending it through the Thunderbolt Display moved the sound to my left. When I tried using either one, however, the sound felt unbalanced.

I work on a 27-inch iMac with a 27-inch Thunderbolt Display, and both have decent stereo speakers. However, I still want to listen to music while I’m working through all the suggestions. After some troubleshooting, I determined that replacement was probably the better part of valor and asked for (and received) recommendations on TidBITS Talk. Alas, something in the controller failed recently, rendering the controls inoperable and causing the sound to cut out or disappear entirely. The sound has been excellent, and I have appreciated having a dedicated controller for power and volume-it makes turning the sound off or adjusting the volume easier than using keyboard shortcuts or a graphical interface. Since 2005 or so, I’ve been listening to music on my Mac through an Altec Lansing FX6021 speaker system with two stereo speakers and a subwoofer. Improve Your Mac’s Audio by Combining Speakers
AIRFOIL FOR MAC ON AND OFF WITH AIRPLAY SPEAKER PORTABLE
Preview selections, portable power for a MacBook Pro #1618: M2 MacBook Air available to order, Lockdown Mode, Live Text vs.#1619: Stage Manager first impressions, Live Text in Preview redux, SMS 2FA failure fix, moving large folders with ChronoSync.#1620: OS updates, AssistiveTouch for iOS shortcut palette, Photos album sharing bug.
