How to get bigger sound than paired Minis, or "What will replace the Classic?"

Mangodoc wrote:

I need bigger speakers in my living room than my 2 minis and have been holding out for Thread-enabled Classics. Now d/c’ed? Surely Apple will upgrade/replace. Question is with what and when. In the event that Apple is not building a replacement for the bigger speaker (HomePod Mini Max?), what will my options be for bigger sound? Can >2 Minis be used for surround sound? I really want smart speakers, not just garden variety surround sound from Best Buy.

Two minis can be set up as a stereo pair. You can use Feedback - HomePod - Apple to suggest that Apple allow more minis to be linked up in some fashion.

And there’s this- I called Apple to troubleshoot AppleTV HD not using paired Minis as default (or even selected) speakers to play content, was told only Classic HomePod does that, not Minis. Surely Apple will fix this, or was the Genius wrong?

See Set up home theater audio with HomePod and Apple TV 4K - Apple Support. The default speaker option is only available with Apple TV 4K and the now discontinued HomePod 2018, however other combinations of Apple TV and HomePod/HomePod mini can still be used for AirPlay.

tt2