Is the bluetooth spec the limit though, or maybe the implementation? I can leave my phone on the table downstairs and my headphones still work fine in the attic, which is through 2 floors of reinforced concrete. I was very surprised to be able to do this, but kitchen-living room should be possible. Unless your kitchen is in the west wing, and your living room is a mile down the hall in the east wing in which case I'm envious of your living arrangement and understand the need for more range in the spec. ;)

As it's 2.4ghz it may also be partially spectrum pollution.

That said - that seems rather impressive for Bluetooth, I've had one reinforced concrete wall pretty consistently screw up most bluetooth signals in my experience, so I'd posit that you're getting unusually good reception there.

I wonder what strength the radios broadcast on. I do have a 2.4GHz wifi-router both downstairs and in the attic so you would expect no signal at all, given the situation. I'll admit that by this point it's extremely sensitive to spectrum pollution; a nearby laptop with wifi on will mess with it enough that it starts stuttering. My only issue with bluetooth is with Android; it semi-randomly likes to change pitch and speed by a little [1]. Very noticeable if you listen to electronic music. Had it with my previous phone (Android M, CM) and now with my current phone (also Android M, stock) and different devices (headphones, car).

[1]https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=209473

Yeah, anecdotal but every friend of mine that complains about BT does it in relation to their Android devices.

I've heard a couple of complaints about Macs but they're rare.

Seems the Android BT stack is just more... flaky. I wonder why...

Android 1.0 to 4.3 (iirc) used Bluez, an open source implementation related to Linux.

Come 4.4 Google partnered up with qualcomm (again iirc) to write a new stack from scratch.

Iirc, there are multiple classes of bluetooth radio. And only one of them, that i have most often seen in the form of USB dongles, are wifi equivalent.

I am able to leave my phone in my office in the basement and walk upstairs to get a cup of coffee and stay on the call with my bluetooth headphones.

Then again, if I'm biking and my phone is in my right pocket and I turn my head to the left, the audio skips. So I don't know if I can blame than on range, but there's something odd going on there.

The frequency range used, 2.4Ghz, is absorbed/blocked by water (rain, fog, leaves, wet dogs, human bodies, etc). Most mobile devices use a fairly weak transmitter both to save battery and because the distance between devices is expected to be short. On top of that, when indoors the signal may be bouncing off walls or other surfaces.

That's where a wifi speaker is good.