wireless speakers

[harrydg]

Hey all,

Let me start with my current setup to get to my question. I have a B&W MT-60D 5.1 speaker set in my living room, connected to a Onkyo TN-NR818. I also have a "zone 2", which is wired to some "old" speakers at my desk. All good so far. BUT!

In the kitchen, i'd like to have some music too. And preferably (since living room an kitchen are "not far apart", the possibility for "the same" music. So it's very simple: I would like to connect my "zone 3" to the kitchen... But i can't get my cables to there, so it will need to be wireless. I would also like it to be just 1 speaker (stereo), so that, in summer, i can take the speaker outside, and when the children sleep, still play some music outside with the living room speakers "turned off"..

At first i thought: Let's just by a streamer (geneva model s with DAB) with radio, that's easy and fun, but then ... i don't get to play "the same" in the living room and the kitchen (as my amp is connected to "much more").

So... i'd like to have an advice on a good quality wireless speaker that i can connect to the zone 3 of the onkyo (wireless) and send it to something (battery powered not needed, but could be nice if used outside) in the kitchen. If possible, just FM radio "standalone" would/could be nice, but not at all needed.

Anyone have any ideas? (price is currently not important, but it has to be reasonable... I'd like to find solutions first, then i'll see whether or not i can afford it 🙂)

 

[harrydg]

since it's the time of the year, merry christmas and so on...

Question: am I looking for something that doesn't exist? 😉

 

[harrydg]

is it me, or is it impossible to find something to connect to the "zone 3" of my amp, and capture that stream on a wireless speaker in my kitchen!?! i've been looking for a few days, and basically, all i can find is "the other way around"... i thought this would be a simple one, something bluetooth-like... but then high quality.

Am i the first one with this question? Is it that weird?

 

[davedotco]

It's not difficult. Add on Bluetooth transmitters are available but none (that I have seen) offer AptX or any kind of quality transfer.

Better solution would an AV Sender.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-4GHz-150m-AV-Wireless-Audio-Video-Sender-Transmitter-Receiver-Extender-SKY-STB-/390783445123

This will give you a fixed level audio output, so you will need some kind of level control. There are tons of powered speakers with either a volume or a remote control, from cheap 'studio' types from the likes of Behringer or M-Audio starting under £100 to more conventional 'hi-fi' types from Wharfedale, Q Acoustics or Ruark.

Or then again you can have complete solutions like these.....

http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/jbl/control-2.4g/jbl-control-2.4g

You really didn't look very hard, did you?

 

[harrydg]

I did look quite difficult actually. I did find some things like aptx , but my question was more: Is there anything good? Something like the jbl, but i have my doubts about the quality and it would be nice to have something that can do more. Something like standard streaming speaker, cambridge audio go radio,.that i can also feed with my current amp and still keep respectable audio quality.

Apparently there are many cheap wireless audio transmitters, i just want expert advise on what's good and what's not good

Believe me, that last part is not so easy to find

 

[davedotco]

I did look quite difficult actually. I did find some things like aptx , but my question was more: Is there anything good? Something like the jbl, but i have my doubts about the quality and it would be nice to have something that can do more. Something like standard streaming speaker, cambridge audio go radio,.that i can also feed with my current amp and still keep respectable audio quality.

Apparently there are many cheap wireless audio transmitters, i just want expert advise on what's good and what's not good

Believe me, that last part is not so easy to find

The JBL system uses standard wi-fi protocols, more than enough bandwidth to be effectively transparent, the speakers are based on the Control 1, so they should be rather better than the Go Radio.

It is also, effectively plug and play so I am not sure what your issues are, for £200 I can't realistically see how you will do better. there are plenty of bluetooth transmitters that will send to the Go Radio but I can't see how such a system would be better than the JBL.

Expert advice, of the I have tried them and this is the best, nature is unlikely, these are 'convenience' products not hi-fi. If it is 'real' hi-fi performance that you want, the Dynaudio XEO system is the answer, though rather better and more expensive than anything in your current setup.

 

[andyjm]

You are building a multi room set up (3 rooms?) with system that really requires cabling to work. Rather than mess around with a wireless link for the kitchen, why not go with a system like Sonos. Pricing used to be daft, and the need to use their mesh network was a pain but (to a certain extent) they have seen the light.

They do now just about support the use of standard wifi, and with the Play:1 available for around £160, pricing is reasonable as well.

 

[harrydg]

You're right... i'll see what i'll do. Maybe it's just "crazy", since most of the time i play internet radio, so ... i'll have to think about it some more i guess... 🙂

Thanks a lot for your answer! and have a very nice 2015!

 

[harrydg]

Hey Andy,

Indeed i'm building a 3-room system which is supposed to be done with wires... but since i have "all but the speakers", i thought it would be "easier". But as explained above, the JBL solution does what i want (i guess). Anyway, now lets see if i can find some retailers or something simpler in Belgium 🙂

Thanks for your reply! 🙂

 

[Macspur]

You are building a multi room set up (3 rooms?) with system that really requires cabling to work. Rather than mess around with a wireless link for the kitchen, why not go with a system like Sonos. Pricing used to be daft, and the need to use their mesh network was a pain but (to a certain extent) they have seen the light.

They do now just about support the use of standard wifi, and with the Play:1 available for around £160, pricing is reasonable as well.

As one who has recently bought a Sonos Connect and play bar, I can't praise it highly enough. From ease of set up to SQ it's hard to fault.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

 

[baz]

Personally I'd go the Sonos route - I have a Sonos Connect in the dining room connected to my ADM9s, (which sounds utterly fabulous by the way), and this room leads into the kitchen which has 2xPlay:1s in stereo....they sound amazing for the size and also synch perfectly with the Connect in the dining room, you just have to tweak the volumes a bit so one room isn't encroaching on the other. Get the volumes right and it's perfect for walking around and hearing the music seamlessly wherever you go.

That said, I have another Connect hooked up to my Yamaha RXV673 home cinema amp in the sitting room which is at the other end of the dining room and I can't get it to synch perfectly with the other Sonos components....having been on numerous forums etc it appears that all the fancy home theatre circuitry is interfering with things and introducing a delay, even in "pure direct" mode. Not exactly the end of the world but it would be nice to be able to sort it.

This may not be a problem with the Onkyo but it's worth considering.