wireless rears?

[sabregen]

friend wants to do a new HTiB type of setup. I personally have the Onkyo 7.1 1200w, and she's considering either the same one, or the lower model 5.1 660w setup. But... she wants wireless rears.

It might be a stupid simple question (hopefully) to answer, but is there an add-on that allows us to plug into the receiver and then the rear speakers to make them wireless, or would she specifically need wireless rear speakers, and wireless speaker support on the receiver?

For reference, the two HTiB setups being considered:

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S5300&class=Systems&p=i

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S3300&class=Systems&p=i

Thanks guys and gals!

 

[Demon10000]

I saw some kit at Radio Shack that did what you were looking at. But if you think about it... you will still have to power them, so there's no real way to go wireless without a battery -- and that isn't going to do well.

 

[sabregen]

Understood. What receiver / speaker setups should I be looking at then, that do this natively?

DTS-HD
PCM
HDMI 1.4a
HDMI Upconvert
5.1 or 7.1

^^ what we're looking for.

 

[Azhar]

I saw some kit at Radio Shack that did what you were looking at. But if you think about it... you will still have to power them, so there's no real way to go wireless without a battery -- and that isn't going to do well.

Actually there's a good way to go "wireless" with rear speakers. I don't know about any third party kit, but there is a Samsung model that wires two rear speakers into a wireless base that plugs into the wall so you don't have to string wires across the room, and there's no batteries involved too.

I had it for a month but I traded it in for a Yamaha because there was a problem with the DVD tray. Occasionally the DVD would shoot part way out the tiny gap between the tray and just above it. One of these days, that receiver would have cut my head off spitting out discs!

 

[malacoda]

Wireless speaker kits usually arent worth the money as any decent one is rather expensive and you still have to run power to the wireless transmitter and receiver. It would probably be cheaper to have someone run in wall/ceiling/floor speaker wires to the rears than get a wireless adaptor....If she is dead set on wireless for the rears then look at rocketfish. JBL . Or the KEF system which is expensive but works well and I know someone using them for their rear speakers....

There is always Flatwire http://www.flatwireready.com/ that you run on the wall then mud over and paint..

If she really wants wireless speakers then this is the system but it's not cheap (sell a set of wireless rear speakers and a full 5.1 or 7.1 wireless system)
http://www.aperionaudio.com/catalog/Wireless-Speaker-Systems,88.aspx

 

[Azhar]

I personally use base or crown moulding to hide wires going from front to back. A lot easier to route without modifying the wall in any ways. Easily removed too if you need to.

 

[sabregen]

should have added that she doesn't want a cheap HTiB / DVD or Blu-Ray combo. The HTiB needs to be decent and stand by itself. The flatwire and moulding suggestions look most promising. She's not likely going to blow her budget on a $2500 audio setup just to get wireless rears. Anything else that I should be aware of?

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Keep em coming!

 

[Frankie]

Yes, there are add ons that do this, but you have to consider that any solution that does this isnt just a wireless transmitter/receiver, it also has to be an amplifier, which bumps the price up.

Acoustic Research makes such a system, for a transmitter and two receivers/amps it's about 200 bucks depending where you get it. I've heard it works pretty well. Search for it on Amazon.

200 bucks is probably cheaper than redoing your baseboards or adding crown moldings, tbh, and has the advantage of being portable. In my theater if I didn't have a drop ceiling (= easy wire routing) I'd probably have gone with this unit. Sure, you still need a power cord for the units, but most decent sized rooms are going to have two power plug ins on each wall, which makes this pretty easy to setup, and look a lot nicer than wires going everywhere. Get one of those paintable trim kits for 40 bucks to make the power cord invisible and you've got a fairly elegant solution for less than 250 bucks. I actually think I spent almost that much just on 12 ga. wire and wall receptacles in order for my wires to be completely hidden (a couple feet of speaker wire goes from the back of the speaker into the wall receptacle, wire goes from that, up the wall, into the ceiling, and runs over to a closet where it terminates in another receptacle that is then speaker wired into my amp).

 

[malacoda]

The AR is probably worth checking out. They make some good products for the money

 

[audirs]

Actually there's a good way to go "wireless" with rear speakers. I don't know about any third party kit, but there is a Samsung model that wires two rear speakers into a wireless base that plugs into the wall so you don't have to string wires across the room, and there's no batteries involved too.

I had it for a month but I traded it in for a Yamaha because there was a problem with the DVD tray. Occasionally the DVD would shoot part way out the tiny gap between the tray and just above it. One of these days, that receiver would have cut my head off spitting out discs!

i have this Samsung set with the 2 rears that plug into a wireless base station. ive had a few problems. one day the receiver just decided not to turn on, so it was RMA'd. 2 months later got my same unit back, repaired. 1 day later it failed to power on again and had to RMA it again. i think they replaced it with a referb and its working since then. not a bad unit, but the rears are not true wireless, still need to plug into something. would be cool to see pure wireless rear speakers but id imagine they would require batteries or something

 

[mattc]

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/home-entertainment/862c/

wireless digital transmitter/receiver.

"Tired of wireless speaker systems that sound worse than an old cordless phone? Free your speakers from cords and get amazing hi-fidelity sound up to 150 feet from your stereo system with the Wireless Digital T-Amp. All digital CD quality wireless stereo transmission with built-in error correction and 128x oversampling ensures your audio loses absolutely nothing in the translation. The built-in digital T-Amplifier delivers the sound of a tube amp with an incredibly clean 20 watts per channel.

This amazing wireless amp is perfect for adding the rear channel to your 5.1 surround sound set-up without stringing speaker cable across your living room. Or extend your entertainment center to any room in your house. Simply connect the transmitter unit to your existing AV set-up then place the small receiver amp up to 150 feet away. Connect a couple of speakers to the receiver amp and you're done."

Specifications

Transmitter:
Audio transmission method: Digital (Audio is transmitted as PCM sample data)
Transmitter frequency: 5.8 GHz
Signal-to-Noise ratio (A-weighted): typ. 92 dB
Dynamic range: typ. 92 dB
Error correction: 1/2 rate FEC
Audio sampling method: 64 times oversampling
Transmitted data rate: > 3 Mbps
Overall audio latency: < 1 ms
Transmitter operating range: max. 150 ft. line of sight, max. 75 ft. through walls and ceilings
Includes 120V AC Adapter

Receiver / Amplifier:
Amp: Stereo class-T amplifier
Output power: 2 * 20 W (15 W rms)
Total harmonic distortion: typ. 0.03 % (- 70 dB) @ 10 W, 10 Ohms
Power efficiency: typ. 75 % @ 10 W, 4 Ohms
Frequency response: 20 Hz - 23 kHz @ 8 Ohms
Channel separation: typ. 75 dB
Frequency response: 1 Hz ... 23 kHz
Dimensions: 5 x 3.5 x 2 inches
Includes 120V AC Adapter




So, is a <1ms latency toomuch for surrounds?

 

[malacoda]

Interesting find. Dont worry about the latency setting of less than 1. You will be setting latency for the rear speakers when you calibrate the system anyway. Typically 1 ms of delay for every 1.1 ft of increased distance of the rear speakers relative to the listening position