Advice on setting up wireless entire home speaker system

[WillD]

I need some advice on setting up a wireless speaker system in my house, that I can control with my iPad or iTouch. I have no idea where to start and don't really want to purchase an AirportExpress for each room. I have an Airport Extreme (Time Capsule), an iPad, iTouch, iMac and an AppleTV. Where do I go from here?

I have an AppleTV in the living room connected to speakers. I have my Time Capsule and iMac in a bedroom. I'd like to have speakers in 2 other rooms, the kitchen and a bathroom. I want the system to be as wireless as possible. I'm new to this whole side of things and don't know the best way to do this. i.e. Wi-fi, bluetooth, etc.

I'm not even sure if what I want is readily available yet, so any guidance is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Surf Monkey]

Seems to me that the best solution is to buy two AirPort Expresses, but you ruled that out already.

[WillD]

The more I read online, it seems people recommend against wireless speakers. Apparently the technology is not really that good and it's very expensive for something that works alright. I'm trying to figure out why I can stream HD video wirelessly no problem, but streaming audio is still not up to par. Shouldn't that be easier with such smaller digital files?

I just don't want to spend the time and money to wire the house, considering I won't be living there for more than 2 more years. I can just pack a wireless system and take it with me.

I have no idea if it exists (although I think it should), but I was picturing hooking a unit to my iMac, where my iTunes exists and that unit would wirelessly send my audio to any number of speakers in the house. Is that around?

[Surf Monkey]

Yes. It's called the AirPort Express. Seriously, what you're describing here is exactly what the AirPort express is for. I use two AE units and an AppleTV to stream audio from my desktop to three different rooms and it works like a charm. Once AirPlay hits with iOS 4.2 it'll be even better.

[WillD]

Originally Posted by Surf Monkey

Yes. It's called the AirPort Express. Seriously, what you're describing here is exactly what the AirPort express is for. I use two AE units and an AppleTV to stream audio from my desktop to three different rooms and it works like a charm. Once AirPlay hits with iOS 4.2 it'll be even better.

What's Airplay? I was hoping to send audio directly to speakers. Any reason I have to put an Airport Express in between? If I have a TV in one of the rooms, does it make sense to spend $99 on another AppleTV, rather than an AE?

[Sparkee]

Airplay is what Apple calls it's WiFi wireless speakers used with iTunes, Apple TVs, Airport Expresses and hopefully adopted by third party manufacturers. It is also the technology behind the soon to be released ability to send video from iPhone, touchs and iPads to an Apple TV.

There is also the Sonos speaker system many like. They are high end speaker systems but use a proprietary wireless system and not wifi.

I use 3 Expresses along with my 2 Apple TVs to spread the audio around my house controlling it with an iPod touch. I think the big problem with the WiFi setup is it is susceptible to interference from devices such as microwave ovens. I have pretty much eliminated any audio drop outs on my network by switching it to 802.11n 5Ghz only along with 802.11b/g for older devices using a dual band router. This keep my wireless audio and video streams away from the 802.11b/g frequencies which are more vulnerable to interference.

[Surf Monkey]

Yep. Same here. Moving to a dual band AirPort Extreme and n hardware wherever possible made a big difference in the reliability of my network, not just for streaming media but for overall speed and robustness.

[Danielprice]

Wireless speakers systems offer greater flexibility and convenience to home theater owners. True wireless home theater is still the unattained ideal many home theater owners would love to achieve. If you're investing in a sound system for your living room, or even if you're kitting out your whole house, you'll generally need to lay cables to where the individual speakers are.

[Sparkee]

Originally Posted by Danielprice

Wireless speakers systems offer greater flexibility and convenience to home theater owners. True wireless home theater is still the unattained ideal many home theater owners would love to achieve. If you're investing in a sound system for your living room, or even if you're kitting out your whole house, you'll generally need to lay cables to where the individual speakers are.

This may be true for a home theater system but a multiroom wireless speaker system for audio/music only is relatively easy to set up. A home theater set up is complicated by trying to keep the audio in sync with video, this is not an issue for audio only.

[CScott44]

Originally Posted by Sparkee

This may be true for a home theater system but a multiroom wireless speaker system for audio/music only is relatively easy to set up. A home theater set up is complicated by trying to keep the audio in sync with video, this is not an issue for audio only.

Can you point me in the direction of info on how to set up an inexpensive wired or wireless multi-room audio system?

[Sparkee]

Originally Posted by CScott44

Can you point me in the direction of info on how to set up an inexpensive wired or wireless multi-room audio system?

This is a loaded question without knowing what you have or how you intend on playing the music. It can be as simple as a receiver with an A/B speaker switch and running another set of wires to speakers in another room. It can be difficult running wires but as cheap as adding another set of speakers if you have such an amp.

If you have a wireless network and a computer running iTunes, it's AirPlay will allow you to send audio over the network to an Airport Express which has a headphone jack you can plug into speaker or stereo systems. I like this setup since it can be controlled with an iPod touch and is easily expanded over time with additional Expresses. An Airport Express runs around $100 here and requires another set of speakers with an amp. Adding an Apple TV or 2 over time can also extend the audio to or from these devices too. Other setups may be better, but this is why I like Apple's method. It can be expanded over time like most, but it lets me choose the speakers I want, cheap outdoor speakers on the patio and a good home theater system in the livingroom as well as a mono, but good sounding, radio in the garage and kitchen.

[dwlong]

I just don't want to spend the time and money to wire the house, considering I won't be living there for more than 2 more years. I can just pack a wireless system and take it with me.

[dozenne]

After reading numerous review and questions; I decided to help everyone out with what I have figured out.

Sick of seeing all those cables going from your TV to you equipment.

I got the following Vizio wireless HDMI kit.
Costco - VIZIO Wireless HDMI Universal Wireless HD Video & Audio Kit customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings[/url]

Hook up the base unit to your equipment:
CD/DVD player
Cable or dish box
an Apple TV- $99.00

Hook the receiver unit to your TV via one HDMI cable and now you can stream all you music, movies, netflix, pictures etc to your TV which doesn't have to be in the same area as your TV wirelessly. I used heavy duty velcro to connect the receiver unit to the top/back of my TV so it is out of site. The unit sends via radio frequency so it doesn't have to have line of site to transmit data to your TV.
NOTE: you must put your equipment in an area that you can point your remotes to as this still sends data from the remotes via IR but no more cable running up/through the wall to your TV.

Cost:
Vizio HDMI wireless kit- 149
Apple TV- 100
Total cost: $250 bucks!

Audio:
Here's where it gets fun.

For each room buy one of the following:
Apple airport express: 100 new or 70 bucks for a refurb unit through Apple web site:


Sony bluetooth speaker set: (I bought mine at Costco for 149 each with a 30 coupon so 119 each.) Sony RDP-X60iP iPod + iPhone Bluetooth Speaker Dock


I bought 5 of each.
One for the patio, kitchen, master bedroom, living room, and play/game room.

When you setup each airport; name it the room it is in.

You then plug via a 3.5mm stereo cable from the airport express to the speaker system.

Now when you play music from your iPod, iPhone, Android phone, tablet, iPad, laptop, or computer in iTunes; if you click on the little arrow in the bottom right corner- you can select each or all of these devices.
Each one also has it's own volume control in iTunes.

Will it rival a system with in wall speakers and a big amp- NO
Will it sound great and blow your friends away with the functionality, coolness, and save you a bundle - YES!!!!

When you have all speakers playing and the crossover from all them; it sounds GREAT!!!!

I have 5 rooms and spent less than 210.00 per room for airport and speakers.
TV setup was 250.00.
So for 1300.00 I have a wireless system that rocks and uses no wires.

If you have bucks then I would recommend getting one speaker setup for the patio that is the Bose Soundlink.
It is $299.00 and has rechargeable batteries.

Then you can move it around the patio without being plugged in for large areas.
NOTE: you can only play to this device when unplugged from the Airport via bluetooth which means it is the only device playing on your system from your device.

Hope this helps everyone!

[peterthomas]

@WillD: So what did you buy then? I am also looking for one such solution, but i wonder what I should do! Am just so confused!

[lanayapiper]

Originally Posted by Surf Monkey

Seems to me that the best solution is to buy two AirPort Expresses, but you ruled that out already.

Using two AirPort Expresses is your best option. The money that you will be spending for them are definitely worth it and a real bang for the buck. Don't rule them out! I've use this and I can vouch for this!