Ask Engadget HD: What's the best wireless rear speaker option?
By Darren Murph 
posted May 14th 2008 12:30PM
posted May 14th 2008 12:30PM
"I recently splurged on a hot new plasma, but now I am looking for a surround sound system to complete the joy. My issue is that I currently live in a rental property, and don't have the luxury of poking holes in walls to set up my system. I know there are a few options out there for people in my position (sound bars, wireless rear speakers, PowerLine?) but I have no idea which gives the best surround sound result. I was looking to spend no more than $2,000."
We'll be honest -- almost anything is possible at $2,000, unless that includes the price of a few (very) nice drivers. We've seen solutions from Rocketfish and a slew of other companies that essentially enable users to add two rear surrounds sans wires when running cabling towards the back proves problematic, but often these are underpowered and flaky at best in actual use. Let us know what you've found to be superior in comments below.
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Logitech Z-5450. Works perfectly for me, even with wifi in the house. I can't for the life of me figure out why every surround sound "kit" for home theater isn't designed like this.
None! Wired only please. Im a purist.
I have used Rocketfish with poor results. It is under powered and has a constant hum when I turn off my system.
If you want to use your own speakers, the biggest roadblock is gonna be powering those bad boys. First off, I would highly suggest running wires as there is always a way to hide wires. A prime example is to take out the trim in your floor and cut notches into the back of it with a table saw.
If you definitely want wireless, I would get a stereo bluetooth transport, and attach it to a car 2 channel amplifier powered by an AC to DC converter. that rig would cost you about 400 bucks max plus whatever speakers you use. The DC power makes a nice noise free setup with the bluetooth receivers doing a good job of going digital to analog. they could be ones with a headphone jack in, and out and you just need an RCA to headphone adapter.
without a doubt the best wireless speakers you can get will be coming from THIELnet, not inexpensive, but amazing sound
To answer the original question of the gentleman : Use wires, you are not obliged to hide them in walls. Tack them to the bottom of the wall, hide them under a carpet, and voilà.
Until we find a safe way to transmit energy wirelessly, even wireless speakers will need wires, for power. Plus, "wireless" speaker universally sound bad. So why bother ?
How can you say they are the best WITHOUT A DOUBT if in the same sentence you say they aren't even out yet?!?!?!?!?!
Yeah, Logitech Z-5450 here too. It is a nice cheap setup and works wonderfully. The remote isn't great and it does crash every now and then when the signal changes on the fly (cabletv), but the rest of the system makes up for it. There is also a bit of interference on the 2.4ghz range, which does slow down older wifi or cause issues with cordless phones, but those don't seem to interfere with the speakers or sound quality at all.
At $200 it is by far the cheapest solution you will find.
Try the Audioengine W1 wireless adapter (http://www.audioengineusa.com/). It is about $150, but then you can use whatever speakers you want. Engadget gave it a favorable review, and it has worked well for me. You may want to consider powered rear speakers in conjunction with the W1. Audioengine has some of those as well, and they even have a USB port to plug the W1 into for power. I too considered all-in-one sound bars, but my room is open so I decided the wireless powered rears would work best.
Those Logitech Z-5450 speakers are discontinued. Have been for some time. I'm pretty sure it was because Logitech decided the tech support hassles weren't worth it, and they got a lot of returns. I read a lot of reviews on them, and they were very mixed. Some people had great experiences, others horrible.
The bottom line is the 2.4 ghz band is way overcrowded. You have Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, wireless keyboards and mice, and wireless speakers all competing for the same band. Your mileage with any of these devices (other than the oven) will vary greatly depending on where you live, what you have running in your house, and what all your neighbors are doing. You won't know how the speakers will sound until you buy them, get them home, unbox and connect everything, and spend a couple hours messing around with settings. I don't think it's worth it. I refuse to even use a wireless keyboard anymore because of nagging interference issues I've run into with many brands I've tried.
I'm not up to speed on the newest wireless speakers out there, but I'd be very careful and avoid anything on 2.4 Ghz unless it has some very innovative interference mitigation technologies.
I had EXTREMELY poor luck with the Rocketfish solution. I tried for days to get it to work, and finally had to return it. I would highly recommend *against* Rocketfish.
I love the rocketfish set!
Yes, it hums when it's off... but I only use it for movies and turn it off when it's not in use (won't someone think of the CHILDREN... I mean the ENVIRONMENT!)
aside from the occasional sharp pop, the sound is just fine... and since running wires across my room AND paying $1000 for a wireless solution is not an option for me, this unit at $99 fits the bill fine.
LG is supposed to be coming out with a new unit that handles 100w of power, the ACC98WK.
I currently have the revised rocketfish and while it does an ok job still pops every so often because of my wifi. It only does that when no sound it going through though
I'm using the AudioEngine W1 to transmit the line level audio from my receiver to the rear of my room -- link already provided by someone else above.
I then use an AudioSource AMP100 2-channel zone amplifier (www.partsexpress.com) and a pair of CBM-170 SE speakers from Ascend Acoustics (www.ascendacoustics.com) to match my Sierra-1's for L/C/R.
About $500-$600 overall for the whole configuration. It works *incredibly* well, and the zone amplifier I chose automatically powers off when it detects no source, so no hum or wasted electricity.
I have to admit though -- in the long run, I could have probably hired a contractor to run the wires for about the same cost. I'll probably do that someday and use the W1 and AMP100 to power some outdoor speakers or something.
I echo the above recommendation for the Audioengine W1 transmitter. The W1 is rated down to 15Hz +/-1.5 dB or something like that so there is no loss of frequency response using it.
Pair that with the amp of your choice. The AudioSource one would be one choice. If you want something a bit tinier, you could get a Parasound Zamp ($300) which is a very good amp capable of driving most speakers you'd want. It has auto-shutoff when there is no source signal.
Then match with any speaker of your choice (matching the brand/line of the fronts usually), and the quality of the setup is uncompromised.
isn't this just a USB adapter for a PC? How would this help in a home AV setup?
I am currently using Rocketfish and for the price...I think its worth it. I am powering 2 Klipsch 3-way rear channel speakers with great results. I've never heard hum, that sounds like a ground loop issue on the above poster. 60Hz hum eliminators are available for cheap, btw. There is an occasional "pop" from the Rocketfish, which I believe is RF crossover interference from somewhere.
It was VERY easy to setup so...not sure if the other poster is special needs or what. Connect the speakers to the Rocketfish rear amp and rear channel receiver unit. Connect the small Rocketfish transmitter to the main audio receiver. Push the SYNC button and adjust the volume as needed. DONE. Did you happen to find a small sheet of paper labeled "Instructions"? Those are handy.
I use a Yamaha soundbar. Cost $700 and works great in my apartment.
I'm going to go outside of the box here and say DON'T USE WIRELESS SPEAKERS. it's a bad idea. Especially if you've got $2k to drop, spend 1 on speakers and another 1 on custom installing those wires that you're so afraid of. PS. 1k for installing two wires is crazy expensive, so you'll likely have more to spend on speakers.
Not sure why the hate for Rocketfish aside from the Best Buy relationship.
I was in the same place as this guy back in March, a new HDTV and a glairing hole in my entertainment arsenal. I bought a surround sound receiver 3 years ago and bought new surround speakers and a sub to go with it about 6 months later. I hooked up the front speakers and sub right away. 2 years after that I was still saying I'll figure something out eventually for those rear speakers. Then I picked up my Pioneer 5080 and suddenly surround sound became a priority. I've been using the Rocketfish rear speaker kit for a few months now and can't complain. No connectivity issues with them and my other wireless components around the apartment (Linksys router a few feet away, wireless phone right next to the rear wireless receiver). I do turn off the back speakers when TV and receiver are not in use so I can't comment on the buzz others have referenced. Maybe the use of ear buds has ruined my hearing but I don't sense a significant drop off in quality with this wireless solution. Once I got it dialed in, volume wise, it's been a nice cheap and easy solution. I'm living in an apartment with 14 feet between the front and back living room walls. My TV and center channel are about 10 feet from my couch and the rear speakers give plenty of volume for a nice surround sound experience. I wouldn't recommend for a true home theater due to the occasional crackle or pop and I’m sure power does become an issue for larger rooms. Short of buying an area rug and hiding the wires under it, it’s perfect for an apartment living room used primarily for primetime TV and the occasional movie night.
Is the Rocketfish option satisfactory for transmitting HD audio (I have a PS3) to the rear speakers because of its relatively low power capacity? I do not currently had an audio system because running speakers from front to back is not possible due to a sliding glass door on one side and an open hallway on the other side of my apartment, so I have been waiting for a good wireless rear speaker option before I pick up an audio system.
Sony's S-AIR wireless setup seems like it could be viable, except they do not currently work with any of their standalone audio receivers, just the HTIB. Does anyone know if they plan on making S-AIR compatible with any of their receivers. Thanks.
I use the Rocketfish module connected to my Onkyo HTIB. Both my PS3 and Directv are plugged in and both sound great. My only complaint is that I have to reach under my sofa to reset the module whenever my power goes out due to these crazy Texas storms. Other than that small gripe, I think the Rocketfish moule works great for my home theater needs.
I've had mixed experiences with the Rocketfish. A friend of mine has it and gets the hum when not in use (Rocketfish claims to have fixed this in later models). I setup a friend's HTIB using the Rocketfish and it works great for him. I recently moved and bought one for myself but had it die (wouldn't power on) about a week later and had to return it. Instead of buying another one I decided to stop being lazy and physically run the wires.
When the Rocketfish works, it's not bad and the price is very reasonable. It's ideal for those with a HTIB setup and better than nothing for those with even better setups.
Bose SL2 wireless surround link actually works amazing and I don't get any interference. Only works w/ a Bose system which can be pricey.
As a home theater installer, I have found the rocketfish system to be ok. The Trick is to use a speaker level to line level converter to a 2 channel amp, and then from the amp to the rears. It's complicated, but it works great. And between the Wireless module, converter, and amp, you are in it for about $250.
I used the plastic tubes that stick your baseboards from Lowe's to run speaker wire through to hide the wires.
I have the Rocketfish package and I don't have a problem with it unless the power goes out, in which case I have to power it back up. The room I have it in is next to the kitchen so while I'm sure there's a hum when the system is turned off, it's honestly not noticeable the hum of the fridge or the whir of the laundry room.
I'd much rather have wired, connections, but I missed the window to wire it up when my house was being built. But my system is good enough for me. I'm happy with it the way it is.
Really, the best method varies on how big your room is, how loud you want it to get, and what you use will be using most. Personally I perfer to go wired, and if you have wall to wall carpeting, it's easy to tuck the wires between the carpet and the baseboards to get them around back. The main nice thing about using a wired connection is that there isn't the extra lag time for the signal to get converted, transmitted, converted again, and then amplified. The other issue with a wireless system is that your rear speakers may sound different than your front speakers because of different speakers and/or amplification. If you do go with wired, I've had good sucess with the in wall speaker wire from http://www.monoprice.com/ .
Anyone heard of or tried Amphony http://www.amphony.com/products/tfeatures.htm? They make three products, transmitter only, transmitter and stereo amp, or transmitter and two mono amps. They use 5.8ghz and a class t amp (google it, very interesting, class d amp with hi-fi characteristics). I just ordered the L1520, stereo amp like the rocketfish. My concern is it will have a hard time driving my not-very-efficient infinity bookshelf speakers (86db). I may have to upgrade to the mono amps. Not much info or reviews out on these, they are a small German manufacturer, but the product sounds great by spec. One thing that looks unlikely:
(continued) (less than) 1ms latency! Hope these work well and hold up. I'll post back if anyone is interested.
It's installed, and works exactly as advertised. No extraneous noise, hisses, pops, interference, or hum when no signal. This is under my couch about 16 feet from the receiver. We have no other 5.8ghz gear and are semi-rural, so I can't say how it would do with interference. It is driving my Infinity 8ohm 86db speakers without a hitch so far. Is it super high-fidelity? I can't tell--for surrounds, they fit right in, and I am able to use identical speakers to the front instead of some cheesy wireless speakers. I got these from Sewell Direct--great experience with an open-box product, love their guarantee. I hope this holds up--looks like an absolute toy, the amp is about the size of a pack of cigarettes (OK, 2 packs). But in my experience, performance is uncompromised. I have NO complaints about performance.
On the Rocketfish front -
I bought one from 2nd Turn Audio and I never got it to work... and for the arrogant little fellow above who suggest RTFM... I have other RF devices (RF Link) that work just fine for me... it's not a user problem - it's a device problem.
Has anyone tried the KEF Wireless system?