Tote Your Tunes to Any Room With a Portable Wi-Fi Sound System
Free your home's music setup from wires with Wi-Fi speakers that let you take high-quality audio anywhere
Houzz Contributor. I'm a Silicon Valley-based writer, columnist and blogger, covering technology and culture. http://elgan.com
Houzz Contributor. I'm a Silicon Valley-based writer, columnist and blogger,... More »
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Sixty years ago, the marketing term "hi-fi" was used to sell big stereo systems that played 33 1/3 rpm vinyl records and FM radio, rather than the lower-quality 78 rpm records and AM radio. Today few people still listen to records at home, and even traditional radio is being replaced by digital music files downloaded from Internet sources.
Music lovers buy tracks or albums from Apple's iTunes and its equivalents, including Google Play and Amazon MP3. Another increasingly popular option is streaming music sites, like Pandora and Spotify. These basic options for finding music are just a few of the hundreds available across the Internet. And the options for listening are growing, too.
Music lovers buy tracks or albums from Apple's iTunes and its equivalents, including Google Play and Amazon MP3. Another increasingly popular option is streaming music sites, like Pandora and Spotify. These basic options for finding music are just a few of the hundreds available across the Internet. And the options for listening are growing, too.
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by Leslie A Wood
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| Music is usually discovered, purchased and controlled with computers, tablets and, above all, our phones rather than having anything to do with retail stores or conventional radio. In the hi-fi era, speakers had to be physically connected by wires to a central receiver, which served as an amplifier — a box capable of receiving over-the-air radio and input from a record or tape player — and also a control panel, on which the user could switch inputs, change the volume and pick the music. Now most of this is done in an app. However, if you want booming, high-quality home audio, you still need amplified speakers. But you don't need a receiver. And you definitely don't need to transmit music over wires. You want Wi-Fi hi-fi. Great sound, no wires. One of the greatest things about Wi-Fi hi-fi is its portability. You can just pick it up and take it to another room, the backyard — or another house. |
by store.sony.com
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The Sony SA-NS510 is noteworthy for its traffic-cone-like form and the fact that it runs on rechargeable batteries for about five hours. It has a handle for easy portability. It has no front or back and blasts music 360 degrees around it — perfect for an outdoor party or picnic. Like the other systems in this ideabook, it streams music over Wi-Fi from your phone or tablet — in this case, either an iOS or Android device via a dedicated mobile app. It also supports Apple's AirPlay technology, streaming music from any Apple phone, tablet or computer directly to the speaker system over the air.
by Crutchfield
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The Bowers & Wilkins A7 has a 6-inch Kevlar-reinforced subwoofer, a Nautilus tube aluminum tweeter, a 3-inch midrange speaker and five dedicated audiophile class-D amplifiers. Reviewers praise the A7's sound, even at low volumes. In addition to streaming via Apple AirPlay, you can also choose to connect over regular Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable.
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Reviewers have lauded the Philips Fidelio Wireless Hi-Fi as a great-looking and great sounding wireless sound system. Controlled from either Apple's iOS or the Android mobile app Philips AirStudio, the Fidelio approaches the convenience of just playing music through earbuds, but with great speaker sound.
There is no dedicated remote control unit. However, the speakers do have five buttons that function like car-radio presets. You choose an Internet radio station for each one, and that lets you turn on the speakers and play a station without using the app on a phone or tablet.
There is no dedicated remote control unit. However, the speakers do have five buttons that function like car-radio presets. You choose an Internet radio station for each one, and that lets you turn on the speakers and play a station without using the app on a phone or tablet.
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| These and many other sound solutions can bring your home's sound system from the age of wires into the more flexible, interactive and portable age of Wi-Fi hi-fi. |
Ideabook updated on Jan. 24, 2013.
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http://www.audyssey.com/products/wireless-speakers
"With the deliberate design decision Audyssey aims to make their hardware appeal on both an audio and physical level." - Cool Hunting
"Setup is minimal, and sound is really stellar." - GIZMODO
"They sure do sound as good as they look on a desk." - gadget
"I was pleasantly surprised that a pair of Bluetooth speakers could fill a room with such a satisfying sound. Audyssey has, at last, made a Bluetooth speaker worth listening to." - The Wall Street Journal
"Audyssey Wireless Speakers deliver a combination of excellent sound quality and stylish looks." - cnet
I'll admit that they aren't the most attractive, but they actually have really good sound and are either AC driven or portable with batteries and are water resistant so you can use them by the pool. We have a couple and use ours to pump Pandora through our entire house.
Another alternative, if you're married to wi-fi and are an Apple iTunes user who already has a nice stereo, try their AirPort Express Wi-Fi routers. http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/ They have an audio output that allows you to send music to the AirPort via Wi-Fi and then out to your existing stereo. Again, less than half the cost of the two options shown here, and again, something that I've personally used to pump music through the house.
Or, if you really want to get crazy, get on the usual auction site and buy yourself a FM transmitter for less than $100. (search for "FM Transmitter 500mW") I've used one before to set up a radio station that can be heard down the block on any FM radio. Made for a heck of a block party, and as long as you stay around 500mW or less transmitting power, you shouldn't run afowl of the FCC...
Let me say this I don't even have any of these's audio sound
systems at all, but I wouldn't mind have them. I happen to be a
Fashion Photographer, and things for me are hard, but I do like
differrent sound systems with a lot of bass, plus I am also a
Drummer, Signed Tommy Lee Fashion & Glamour Photographer. 4/ 7 / 2013