A new trend is the appearance of an increasing number of home theater systems with cordless speakers or a separate wireless surround sound kit. As multi-channel audio still is a fairly new phenomenon, older homes are not prewired for surround sound, especially with the most recent trend of 7.1 surround systems. As such a wireless option appears to seem like the logical choice. But are these wireless surround sound kits reliable enough for real-world applications and do they get rid of the dreaded cable clutter?
Looking at available wireless surround sound kits, you will notice that most of them, such as the products from Rocketfish or LG will connect two speakers to a wireless receiver unit. As a result, such systems, while eliminating the speaker cable from the front of the room to the rear, do not really eliminate speaker cable but only reduce it. As such products with separate wireless receivers for each speakers, such as the product from Amphony, offer a much cleaner solution since each receiver can be attached directly to the speaker of choice.
The big question is: do these wireless systems have any impact on audio quality? When choosing a wireless surround sound kit, one should prefer a system where the audio is transmitted digitally. This will ensure that the signal does not pick up noise during the transmission. Another consideration is the quality of the audio amplifier inside the wireless receiver. A good-quality amplifier will have minimum audio distortion and high efficiency. Also, picking a small-size wireless receiver will help hide it from view.
Another issue to consider is that in a home theater setting is that the sound to all speakers should be in sync with the video and also in sync with each speaker. Some wireless units such as the Rocketfish will introduce a delay in the signal, apparently to cope with interference. As such you should investigate how much the signal travelling to the wireless speaker will be delayed. The Amphony product however specifies a delay of less than 1 ms which should be low enough for pretty much any real-world application. Finally, how reliable are wireless speakers and wireless surround sound kits?
But how well do these wireless kits work in a real-world scenario? One of the biggest concerns should be interference from other wireless devices. In the US, wireless devices are restricted to a limited number of frequency bands. Especially the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency band are increasingly crowded by WiFi, Bluetooth and an array of other devices making interference more of a concern. Picking a system working at an alternate frequency band such as the 5.8 GHz band would naturally reduce the impact from competing devices.
In addition to connecting rear speakers in a home theater setting, another useful application of a wireless surround sound kit is setting up speakers wirelessly in another room in cases where installing speaker wire between different rooms presents a challenge or for setting up speakers in your backyard within minutes. The applications are endless.
Looking at available wireless surround sound kits, you will notice that most of them, such as the products from Rocketfish or LG will connect two speakers to a wireless receiver unit. As a result, such systems, while eliminating the speaker cable from the front of the room to the rear, do not really eliminate speaker cable but only reduce it. As such products with separate wireless receivers for each speakers, such as the product from Amphony, offer a much cleaner solution since each receiver can be attached directly to the speaker of choice.
The big question is: do these wireless systems have any impact on audio quality? When choosing a wireless surround sound kit, one should prefer a system where the audio is transmitted digitally. This will ensure that the signal does not pick up noise during the transmission. Another consideration is the quality of the audio amplifier inside the wireless receiver. A good-quality amplifier will have minimum audio distortion and high efficiency. Also, picking a small-size wireless receiver will help hide it from view.
Another issue to consider is that in a home theater setting is that the sound to all speakers should be in sync with the video and also in sync with each speaker. Some wireless units such as the Rocketfish will introduce a delay in the signal, apparently to cope with interference. As such you should investigate how much the signal travelling to the wireless speaker will be delayed. The Amphony product however specifies a delay of less than 1 ms which should be low enough for pretty much any real-world application. Finally, how reliable are wireless speakers and wireless surround sound kits?
But how well do these wireless kits work in a real-world scenario? One of the biggest concerns should be interference from other wireless devices. In the US, wireless devices are restricted to a limited number of frequency bands. Especially the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency band are increasingly crowded by WiFi, Bluetooth and an array of other devices making interference more of a concern. Picking a system working at an alternate frequency band such as the 5.8 GHz band would naturally reduce the impact from competing devices.
In addition to connecting rear speakers in a home theater setting, another useful application of a wireless surround sound kit is setting up speakers wirelessly in another room in cases where installing speaker wire between different rooms presents a challenge or for setting up speakers in your backyard within minutes. The applications are endless.
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