Wireless Speakers

Wireless speakers: convenience with strings attached.

Wireless speakers make up the cornerstone of whats called wireless Home Theater. Wireless Home Theater attempts to bring a new level of convenience to Home Theater and does so only on lower end, budget priced systems that are comparable to Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) systems. HTIB is the lowest end Home Theater you can buy. Its focus is on small all-in-one components that require no effort to hook up. The wireless dimension makes it even easier because you dont have to string wires through your room to connect the speakers.
Wireless speakers present a problem with hi-fidelity because a fully amplified audio signal cannot be passed through radio waves, so amplification must occur at the speaker itself. This means the speaker must be either plugged in (which means theyre no longer wireless) or run on batteries (which makes them a glorified ghetto blaster). Battery powered self amplified speakers are receiving an audio signal that has been converted to radio waves and back again by the receiver part of the speaker; this is anything but a pure audio signal your speakers are getting.

But, once you accept that youre sacrificing audio quality for the convenience of wireless speakers, there are different ways you can do this. Minimizing the number of wireless speakers in your Home Theater system is optimal. Wireless rear speakers in a 5.1 system or back speakers in a 7.1 system are the best way to accomplish this. It can be very convenient to not have to worry about wires on your back speakers as usually theyre the ones that are furthest from your receiver. Also, the back or rear channels have to reproduce the least audio information so their role in the overall soundscape (and therefore ability to detract from your audio quality), is minimized. Nearly every mainstream electronics manufacturer makes wireless speakers. Probably Sony has been doing so for the longest. Pioneer, RCA and other mainstream electronics manufacturers have their offerings too.

Since wireless speakers run from a battery, their purpose is probably best learned from the very place weve all used battery powered speakers before: in a portable stereo. A pair of wireless speakers from which youre not expecting the best sound quality but you can transport easily from room to room is best. You can use them anywhere in the house and easily take them outside on the patio or into your bedroom. Youll get reliable sound quality as long as youre in range of the transmitter and theyll provide background sound for your Poker nights in the basement. Adding them to a hi-fi system should only be considered if youre having extreme difficulties with the spousal approval factor and must avoid wires at all costs or if youre only powering up something the size of a dorm room. However, if youre in the development stages of a home theater system, plan on hiding the wires.