Good Wireless Speakers For Laptop £100-£200

Soulja · 28 Mar 2010 at 21:02

Just got myself a nice laptop but the sound quality isn't too good and i listen to a lot of music so i could really do with some decent speakers.

Can anybody recommend me some?

Any help is appreciated.

Soulja · 28 Mar 2010 at 22:12

Or could I buy an external sound card for my laptop which supports optical? I have some z5500 speakers I could use.

Marsman · 28 Mar 2010 at 22:33

Yep, Asus Xonar U1 has optical connection.

Soulja · 28 Mar 2010 at 23:04

Will that allow me to use 2 speakers and a sub?

Mr_White · 29 Mar 2010 at 00:33

If you use iTunes you could add an Apple Airport Express (£60) to your network, which has a 3.5mm output so you can hook up some speakers and use them with iTunes.

Might be the better option, especially if you're using iTunes anyway.

Soulja · 29 Mar 2010 at 00:37

I don't really use iTunes at all, normally WMP. I suppose if it is the better option i could always start using the software.

Mr_White · 29 Mar 2010 at 01:01

Just had a quick google, this might be worth a look: http://rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/ (review)

It lets you use the Airport Express' audio output without iTunes

Marsman · 29 Mar 2010 at 01:20

Soulja said:
Will that allow me to use 2 speakers and a sub?

Yes it will. You can either connect 2.0/2.1 speakers/headphones or optical to an AV amp or speakers with SPDIF. The jack is shared though, so you can only have one thing connected at any one time, so either analogue speakers, headphones or optical.

How much are you looking at spending, might be better to get some speakers if you are thinking of 2.1, and connect them to the laptop. The U1 is a good solution if you have some half decent speakers and want better sound quality than the laptop can provide, or if you want to connect the laptop to something with SPDIF. If you don't have the speakers, maybe get those first, connect them to the laptop, see how you like it before considering an external sound card.

If you intend to use the Z5500 though, the U1 would be good solution as it will allow 5.1 via optical. If you connect the Z5500 speakers to the laptop via analogue, you will only get 2.1, unless the laptop does have analogue multi channel sound.

Marsman · 29 Mar 2010 at 01:24

Ah, the Airport Express may indeed be a good option. It has optical which is useful, if you didn't want to buy any more speakers.

Mr_White · 29 Mar 2010 at 01:31

Marsman said:
Ah, the Airport Express may indeed be a good option. It has optical which is useful, if you didn't want to buy any more speakers.

Good point, I forgot it had mini-toslink as well for optical, it's a pretty good piece of kit.

Soulja · 29 Mar 2010 at 10:34

So either would be a good solution and have optical? It's just a matter of if i want to use iTunes or not?

Marsman · 29 Mar 2010 at 14:26

You don't need to use iTunes it would seem. The site linked by Mr White, seems to be software that allows one to use the Airport Express without iTunes.

The biggest difference is the Airport has wi-fi, so you can stream music to it from a laptop/PC or Mac, and have the Airport connected to speakers of choice. With an external sound card like the Xonar U1, you will have to be connected with wires.

Soulja · 30 Mar 2010 at 10:00

I missed that post

I think i'll be going for the aiport express then.

Thanks for the help guys.

Soulja · 8 Apr 2010 at 16:02

Bumpy

Been reading up on this and the sound quality that the express puts out seems to be iffy, is the airport extreme any better? Also anything else i could buy for streaming music wirelessly?

Soulja · 23 May 2010 at 11:54

Ok going to be buying an adapter in the next few days, has anything better come out recently? wireless or not.