AirPlay speakers

Jimbeam3678 · 20 Nov 2011 at 17:16

Thinking of buying a airplay enabled dock speaker system.

Couple of questions do these work through a regular wireless router ?

Also does it work in practice as good as it meant to ?

any recommendations for around the £200 mark?

thanks in advance

MrMoonX · 20 Nov 2011 at 17:17

or just buy an apple airport express enable AirTunes on it, connect it to anything with a phono input and it works flawlessly with airplay

TRSjimbob · 20 Nov 2011 at 22:28

I agree with MrMoonx here, i have the airport express hooked upto the Logitech z5500 via aux and i can't fault it.

with the airport express you can connect it to any speaks via aux and it will work brilliantly.

also I've found that airplay can get a little jumpy when my router is being used by a lot of devices but that might be down to my terrible router

Gilbert89 · 21 Nov 2011 at 13:42

Airport Express - Really adds to the overall experience of Apple products doing what they are best at.. working together!

I have quite a poor internet connection, my area isn't all that great for it.. download speed maxes at 230kb.. but usually I'm in the high 100's but yeah, crappy old net gear router, I have no trouble due to lag whilst playing from either my iMac, Macbook Pro, or new iPhone 4s.. even if I am surfing the web, playing online over the xbox, downloading music and so on.

Would really recommend this, nothing better than laying in bed on the laptop being able to access your 5.1 Speaker system via a laptop or iPhone!

randal · 21 Nov 2011 at 14:04

Alternatively, if you've got a stereo/speakers+amp there's always an Apple TV 2. Depends on what you've got already mind.

Jimbeam3678 · 22 Nov 2011 at 08:24

I'm not 100% certain what you are suggesting? Why do I need anther router? I don't have a any speakers at the moment.

So I have 200 for a wireless speaker setup. Come someone suggest what is my best option in basic terms preferably with links of the things I need..

Thanks in advance

randal · 22 Nov 2011 at 18:50

Apple TV isn't a router. It's an Airplay receiver, amongst other things.

Depending on your AV setup already, you could just plug the ATV2 into the telly/speakers/amp you've already got. That way you can dump anything supporting airplay on to it, as well as jailbreak to get XBMC for media duties as well as the stuff it already does out of the box.

Like I said though depends on what you've got already.

Jimbeam3678 · 22 Nov 2011 at 23:07

I literally have a iMac ,IPad,iPhone and a tv which is irrelevant a it not wireless.
I want a good sounding speaker/wireless system setup whats the best option for £200

Turbo-G · 22 Nov 2011 at 23:41

divaboy said:
I literally have a iMac ,IPad,iPhone and a tv which is irrelevant a it not wireless.
I want a good sounding speaker/wireless system setup whats the best option for £200

You don't get it do you. For your budget, the best option would be AppleTV2 as already suggested. £99 and will allow you to send music/video from your devices over AirPlay to your TV - particularly awesome if you have an AV Receiver and some decent speakers

However, if you're specifically just after a speaker dock that supports AirPlay, I don't think your budget will get you far. Cheapest option I'm aware of is the JBL On Air speaker dock at £299.

Therefore, cheapest option may well be to pick up an AirPort Extreme and connect it to a a none airplay stereo/dock system.

randal · 23 Nov 2011 at 00:17

divaboy said:
I literally have a iMac ,IPad,iPhone and a tv which is irrelevant a it not wireless.
I want a good sounding speaker/wireless system setup whats the best option for £200

I'd get an amp and speakers second hand in the MM, and an Apple TV 2. Well, I did.