Spec me a wireless speaker for streaming

eddyc

eddyc

eddyc

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Joined
13 Nov 2009
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1,107
Moved from Sound section

Hi Guys,

Hoping someone here can point me in the right direction. I'm looking for a wireless speaker for my bedroom that will stream music from my desktop PC in the living room.

Current setup:

- 1 bed flat (essentially 2 fair sized rooms - bedroom and living room/kitchen)
- Desktop PC in living room with all my music
- Denon UD-M31 mini system with Gale speakers plugged into PC via AUX in.
- I don't own an iPod. I don't use itunes.
- wireless n router covering whole flat

What I'd like is a speaker in my bedroom that can play songs off the PC library. I'd also want the option to play music in both rooms at the same time with the sound synced up. No need for the speaker to have the ability to select songs - think I can do that with my phone.

I think the distance is too much for bluetooth so I guess I'm looking at AirPlay or DLNA. Clearly AirPlay isn't ideal since I'm not using any Apple products or software. But I think I can use something like AirFoil (https://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/) to stream to AirPlay speakers from other music players, so it's an option.

Budget is £150 max. Any suggestions would be great (both for specific speakers and for general approach, preferred streaming protocol etc)
 
No thoughts from anyone?

I tried out Airfoil last night. I don't have any AirPlay devices yet so I was using my phone with AirBubble app installed. Music was hopelessly out of sync so I think it's a no go.

Sonos are unbelievably expensive for a system set up like the one I'm considering... Not sure what to think about next.
 
What about 2 squeezebox radios. Or 2x Squeezebox receivers. One connected to your Denon and then get some active speakers for the bedroom?

They're old now but you can pick them up cheap.
 
Thanks for the suggestion NickNack but I don't think Bluetooth is the right option for me. Firstly the distance is too great. Secondly I don't think bluetooth would support audio synchronisation with the output from my PC's soundcard.

They look very nice though.

Maryt - squeezebox. I'd not heard of those. I'll have a look thanks.

Psycho - yes I think Sonos would do the job. Unfortunately the minimum I'd be looking at is something like:

Sonos Connect: £279
Sonos Play1: £169
-------------------
Total: £448

Too much for me I'm afraid.
 
Last edited:
Play:1 and a cheap powerline adaptor kit (Sonos are looking at dropping the proprietary wireless network and using standard WiFi for their kit)? It's one of the most eloquent solution, otherwise a second-hand Squeezebox and some active speakers as mentioned.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Just a Play:1 would certainly be cheaper. But don't I need a Sonos input into the hi-fi in my living room to get the sound synced up?
 
Just had a reply from AirFoil support. It seems that on Android you need to manually sync up the sound.

So using my phone as the speaker wasn't a great test of its abilities. I'm going to try my laptop as speakers tonight. If that works then I can fall back on the idea of an AirPlay speaker like the Azatom Stealth Air 2 or something.
 
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