If you have wireless speakers on your mind

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IIf you have wireless speakers on your mind – it’s been a good while since we published our first blog about wireless speakers. It is one of these areas that still has a plenty of room for growth (read ‘improvement’), which as a consequence means that things tend to move at a rather fast pace.

And they certainly do. Are we there yet? Nope, not by a mile. But we believe things are definitely progressing.

It has come to our attention that more and more customers ask for a wireless multi-room system when they come to us with their building or renovation plans or after they have purchased a new home.

So, it’s time to have another look at where we are at with wireless speakers of all kinds. What are our findings and recommendations? And how do you decide on what might work best for your situation and budget?

1. Portable Bluetooth speakers

On the most basic level, there is the option of a portable Bluetooth speaker or even a whole set of them.

The good news is that sound quality is improving, Bluetooth speakers are no longer just an option for people that don’t care about what their music sounds like. The bad news is that as with anything, you get what you pay for. If sound quality is important to you (and we are assuming that is the case), then you are going to have to ignore the cheap and nasty stuff.

The main appeal of a portable speaker is that you’re not tied to the mains socket, but instead rely on a rechargeable battery.

Apart from sound quality and budget, don’t forget to have a look at the speaker’s battery life before purchasing. Four hours is fine if you’ll be listening in the garden, but you’ll probably want eight hours or more if you’re taking it with you on holiday.

Bluetooth speakers are easy to pair with your smartphone or tablet. Getting connected usually takes just seconds. It’s a direct connection that doesn’t require a Wi-Fi network, so you can set up an instant audio system just about anywhere. And what’s more, Bluetooth doesn’t care if you’re an Apple or Android user.

On the go, an ultra-portable option like the Orbitsound Spaced 360 makes a great traveling companion.

Personally, we love the highly acclaimed Riva Turbo X and Audio S Wireless Bluetooth speakers; they are extremely versatile throughout the house plus they sound extremely good for such a small speaker. But what’s more, they are ideal for some poolside fun or your morning karaoke session in the shower. They are on their way out, so now is a good time to scoop them up at a bargain.

2. Powered wireless speakers

While using your phone to send music to a Bluetooth speaker is super convenient, there are also some downsides: when a call comes in or when you carry your phone beyond the speaker’s wireless reception range (usually about 30 feet, with the new Bluetooth 5 (LE) standard promising to go much further), the music stops. Your music is also interrupted with notification sounds when an email drops or a message comes in.

But wireless life doesn’t stop with Bluetooth. If your wireless speaker has an Ethernet port and/or built-in Wi-Fi, you can plug it straight into your home network. The advantages? You can stream quality tracks from any source that’s also connected to the same network: your smartphone, laptop or your NAS box. So, if you’ve got a library full of CD-ripped and hi-res files, there is the option of looking into wireless powered speakers that support the higher resolution.

As an alternative to Bluetooth wireless speakers, AirPlay is Apple’s wireless audio protocol that allows iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to stream their iTunes libraries. AirPlay uses your home Wi-Fi network to connect to your computer and to access the Internet.

Your iTunes program (or Airplay compatible application) lets you select multiple AirPlay-compatible wireless speakers. You can control the volume for each speaker separately. And you can stream music from your iTunes library to multiple AirPlay speakers at the same time. (Note that all the speakers play the same music). With an Apple TV, you have even more options for direct access to Internet services and sites for audio.

In its simplest form the Audioengine B2 is popular option that is worth considering.

For a more audiophile level desktop stereo set-up the Kef LS50 wireless speakers or the Audioengine HD Premium or HD3 audio speakers are extremely popular.

But you may want to take it up a notch and actually have a wireless home theatre set-up. Slowly but steadily, the options are growing and the quality is getting better.

Wireless soundbars are no longer a rarity with a wide range of excellent options available from Orbitsound, Q Acoustics, Klipsch, Yamaha, Definitive Technology and Panasonic.

As an AV lover who doesn’t want to compromise on quality but still wants to go wireless, you no longer need to be stuck with a soundbar for your home theatre: options are still fairly limited, but they are around with the Klipsch Reference Premiere HD Wireless 5.1 System (see further) or even better, the ELAC Air-X series for a true audiophile experience. The speakers boast the ELAC Jet5 tweeters as well as balanced inputs.

A word of caution: when big receiver brands like Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha and Onkyo say they have Bluetooth connectivity, it’s important to understand that that Bluetooth connectivity is usually one-way. That is, you can stream audio to it via Bluetooth, but you typically can’t stream audio from the receiver to a Bluetooth speaker (Yamaha MusicCast AV receivers being the exception)

So with that information, just place your wireless speaker in your room, plug it into a wall outlet (yes, you will need that!) and it’s ready to receive whatever audio you can play through your smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

3. Multiple rooms throughout your home

But an option that is becoming more and more popular these days is a multi-room wireless set-up. Sonos is no longer the one to rule them all, especially if you value decent sound.

Different multi-room systems work in different ways, but the majority use Wi-Fi; simply because Wi-Fi is better than Bluetooth for streaming music to multiple rooms in the home. Some connect directly to your home internet; others create their own Wi-Fi infrastructure to let multiple speakers ‘talk’ to each other.

For us, there are three stand-outs when it comes to multi-room audio. The first is Yamaha MusicCast.

We’ve made it no secret in the past that we like Yamaha for the quality of their products at their price point as well as the reliability of the products. The MusicCast eco-system is no exception.

What sets Yamaha MusicCast apart from competitors is the fact that it incorporates Multiroom Music into a receiver. This means that EVERY Yamaha MusicCast AV product can be incorporated and accessed into the Yamaha MusicCast eco-system. We’re talking speakers in all forms and set-ups, soundbars, av receivers in all sizes, streamers, pre-amplifiers, CD Players, etc. The range is ever growing and eventually Yamaha will embed MusicCast in its high-end Hi-Fi separates, too.

But wait, there’s more: you may not want every room to be wireless. Here’s the deal, if you prefer, you can also connect any of the Yamaha MusicCast components to a wired network as each device has an RJ-45 jack to accommodate an Ethernet cable.

And because the Yamaha MusicCast products are Bluetooth/Airplay enabled, there is the option of also adding ‘non-MusicCast products’ like for instance a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

Flexibility galore. We like that a lot.

And then there are a few other requirements that we think a good multi-room system should have.

One of them is a good app. The MusicCast app works very similar to Bluetooth pairing: you select a device, the device is detected and connected. It’s pretty straight forward, very intuitive and flexible.

The apps biggest weakness is that searching your music library (especially if you have a big one) could be a more streamlined in our opinion.

In terms of music services, all the usual are available, except for maybe Apple Music.

Another stand-out is that, unlike Sonos, MusicCast components can stream AIFF, FLAC, and WAV (PCM format) files encoded with up to 24-bit resolution and sampling rates as high as 192kHz; and it can stream ALAC files encoded with up to 24-bit resolution and 92kHz sampling rates. Both systems also support MP3, MPEG-4/AAC, and WMA files.

Not quite the audiophile system that is Bluesound (at a much higher price point) which includes HiRes audio and MQA support, as well as a CD-ripping vault, but definitely a step up from the competition.

But if a Hi-Res audiophile wireless system is on your wish list, we believe Play-Fi is the option of choice. Needless to say that DTS Play-Fi is one of Rapallo’s favorites.

Unlike MusicCast, Play-Fi is an open standard that any company can join. Definitive Technology was among the first to join, with Anthem, MartinLogan and a few other high-end brands following along soon after.

What’s so likeable about Play-Fi is that while most multi-room systems are “closed”(meaning they work only with products from the same brand), with Play-Fi, you can mix and match components from several manufacturers that support Play-Fi. Many of these manufacturers are audiophile brands, meaning that the use of Play-Fi is an awesome way to set up an audiophile grade multi-room system with a lot of flexibility.

DTS Play-Fi wasn’t taken too seriously in the beginning, as the associated brands were limited and the app was just plain poor. Much has happened since (and we suspect will continue to happen)

So, which brands have joined the DTS-Play-Fi forces?

It will be no surprise to you, if we say that we love Anthem when it comes to audiophile grade amplifiers. Anthem has introduced receivers with Play-Fi built in, which makes it that much easier to stream audio into your main AV system Yes!

We mentioned earlier the Klipsch Reference Premiere wireless system, which relies on WiSA (Wireless Speakers and Audio Technology) The WiSA standard was developed primarily for use in home theater systems, but as of September 2014 has been expanded into multi-room audio applications. It differs from most of the other technologies in that it doesn’t rely on a WiFi network. Instead, you use a WiSA transmitter to send audio to WiSA-equipped powered speakers, soundbars, etc). It’s pretty innovative, but the reviews were rather average.

But no giving up for Klipsch. They just released their Klipsch Play-Fi Heritage series that has a some extremely stylish mid-century design options that we wouldn’t mind scattering throughout the living area in ‘The One’, ‘The Three’, ‘The Six’. We haven’t heard them ourselves, but rumour is that they don’t have to rely solely on their looks.

Definitive Technology is another high-end audiophile company subscribing to DTS Play-fi wireless platform. Read any review about a Definitive Technology product and chances are you’re looking at 5 star reviews. Their wireless products are no exception and include a streamer, an amplifier, a soundbar and two different types of speakers: the W7 and the W9. Classy, both in looks and sound.

Other brands that are aligning with DTS Play-fi are Onkyo, Pioneer, Martin Logan and quite a few more. SVS has put up its hand to join the Play-fi family, (but is yet to release its first Play-fi enabled product) which we recon is a pretty smart move on their part. We can’t wait to see what this will mean in the future.

Above mentioned RIVA just recently launched their Arena and Festival speakers in the Riva Wand Series. Riva never settles for average and are not planning on doing it now: the Arena speaker let you choose whether you want to use the devices as a wireless mobile speaker, a wireless powered speaker or put a whole set together for a multi-room speaker system. If indecisive is your middle name and you have a purist’s ear, this one is definitely for you! Did we mention it supports high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192kHz?

And finally, talking about wireless speakers trends, several brands are working at incorporating Amazon Alexa for voice control (Yamaha already does). I guess that means that soon enough we will no longer be talking too much about an app?

As always, everything depends on a number of individual factors that will determine whether wireless speakers are right for you and if so, which set-up is the best match for your needs.

Let us know if you need advice in making your decision, we will help you out with a smile.