Bluetooth Surround Products (1 Viewer)

[DamianHarty]

O learned denizens,

I am new to your shores, so please go easy on me.

I've got my old gear set up in a new house. There are some nice Cat5 wires in the wall which emerge behind the TV mount, so I don't really want to clutter up the place with wires if I can help it.

I've got an old Denon amplifier, and a mid-market speaker setup. When I lived in the USA I had a Rocketfish gadget for bluetoothing the rear speakers and after a bit of fiddling, it was entirely adequate. However, that seems to have disappeared in the move back to the UK.

I'm basically wanting to go cable free on front and rear speakers on a 5.1 system. (The amp is near the sub and the centre is driven, rather heretically perhaps, via a spare Cat5 wire in the wall. It sounds fine to my untutored ear.)

My ideal product is a single channel bluetooth sender/receiver that can power a passive speaker. I have sockets (outlets) in each corner of the room and don't mind the idea of vertical wires up to speakers which are broadly in the corners (a topic for another day). Obviously, I buy four of them.

I can find the Rocketfish product again, and also competing ones from Marmitek. I can find single channel point-to-point devices but they can't drive a passive speaker. Both these options fail the test because they are two-channel, and so I'm still running wires from side to side even if not from front to back.

Do I need to bite the bullet and buy active speakers, or is the device I'm looking for actually out there?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Damian,

Since you’re asking for Bluetooth, I’m assuming you want to do this as cheap as possible. I’m fairly confident what you are looking for does not exist at budget-friendly prices.

The only wireless 5.1 system I’m familiar with is WiSa. It would require a whole new system, top to bottom. None of it is budget-friendly

If you’re willing to bit the bullet and hardwire your front three speakers, there are wireless options for the rear speakers. Some of them could also be used with active front speakers if you're dead-set on having them wireless.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[JohnRice]

Just to clarify, are you saying that you're using Cat5 as speaker wire for your center speaker?

 

[DamianHarty]

Just to clarify, are you saying that you're using Cat5 as speaker wire for your center speaker?

Yes, I did say it was probably heretical. ;-) Four conductors at about 0.2 mm^2 seem similar to 1 conductor at about 0.8 mm^2, to me...

 

[DamianHarty]

Since you’re asking for Bluetooth, I’m assuming you want to do this as cheap as possible.

It's more that I don't want to send things to landfill that still work. I also just want wireless - I speculated that Bluetooth might do it, but I'm aware of point to point single channel RF solutions, too, for radio mikes and the like. However, those solutions require either an active speaker or another amp. There are some cheap little amps out there which could do it in line with the Shure PSM units, I guess.

Anyway, it feels like there's nothing that quite hits the spot out there for me.

Time to experiment with a pair of Marmiteks, I think.

Thanks for the input!

 

[JohnRice]

Calling it "heretical" is rather dismissive of reality. Cat5 cable is typically 24GA. Quadruple it, and it's 22GA. The minimum recommended for speakers is 16GA. Beside the fact that ethernet cable is designed for data and very low power, not for speakers.

You'll do what you'll do, but I just want to strongly discourage anyone from using ethernet cable for speakers. Even though ethernet cable is usually CL2 rated, that rating is for the intended use. Run enough power through it, like in a home theater, and it could even become a fire hazard, CL2 rating or not. It will also introduce impedance issues that can cause problems. Will the speakers produce sound? Yep. Still, I can't emphasize strongly enough how much that shouldn't be done. I'm usually discouraging people from spending absurd $ on speakers cable, so this is kind of new for me.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Also be aware that Bluetooth is notorious for interference caused by devices like microwave ovens. I usually like to wear bone-induction headphones when cooking or cleaning in the kitchen, but if I need to use the microwave, forget it - nothing but a garbled mess.