Wireless rear speaker delivery

[Bob Womack]

I'm peeking into this world right now, frankly with a bit of skepticism, but would appreciate comment from the assembled multitude. I've got a nice 5.1 system that is all hard-wired right now. I had been running my speaker wires to the back, over the carpet, and my wife has been marvelously tolerant. The problem is that we've added a couple of 6 month old Labrador retrievers to the family, who are in that "loony" period where they either chew up or stumble over everything. It has necessitated disconnecting the wires, and while my family isn't missing the wires at all, I miss my rear speakers.

The other day we were in Best Buy doing research on universal remotes. The patient wife is also growing tired of four different remotes, but who doesn't get tired of that many? Anyway, she encountered the Best Buy house brand Rocketfish universal wireless rear speaker transmission system, a steal at $109.

http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/images/PRODUCT/medium/36.jpg

I checked the specs and it runs between 15 and 20 milliseconds of latency doing the a/d-d/a thang and only offers 25 watts of power. I'm betting that wouldn't be a problem for movies (especially since I have my rear bass feeding the subwoofer) but might ruin my entire day on my favorite home theater application, concert videos. I checked my Denon receiver and discovered that it doesn't have an adjustment for rear speaker latency. Rats.

So, what say you. Is there a better solution in that ball park? I'm betting we won't spring for a $600 Kenwood system but might be upshopped a little bit from $109 for lower latency and greater power. This is also a very volatile section of the consumer electronics market with products vanishing about every two seconds. I've done some research and keep finding listings for discontinued products. Thoughts? Thanks!

Bob

[SteveW]

Can you delay the front three by 15-20ms?

[Bob Womack]

My system has that adjustment, but as I understand it, adjusting the fronts will throw them out of sync with the video.

Bob

[pioneer]

not sure if this helps but here is a solution to eliminate running rear speaker wires, it is a new product out from Powerlinx . It is just now coming into the market. It allows you to use the wiring in your home rather than RF as long as you stay on one breaker panel box within your house which most houses do. You do need to power the rear speakers with an added amplifier or use powered speakers.
http://powerlinxaudio.com/rearspeakers.html
(Disclosure I work with Powerlinx)

[Bob Womack]

Thanks, pioneer! a couple of questions:
1. Does your unit accept the powered output of the amplifier?
2. Any idea of a price, including a transmitter, receiver, and with and without amplifier?
3. What is the wattage rating of your amplifier unit?

Thanks again,

Bob

[macaroonie]

Someone somewhere makes a flat self adhesive ribbon cable that you just stick on and paint over. As an alternative if you lift your carpet and install your speaker wire close in to the gripper strip you will not see it at all.

;)

[hjames]

can you drill access holes and slip it through the ceiling of the room below, or through the attic of the room you are in?
There really is no substitute for nice heavy gauge wires when you need to run some wattage.

[Bob Womack]

can you drill access holes and slip it through the ceiling of the room below, or through the attic of the room you are in?
There really is no substitute for nice heavy gauge wires when you need to run some wattage.I've got slab below and a cathedral ceiling above, making access for hiding the wires a bit of a pain. Thanks, though.

Bob

[pioneer]

1. Does your unit accept the powered output of the amplifier?
Yes it transmits the signal through the houses ac wires using a sender and receiving unit, the sending unit plugs into the wall outlet by the surround sound main receiver and the receiving unit plugs into the outlet by the rear speakers. The rear speakers do need to either be powered or have an external amplifier. It uses the house wires to transmit the signal. You can also use the receiving unit to send a signal to other rooms in the house.
http://powerlinxaudio.com/howdoestheinstallkitwork.html you


2. Any idea of a price, including a transmitter, receiver, and with and without amplifier? MSRP $169.99, I would buy your own amplifier or use an old receiver with a remote to easily set your volume



3. What is the wattage rating of your amplifier unit? any size you want

[JBL 4645]

Someone somewhere makes a flat self adhesive ribbon cable that you just stick on and paint over. As an alternative if you lift your carpet and install your speaker wire close in to the gripper strip you will not see it at all.

;)


Along with that affordable remedy is to use (cable trunking) screwed to the skirting boards neat and tidy and run the cables though that easy and it won’t bust the bank.

http://www.dbew.co.za/images/egamain.gif

[macaroonie]

:) just what the doctor ordered.
http://www.impactacoustics.com/product.asp?cat_id=3101&sku=43028

[macaroonie]

more. Found here , there are loads to choose from. :)
http://www.flatwirestore.com/flat-speaker-wire.html

[macaroonie]

It shows you doing the job. :p

http://www.rd.com/17528/article17528-1.html

[JBL 4645]

macaroonie

At what expense is that cable and I’m betting a trip to Richer Sounds to get standard affordable cable and some (cable trunking) from B&Q you could cut the task in half.

Cable section at Richer Sounds
http://www.richersounds.com/productlist.php?cda=productlist&sgroup=SPEAKERESSENTIALS2

[hjames]

Ashley - Dude!
BobWomack is in Virginia - he's not gonna be shopping at Richer sounds and pay VAT and all of that to have it shipped to the USA!


macaroonie

At what expense is that cable and I’m betting a trip to Richer Sounds to get standard affordable cable and some (cable trunking) from B&Q you could cut the task in half.

Cable section at Richer Sounds
http://www.richersounds.com/productlist.php?cda=productlist&sgroup=SPEAKERESSENTIALS2

[Bob Womack]

:) just what the doctor ordered.
http://www.impactacoustics.com/product.asp?cat_id=3101&sku=43028Indeed! What a great idea. Thanks to all for the brainstorming.

Bob

[JBL 4645]

Ashley - Dude!
BobWomack is in Virginia - he's not gonna be shopping at Richer sounds and pay VAT and all of that to have it shipped to the USA!

Who knows he might be planning a holiday trip to the UK because he’s heard the word cable is cheaper in the UK.:D


Indeed! What a great idea. Thanks to all for the brainstorming.

Bob

Hey, hey what am I chop-liver aroud here:D Cable truncking!

[macaroonie]

If you google flat wire speaker cable and ge the images there are tons to choose from . There is one outfit I spotted last night that has a neat selection of termination boxes and accessories to make the job tidy.
If you have a texture wall or wallpaper you can easily run it along the baseboard and paint over.
Incidentall this is one of the things I meant to patent 25 years ago.
Could have should have.:(

[Bob Womack]

UPDATE:
In the end, I went with 14 gauge flatwire, and ran it under the carpet. I have to say I'm extremely happy with the results. By the way, never let anyone tell you snaking wire under a carpet and pad is easy: I tried using one person's suggestion and running binding strap under the carpet to pull the wire. It did fine up to about ten feet and then would invariably fold upon itself. Eventually I went down to Lowe's and bought an inexpensive 25' "Fish Tape" or Electrician's snake to run under my thirteen feet of carpet. Even then, I had to learn the trick of running it with the open side of the loop at the tip UP to get it to make the transit in a straight line. That's counter intuitive because you think it will catch in the carpet pad, but otherwise it tries to veer off course. It's also nearly impossible to get through the job without chopped up knuckle's from the carpet tack strip. In the end I pulled both wires at once because getting the snake across the room was so difficult I didn't want to do it again. Thanks to my wife for tending the wires during the pull. What a pain. But the results are great. Color me happy.

Bob

PS. The job was interrupted when this flew over:

http://www.in2guitar.com/incoming/flayaway.jpg

If you are into WWII history, you'll know that a visit from one of these is rare enough to do some interrupting. I combined the run for the fish tape with a visit to the plane. Pics HERE (http://www.in2guitar.com/b-17.html).

[macaroonie]

You sure made that hard for yourself. Why did you not just lift the carpet along one edge. If it has been down for any length of time the stretch is out of it and it lays back down on the gripper with ease. Then alls you have to do is pound along the gripper again to get it to catch.
You'll know next time.

[Bob Womack]

That's exactly what I did. I had to fish the wire across the center of a 30'x13' room - across the short side, thank goodness. I lifted the edge of the carpet and pad at each side and fished across.

Bob