Home PC speaker setup

jordan.kocon

I have a random question, but I have seem stranger in general discussion before... So I am moving next week (for a job at Digital Extremes ) and want to pimp out my new place a little. What I want is essentially to have a pair of wireless speakers in my kitchen/bathroom that can be enabled/disabled from my PC. For example, when I am at my PC I want my computer speakers enabled... when I go to my bathroom to shower/clean/etc. I want to disable my PC speakers and enable the speakers in the bathroom, so I can still stream music/podcasts/etc. Does anyone have suggestions on speakers/software? I'm not looking for some crazy Bose setup, but just reasonably priced (60$ ish) speakers that can be toggled on/off remotely.

System

I can't help much with a $60 budget but Sonos and Apple make awesome solutions to your requirements.

Sonos do wireless speakers, they're very good but can be pricey. The nice thing is they're expandable if you want to add more rooms later.

The Apple setup is amazing though, but needless to say expensive. The best thing about this is you can use any speakers you like. Here's how it works;

You have your iTunes library (either on your computer, on a server machine, or ideally on iCloud with iTunes Match). Then you put an Airport Express(basically an overpriced router) in each room you want speakers and hook up your HiFi (or computer speakers). Then you grab the iTunes Remote iPhone app and you can access your music library and choose which speakers to play it on. I think you can switch multiple sets on/off too so you could have it play in multiple rooms at once.

It's an awesome setup and having all the music searchable and accessible from your iPhone means you don't need to go press play on your computer. However, being Apple, it's gonna be expensive. The only reason I have it is because I had all the hardware anyway.

I'm sure there are probably similar setups using other media steaming hardware but I'm not sure about them.

If you already have an iPhone or iPad you could check out any speakers/AV receivers that are AirPlay compatible, then you can stream to them direct without having to buy all the AirPort stuff.

jordan.kocon

Cheers TeeJay. Unfortunately I recently switched from an iPhone to an android, so the AirPlay/Port stuff won't work for me. I know 60$ is quite cheap for speakers, and I will spend more if I have to, but I would like to get away with as little as possible. Out of curiosity, does your method only work for Streaming iTunes? Most of the podcasts I listen to I just go directly to the website, instead of listening through iTunes, therefore I need a solution that isn't program specific (Such as iTunes), but rather works for my whole computer sound.

I'm not a big guru on this type of stuff, and I have a feeling if I go to Futureshop or BestBuy I will be told "That 5000$ Bose will be exactly what you're looking for".

Surely there has to be a broader, non-Apple/iTunes setup that works as you described.

System

Yeah afaik AirPlay will only play from your iTunes library.

Whatever anyone at the store tells you, don't buy Bose. It's a whole lot of money for a whole lot of average. I just picked up a Bowers&Wilkins/Marantz combo for my computer stereo and it blows Bose out of the water and probably cost far less too. It sounds to me like you are looking more at features rather than sound quality at this stage so I think it's more the actual steaming device that's most important rather than the speakers.

I can't think of a way of doing it so that you can remotely control individual speaker setups. The streaming part is easy, as is the speakers, I'm just not sure what is out there to allow remote control of multiple speakers. Other than Sonos/AirPlay I'm not sure. Most setups like that are super high end custom installations like you'd see on MTV Cribs or something.

I'm keen to hear how you get on though because I'm a bit of a HiFi nerd and this is an area I'm not all that clued up on.

binopittan

All you need is audio swicher
should not cost higher than 10$ i guess..
Don't have experience in wireless system so can't help you with that.
60$ for both PC and bathroom speakers? imo at that price point any brand will do, will not make a much difference.. just grab random entry level MM speakers from logitech/altec lansing etc.

brucele

Never got that problem before.