Wireless surround - any good...?

[Roop]

I have recently purchased a new TV for the lounge (A 50" Panasonic 700 series Plasma, FWIW). Last week I picked up a PS3 as a GT5 and Blu-Ray player so I have got the image sorted, but am still using the built in TV speakers. They're OK, but I'd like a surround system to enhance the experience.

Problem is, my lounge is quite a big room and is tiled with a big rug in the middle, so what I definitely don't want is 60' of speaker cabling running round the edge (there's no way of hiding it). I have mains power sockets in perfect position for the rears in a 5.1 system so it would be the ideal solution for me.

I am not looking for sonic excellence here as I know full well they will never match a good wired solution, but are they worth investigating and if so, what should I be looking at....? Important considerations for me are that the system must have it's own decoder with an optical in (THX certification would be a real bonus) and that the sub can hit hard and low, cracking the tiles in the process.

Any tips appreciated.

TIA,

Roop

[H_Kan]

Went to the ideal home exhibition a couple of years back with the parents. Sat in a Bose exhibition room which was hooked up with wireless speakers, was quite impressed with the quality of the surround sound system they had set up.

At the time they were around 4k, but the general decline in electronic prices plus the technology getting older should mean it's more reasonable now.

[playerone]

Kef do a wireless kit that you can fit to their speakers thats supposed to be alright.

[robodonkey2005]

Yamaha do a "virtual" surround sound system (YSP range) - not sure if the quality would be same/better than wireless rear speakers though...looking into this kind of setup myself so let us know what you go for in the end!

[smartie]

I have a phillips wireless surround sound thing and it's ok. It is only Pro Logic though, not 5.1. Couple of years old now and was only £250 new including DVD player etc.

[H_Kan]

robodonkey2005 said:

Yamaha do a "virtual" surround sound system (YSP range) - not sure if the quality would be same/better than wireless rear speakers though...looking into this kind of setup myself so let us know what you go for in the end!

Most surround sound systems can be set up in this manner. When I first got mine, I tried this setting out because it was more practical, but to be honest it's not really very good.

[Agoogy]

robodonkey2005 said:

Yamaha do a "virtual" surround sound system (YSP range) - not sure if the quality would be same/better than wireless rear speakers though...looking into this kind of setup myself so let us know what you go for in the end!

That Yamaha stuff is award winning... can't see it working that well myself, but whose going to argue with the professionals?

[[AJ]]

Get the Kef wireless system. If you just want sounds good enough for films and gaming it will be ok. The great thing about the Kef system is that you can use almost any speaker system with it. Although saying that I would still buy a Kef 5.1 speaker setup.

[Roop]

Thanks for the input guys - I'll have a nose around the interweb at the weekend and see what I can dig up.

[trooperiziz]

Agoogy said:

robodonkey2005 said:

Yamaha do a "virtual" surround sound system (YSP range) - not sure if the quality would be same/better than wireless rear speakers though...looking into this kind of setup myself so let us know what you go for in the end!

That Yamaha stuff is award winning... can't see it working that well myself, but whose going to argue with the professionals?

I've got one. It's very good at what it does, and hugely better than just setting up a traditional front speaker setup into virtual surround mode, but it doesn't come anywhere close to a proper surround setup.

[wiggy001]

Roop said:

Problem is, my lounge is quite a big room and is tiled with a big rug in the middle, so what I definitely don't want is 60' of speaker cabling running round the edge (there's no way of hiding it).

Honest question but do you not have skirting boards in your lounge? If so, you have an easy way of hiding cables...

[Roop]

wiggy001 said:

Roop said:

Problem is, my lounge is quite a big room and is tiled with a big rug in the middle, so what I definitely don't want is 60' of speaker cabling running round the edge (there's no way of hiding it).

Honest question but do you not have skirting boards in your lounge? If so, you have an easy way of hiding cables...

I do, but they do not run all the way round the room - only about 60% of it. One wall of the room is all glass and there's no way of hiding wires there. Round the other side is the opening through into the kitchen. Continuous tiling so no way to hide there either. Wired is my preferred solution, but there's just no hiding...

[Ultraviolet]

Can you chase the wires into the wall, up into the ceiling and run them below the joists above and then down again at the back of the room?

Alternatively look at in-ceiling speakers - Sonance do some good ones. These fit flush in the ceiling, with a moveable tweeter / midrange to ensure the sounds is focused properly. Also, if you get a white version, they are very unobtrusive...

UV

[Roop]

Ultraviolet said:

Can you chase the wires into the wall, up into the ceiling and run them below the joists above and then down again at the back of the room?

Alternatively look at in-ceiling speakers - Sonance do some good ones. These fit flush in the ceiling, with a moveable tweeter / midrange to ensure the sounds is focused properly. Also, if you get a white version, they are very unobtrusive...

UV

Not an option I'm afraid. First off, it's a rented apartment and second, even if I could chase cables into the walls and ceiling where necessary, the whole thing is constructed of the hardest pre-fabbed concrete you've ever witnessed. I have put a few holes in it to hang stuff like light fittings and such and a good quality concrete drill bit will do about 10 holes in this stuff before it's history.

Got to be wireless, sadly...

[Ultraviolet]

I know what you mean... the plaster in my house laughs in the face of a drill bit.

One final idea whould be to use some Powerline adapters and something like a Slingbox to stream the signal over the mains cable. You could then take the (digital) signal out of the Poweline adapter in the main sockets at the back of the room. You'd then need to convert it to analog and could put the signal into an active speaker (or an amp). Maybe overegging the pudding somewhat though....

UV

[holmesy9]

wireless speakers are crap, batterys need changing often, the quality of the sound is rubbish.


its pointless buying one

[bobthemonkey]

trooperiziz said:

Agoogy said:

robodonkey2005 said:

Yamaha do a "virtual" surround sound system (YSP range) - not sure if the quality would be same/better than wireless rear speakers though...looking into this kind of setup myself so let us know what you go for in the end!

That Yamaha stuff is award winning... can't see it working that well myself, but whose going to argue with the professionals?

I've got one. It's very good at what it does, and hugely better than just setting up a traditional front speaker setup into virtual surround mode, but it doesn't come anywhere close to a proper surround setup.

Some of these setups are very dependnat on room shape, but if your room is basically a box (no funny alcoves, curves, arches etc) then you should be in luck.

[Badgerboy]

I have a Samsung Wireless system for the rears.

It consists of a amplifier which is plugged into the wall behind the sofa, and that feeds the speakers. The rear amp then communicates with the main amp using wifi. (It runs on 2.4ghz, so keep that in mind) Can't fault it really. It occasionaly drops off for one or two seconds, but usually because I have left the laptop copying data wirelessly on the sofa.

Beats pulling the floor up at any rate.

[Kuroblack350]

Having a similar issue, I've just opted for an Onkyo 2.1 system. Although it will never be a 5.1 system (not designed to be really in 2.1 form) the sound quality and range is fantastic for it's price range. It will happily upscale DVD's, plus we can connect the Sky system via optical and the laptop and media streamer as well. It also looks pretty good, unlike most systems out there

It's this one: http://www.eu.onkyo.com/products/product_en_2008_5...

If you're not fussed about the DVD (you say you have a PS3) then Onkyo also do a HDMI driven 2.1 amplifier setup too, the HTX22HD, which I thought about seriously for £300 IIRC.

[Shadytree]

Can anyone recomend me a good wireless home cinema surround speaker set?

Not silly money, guessing max £500 ish