December 06, 2004

• I live in a largish, 2200 square foot two-story house which I want to wire for sound. I am not an audiophile, I can appreciate good sound but great sound is probably wasted on me, and I do not need thundering volume. I have a computer upstairs through which I enjoy streaming audio sometimes, but want the receiver, CD and tape decks, etc. downstairs. We don
• Can my wireless network do that? Yeah. You can even do it with B if you have decent reception. I'm using G because I'm in a dense neighborhood in Seattle. The server (a beater Dell running FreeBSD 5-series stable) lives upstairs. Downstairs next to the amp, I have a Wireless-G bridge (Netgear WGE101) and a Slim Devices Squeezebox (hardwired model). The Squeezebox is a net appliance that essentially accepts a WAV or MP3 stream in one side and emits a signal for your amp on the other side. There are also wireless Squeezeboxen that talk WiFi, so you won't need a bridge unless you go G like I did. The DAC built into the Squeezebox isn't high-end, but it'll get you there. Should you want to spend your kids' college fund and go all audiophile someday, you can easily drop your entire budget on a separate DAC off of the Squeezebox's digital out.
• Your wireless network absolutely can do that, I just set mine up that way with the help of an Airport Express. I am not a computer whiz, but it just involved telling my computer that yes, I do want to enable Air Tunes and then running a cable from the stereo to the Airport. Of course, I'm on a Mac. If you aren't similarly blessed then I will keep you in my prayers. Heh.
• goetter, I will now have The Who stuck in my head all day. Spank you very much.
• And the music's all right... heh
• Okay, what about something like this?
• Streaming to multiple computers is easy. Sending audio to multiple amps/speakers is harder and more expensive.
• Or something more like this?
• I second the recommendation for iTunes/AirTunes/Airport Express to serve music from your PC to your stereo. I understand it's supposed to work on the Wintel side, too. I've heard good things about the Squeezebox, too, but the Mac solution made more sense for us.
• Thanks monkeys! Now what do I look for in receiver to power all those speakers? I was researching some of the receivers on Ebay and found classicaudio.com, a webpage devoted to old receivers which includes a section "What the heck happened in 1980?": "The exact date varies from brand to brand, but the bottom fell out of the build quality. Manufacturers sacrificed quality for production speed and started aiming at the 'general' market instead of the 'audiophile' market. Analog tuners were replaced with digital tuners (I still have yet to find a digital tuner that will come close to doing what the average Pioneer receiver will do, never mind my Sansui TU-9900)." Is this true? Or is it cranky old guy talk?
• Cranky old guy talk, mostly. He seems to be venting about tuners and hence radio fidelity, which much resembles complaining about the beef content of potted meat food product. He also doesn't like the difficulty of repairing an IC-dependent device. Nomenclature clarification: A tuner takes a radio signal and converts it into audio output. An amplifier takes audio output and increases its gain to drive external speakers. A receiver typically combines the functions of the tuner and the amp. (and the preamp, and the equalizer, and ...) Now, it's true that high end amplifiers use mostly discrete components. And the great consumer benefit of ICs in manufacture is economy, which does little for you in the used/depreciated market. But I doubt that it'll much matter for you. You're streaming out of what is probably already a lossy, compressed format over the narrow pipe of WiFi. I absolutely wouldn't worry about it. Buy something economical.
• I just got a Netgear MP101 that's very nice (MP3 and WMA only, though). Works wireless or wired. Currently has a rebate at BeastBoy so they're in the $120-$130 area. May I STRONGLY suggest a separate decoder and powered speakers for each listening area? I positively LOVE the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 set I got to go with the MP101 - ($140 at BeastBoy).
• Your fidelity is limited by the poor quality speakers and source, so there is no point in spending any real money on the amp. What you need is a decent, high-current amplifier, ( not to be confused with high watts) an impedance-matching switch box to handle each set of speakers, and volume controls in each zone. Radio Shack is your friend for the impedance matching switch-box and volume controls, and any stereo amplifier that has a reasonable power suppply and capacitors will work just fine. There is nothing wrong with buying an old power amplifier, but to be honest, electronics are so cheap these days that I don't really see the point. That said, it is becoming almost impossible to find simple stereo amps these days. I'd probably buy a used one from my local stereo store for around $25-50, if I was doing this, as buying used electronics off the Net makes no sense to me at all. Your biggest expense will likely be the wire. Make sure you buy 'in-wall' insulated speaker wire, 16 gauge, oxygen-free copper. You don't want to have your house burn down and your insurance policy invalidated because you used standard speaker wire. Buy the speaker wire off the reel at Home Depot or the like. Once again, there is no point in investing in properly pulled wire, as your system is inherently low-fi.