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View Full Version : I want to get rid of a long audio cable


martin_ayton
11-23-2009, 04:03 PM
I have a projector in my living room, and I have the video source as close to it as I can get, for obvious reasons. However, my audio equipment is the other side of the room and I don't want to move it. Currently, I have a 15 metre audio cable (phono plugs at either end) snaking across my room and, especially with a toddler and other children in the house, I don't like it.

I could put cable trunking around the room, but with the layout and physical features like doors, that would not be a trivial matter. So, I'm looking for a wireless solution. Preferably with both sender and receiver being mains powered. There are several products out there, most based on a sender designed to plug into a PC via a USB plug, unfortunately. One of the ones which is apparently aimed at HiFi systems uses an FM transmission, and I worry about the bandwidth on that.

So, I thought I'd ask the experts: What would you use?

Regards,

Martin.

Reid Kistler
11-24-2009, 02:49 AM
Just read a review of the Chordette GEM - a wireless D/A converter designed to stream music over Bluetooth (!).

This product doesn't seem to address your needs, but it does reflect what seems to be a common theme with Wireless Audio systems: A fair amount of COST! ($799, in the Chordette's case).

From sketchy memory, do not recall that either Sonos or MusicCast systems (the only ones am at all familiar with) would fit your setup either...
What product(s) have you looked at?

Don't suppose you have the option of drilling a Discreet Hole beneath (or above) your Video source & running a hidden wire to your Audio gear?

Any option to make use of a Home Wiring Network for distribution?

In any event, Sounds like a FUN project.... :D

martin_ayton
11-24-2009, 10:57 AM
Unfortunately, it's not as simple as a 'small hole' - it never is, is it? I could take the cable into the ceiling space, but I would then have to take it through seven or eight joists, which would involve taking the floor up in two upstairs rooms. I could end up wifeless as well as wireless if I tried that!

You are right about the cost: It is very hard to justify that kind of expenditure to replace a £20 audio cable. The - somewhat cheaper! - systems that I am looking at are:


The Bluewalker (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluewalker-Wireless-HiFi-BW-HF02-SILVER/dp/B000B4VLR6) HF-02 which uses bluetooth. I'd need a phono to female 3.5mm adapter too. (I've put the link to the silver version because, although it is out of stock it has pictures. The white one is in stock but has no pictures). The reviews on this are mixed.
The Ross wireless audio sender (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluewalker-Wireless-HiFi-BW-HF02-SILVER/dp/B000B4VLR6), which uses an 864MHz FM signal. Given the quality of FM radio broadcasts, I'm not convinced that this would cope with the dynamic range of normal DVD audio.

By 'home wiring network' do you mean the systems which run data down the power cables, like this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devolo-Homeplug-Adapter-streaming-capable/dp/B0016KC54C/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1259056421&sr=1-4)? That looks interesting - do you have any experience?