Wireless or Powered

[psbfan9]

My mother in law is wanting to get rid of the mass of wire that runs through her living room to her surrounds. She's considering doing away with rear surrounds and getting *cough* Bose speakers because she read in an HH Gregg ad that they will fill the room similar to a 5.0 system. I suggested she get 3, L/R/C Mirage Omnisats instead of the Bose. The problem is, I can't tell her where to go to hear the them. I know she can get them through Vanns or Amazon, but then she can't demo.

More problems, I'm 1200 miles away, there is no basement or drop ceiling to hide the wires so she can keep her current set up, and, she's on a budget that hasn't been determined yet but it isn't going to be much.

So I'm looking for suggestions for an EASY set up and operation of either wireless or powered speakers for rear surrounds.

But, I think the best/easiest thing for her may be a 3.1 set up and get rid of the rear surrounds, but they will need to fill a fairly large room and she needs to be able to demo.
I'm sorry but I don't have exact room size. A guess would be 20 ft. front to back and 15 to 18 ft. side to side.

I don't know, maybe in this case the Bose may be the right speaker for the this situation.

As always, I appreciate the help.

Barry

 

[zieglj01]

The killer thing here, is finding a place to demo. Going 3.1
looks like a good option.
I would really take Yamaha over Bose - and the word on them
is that they are decent. Also Audioholics reviewed them.
NS333 | Yamaha 150-Watt 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (2 in Box; Price for Each) | hhgregg

The center channel is at the Audioholics store.
http://store.audioholics.com/speakers/center-channel-speakers/yamaha-ns-c444.html

Reviews
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/bookshelf/budget-bookshelf-shootout-2009/bookshelf-speaker-face-off-2009-results

 

[Adam]

Hi, Barry. Does she like her existing speakers, but not the wires? If so, another option would be to get a wireless system to connect to her speakers. There are wireless systems with built-in amps (like this or this), and also wireless systems that you'd connect up to a separate amp.

 

[psbfan9]

The killer thing here, is finding a place to demo. Going 3.1
looks like a good option.
I would really take Yamaha over Bose - and the word on them
is that they are decent. Also Audioholics reviewed them.
NS333 | Yamaha 150-Watt 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (2 in Box; Price for Each) | hhgregg

The center channel is at the Audioholics store.
Yamaha NS-C444

Reviews
Bookshelf Speaker Face Off 2009 Results - Pg. 2 — Reviews and News from Audioholics

Thanks Jim! Those Yamaha speakers look pretty nice. I'll forward the link to her.

Hi, Barry. Does she like her existing speakers, but not the wires? If so, another option would be to get a wireless system to connect to her speakers. There are wireless systems with built-in amps (like this or this), and also wireless systems that you'd connect up to a separate amp.

Thanks Adam!
She does like her current setup and these transmitters seem affordable. I'm sending her the links that posted.

 

[jcl]

I used to use the older version of the rocket fish wireless product. It served it's purpose but it was an amplified solution, and the amp wasn't very powerful (or good ). Not sure if the newer version is any better. It's sold by best buy so she could at least get some support. Rocketfish

I switched to the AudioEngine W1. I had troubles at first, but later figured out it was a ground loop issue. This is an unpowered solution so you need an amp (or powered speakers like thier model 5) for a complete solution. I luckily had an old receiver to power things. Here's the newer version - Audioengine W3

The outlaw products look interesting too. I don't have any experience with them but thought I'd mention them. They have a powered solution Outlaw Audio's OAW3 Wireless Audio System and an unpowered one Outlaw Audio's OAW3 Wireless Audio System.

HTH

 

[Rickster71]

Why not have her use her existing set-up, minus the rear surrounds?
There isn't that much on the rear channels anyway.
Who knows, maybe she won't miss 5.1

 

[psbfan9]

Why not have her use her existing set-up, minus the rear surrounds?
There isn't that much on the rear channels anyway.
Who knows, maybe she won't miss 5.1

This would be best...but..She sits on one end of the couch and has the speaker right in her ear. She's used to having the 'voices' in her head which is why she considered the room filling Bose.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Or just get wireless surrounds:

Amazon.com: JBL Control 2.4G On Air Wireless Speaker System (Pair): Electronics