Wired Ctr + Mains with wireless surrounds???

[Fritzjr]

5.1 wired Ctr + Mains with wireless surrounds?
Hi all!
It's been a while. I am trying to help my friend put in her first 'real' A/V system. She lives in a townhouse and the livingroom is about 15' deep by about 20' wide with a 10' wide back wall (seating area) that has openings on both sides to other rooms. She is learning to appreciate 'better' sound and likes the idea of getting a medium level AVR and decent initial speakers. We like the reviews and price point of the Elac Debut 2.0 series speakers and would install the following for sure:

Center: C5.2
Mains: F5.2
Sub: Sub3010

We were considering the B5.2's for wired surrounds, but they are a little big to fit on either side of her couch on stands and she would rather not mount anything on the rear wall. She likes her place clean looking and fairly minimalist. I would have to don a hazmat suit and string the speaker wire under the condo to connect the rear/surrounds - and that is definately not on my list of fun things to do on a weekend and she doesn't want any holes in her oak floors - I have promised I could hide the holes just under the baseboard most likely.

I was leaning towards the Denon AVR X1600H thinking that I could use the Heos speakers as surrounds, but after research here, elsewhere, and confirming it with Denon TS, they can be for Zone 2, but not surrounds.

So, now I started looking into the Yamaha RX-V865 AV and maybe using their MusicCast 20 speakers for surrounds but I would still have to have power cords strung along behind the couch like with the Heos speakers.

I know I could go with a full Sonos 5.1 system and I have some of their products elsewhere and like them, but would prefer not to have her be locked into a non AVR, proprietary wireless system that doesn't really allow for more flexible connectivity and integration with future output devices.

Battery powered Bluetooth speakers don't seem to be a quality option.

What would you do for the surrounds?

THANKS!!!!

 

[Fritzjr]

I used to be on this forum as PauldF I believe, but could it could not find my email when I tried to logon.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

5.1 wired Ctr + Mains with wireless surrounds?

So, now I started looking into the Yamaha RX-V865 AV and maybe using their MusicCast 20 speakers for surrounds but I would still have to have power cords strung along behind the couch like with the Heos speakers.

You will either have to live with the power cords, or be content with either no rear surround or battery-powered Bluetooth speakers that will have to be continually paired with an outboard transmitter, and die in the middle of a program (battery depletion).

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[lovinthehd]

Yep wireless from avr to speaker is one thing, but from wireless receiver/amp to speakers and associated cords....not so wireless

 

[Fritzjr]

Totally understand. Running power cords is fine and really pulling speaker wires is not the end of the world. Given those - what do you think is the best way to go given the rest?

 

[lovinthehd]

Totally understand. Running power cords is fine and really pulling speaker wires is not the end of the world. Given those - what do you think is the best way to go given the rest?

Personally if aesthetics get that much in the way I'd probably just go 3.1 and say truck it.

 

[Fritzjr]

That is certainly an option, just checking out how/why to add either other method

 

[Fritzjr]

Heos won't work at all, Sonos limits everything and MusicCast is only from one vendor. What else or how would you do this today?

 

[viorelc]

My efforts in trying a similar setup led to running 2 pairs of wires in the walls and let go the whole business of wireless for speakers. It was a decision based on a combination of factors including reliability, latency and using a closed/proprietary system. Not trying to discourage you, just sharing my experience.

Best of luck with your setup.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[lovinthehd]

Heos won't work at all, Sonos limits everything and MusicCast is only from one vendor. What else or how would you do this today?

With wireless kits like this https://www.amazon.com/Rocketfish-Universal-Wireless-Speaker-RF-WHTIB/dp/B000VEP3XO/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=wireless+speaker+kit&qid=1594585766&sr=8-3 but YMMV as to how well it may work....

 

[Fritzjr]

Thanks all, I thought the Yamaha system might work, but in the end the vast flexibility (AVR maker, Speaker maker, speaker size, sound, etc) of just adding wired surrounds dictates running wires from the AVR.

I like the idea of these speakers from the Elac Debut 2 series - the price point is nice and they get great reviews. There is no place near me to demo them, and of course with things the way they are today I probably couldn't even if there was. Some have criticized the Center and the Sub, and the Surrounds are a bit large size-wise for this room so I might go with smaller footprint surrounds and maybe swap the sub for an Hsu VTF2 or maybe a small 8-10" Sunfire. Any thoughts on that or small footprint unobtrusive looking wired surround speakers to go with this set up? Probably now with the Denon AVR X1600H again.

Thanks! Have a great weekend!