Home theatre, wired AND wireless combo??

[Dan Panzica]

Moving, need advice.
Currently have an Integra/Klipsch hard-wired 5.1 home theatre system.
New home will be very difficult to run speaker wire. Open to purchasing a new AVR.
Is it possible for one of the new (~$2000) AVRs to run center, left/right, and sub with hard speaker wire and run wireless rear speakers and/or wireless ceiling mounted speakers ending up with a 7:1 or 9:1 system? Can we combine wired with wireless? Thanks!

 

[panteragstk]

Moving, need advice.
Currently have an Integra/Klipsch hard-wired 5.1 home theatre system.
New home will be very difficult to run speaker wire. Open to purchasing a new AVR.
Is it possible for one of the new (~$2000) AVRs to run center, left/right, and sub with hard speaker wire and run wireless rear speakers and/or wireless ceiling mounted speakers ending up with a 7:1 or 9:1 system? Can we combine wired with wireless? Thanks!

Speakers can't be truly wireless. They have to have something to power them.

What I've seen used in the past, is where there is a wireless module for the rear/back speakers that connects to the main amp. From there, the speakers connect to the wireless module, but are still wired, just a much shorter run and less reliable.

This isn't something I've seen in years simply because it was terrible when they were sold.

Do you have zero way to run wires from the AVR to the rear?

 

[Eppie]

Agree with Panteragstk. With a transmitter connected to your AVR, you need either a powered receiver, receiver and amplifier, or powered speakers, and all of those devices need AC power in addition to the speaker wire or signal wire running to the speakers, so it's wireless only up to a point. I looked into this for a another forum member a while ago and the options were crappy. There are wireless options for all-in-one systems that are sold as a 5.1 or 7.1 package, but if you have separates it's pretty slim pickings. A lot or wireless amps and powered speakers are designed for wifi and bluetooth for streaming from your phone. Few are designed to use your AVR as a source.

SVS Sound sells a good transmitter / receiver for their subwoofers. Problem is, it requires a line level signal on the transmitter. These are mono so you would need two. This would only work if your AVR has pre-amp outputs for the rear channels. You would still need an amp to drive your existing rear speakers, or purchase a pair powered speakers for the rear.

There are professional installers that can run cables anywhere with some drywall repair and painting required afterwards. Another option is to use rubber cable covers on the floor or use surface mount cable channels along the top or bottom of the walls and paint them to match.

 

[lovinthehd]

Agree with the others there really isn't that great of an option still in the "wireless" transmitter/receiver thing. I'm not up on Heos but seems with a Heos amp/speaker setup you can use a Heos avr for surrounds? Not sure about that. Even when a pain I'd rather run wire in any case.

 

[panteragstk]

I forgot that Sonos actually has something for this. You still have to give them power, but you can use their speakers in a truly wireless setup if you wanted.

I doubt that it would sound all that great though. It would also be expensive.

 

[BMXTRIX]

WISA enabled products are designed for wireless connectivity.

That said, the cost to get quality uncompressed audio with zero latency to speakers which then must have internal amplification and be plugged in ends up costing just as much, if not more, then simply having someone cut some holes in your drywall, running the proper wires where they need to go, then patching things up.

Remember, if you have a basement, it may be easier for wiring to go DOWN, rather than up and drywall repairs may be easier on a lower level of the home.

Or just do a 3.1 audio setup and ignore the surrounds in that particular room.

Some homes just don't work out properly for 5.1 or better surround setups.

 

[Eppie]

WISA enabled products are designed for wireless connectivity.

That said, the cost to get quality uncompressed audio with zero latency to speakers which then must have internal amplification and be plugged in ends up costing just as much, if not more, then simply having someone cut some holes in your drywall, running the proper wires where they need to go, then patching things up.

Remember, if you have a basement, it may be easier for wiring to go DOWN, rather than up and drywall repairs may be easier on a lower level of the home.

Or just do a 3.1 audio setup and ignore the surrounds in that particular room.

Some homes just don't work out properly for 5.1 or better surround setups.

Are there WISA enabled products in the consumer market or are they primarily targeted at professional installers? We get this question fairly often and I'm always surprised that there seem to be so few options out there. If no pre-outs, I suppose one could use a Behringer direct box to bring the rears to a line level signal, feed that to a transmitter / receiver and connect the receiver to an amp, but that seems like such a hodge podge of gear. The ideal to me would be an AVR that supports transmitting specific surround channels paired with powered speakers that are WISA enabled, but there probably isn't enough demand for such a setup.

 

[panteragstk]

Are there WISA enabled products in the consumer market or are they primarily targeted at professional installers? We get this question fairly often and I'm always surprised that there seem to be so few options out there. If no pre-outs, I suppose one could use a Behringer direct box to bring the rears to a line level signal, feed that to a transmitter / receiver and connect the receiver to an amp, but that seems like such a hodge podge of gear. The ideal to me would be an AVR that supports transmitting specific surround channels paired with powered speakers that are WISA enabled, but there probably isn't enough demand for such a setup.

The main reason consumers don't use it is because of the issues @BMXTRIX posted. Latency is a big issue, then there's the fact that you still aren't avoiding wires. That and random disconnects happen as well. It's just not that great in practice. 10 years ago this was huge in the HTIB space.

3.1 setup or run wires. Anything else is just asking for frustration.