'Splain me this about wireless speakers please

[spncity]

Would like to have a smallish but decent speaker or speakers for music and movies played from iPad or iPod.

Here's my frustration about wireless. After a period of time between uses, the speaker turns off and I have to physically turn it on before it can "see" the device and play again (even if speaker is plugged in to power outlet). If I have to do that, I might as well have a wired speaker or speakers.

Are there wireless speakers that have remotes for this problem?

The best option would be speakers that could do "either" mode... wireless or wired.

Is there something in the plus or minus $100 range that you'd recommend?

Thanks in advance!

 

[marko]

Funny, I have the exact same question right now as I'm trying to simplify my wired mess.

Let's see what comes for replies.

 

[FIREmenow]

Would like to have a smallish but decent speaker or speakers for music and movies played from iPad or iPod.

Here's my frustration about wireless. After a period of time between uses, the speaker turns off and I have to physically turn it on before it can "see" the device and play again (even if speaker is plugged in to power outlet). If I have to do that, I might as well have a wired speaker or speakers.

Are there wireless speakers that have remotes for this problem?

The best option would be speakers that could do "either" mode... wireless or wired.

Is there something in the plus or minus $100 range that you'd recommend?

Thanks in advance!

It may be a function of the manufacturer's implementation of Bluetooth (I assume it is a BT speaker). It is not a function of "wireless" in general. the speaker may or may not also delete it's pairing list after a certain time. Your smart-device app may also have pairing timeouts (I think you can set these, at least in Android).

I am an engineer in this wireless chaos, and there is no easy answer - there are just too many manufacturers and implementations. Interoperability is a big problem.

I think you may have to either have confirmation directly from the speaker manufacturer or manufacturer's documentation on how it is implemented, or buy/return a bunch of them until you find one that is implemented the way you want.

That being said, I have a JAMBOX by Jawbone that I just love - but I can't say that I have been through your exact use case (at least that I know about) to see what it does, one way or the other.

Sorry I can't be of more help......

 

[RockyMtn]

If you want to go small/inexpensive you might try the Bose Soundlink.

https://www.bose.com

A more robust and expensive wireless option is Sonos.

Sonos | HiFi Wireless Speakers & Home Audio Systems

 

[braumeister]

After a period of time between uses, the speaker turns off and I have to physically turn it on before it can "see" the device and play again (even if speaker is plugged in to power outlet).

Mine don't have that problem -- they stay on and are always ready. I've had two of them (one upstairs, one downstairs) and they've performed beautifully for a couple of years now.

Above your desired price range, though.
JBL L8 Two-Way Speaker System with Wireless Streaming

 

[Beldar]

Since you're using Apple devices you might investigate a "system" or self contained amplified speakers that use Airplay, rather than bluetooth.

As an example, we use an Apple Airport Express to serve as the input to a small dedicated amp driving a pair of monitor speakers (all under $100 BTW). Works fine with Airplay.

_B

 

[spncity]

Just to add context, I do not have whole house wireless available. So it's Bluetooth, or Airplay on a 3G MiFi.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[spncity]

Since you're using Apple devices you might investigate a "system" or self contained amplified speakers that use Airplay, rather than bluetooth.

As an example, we use an Apple Airport Express to serve as the input to a small dedicated amp driving a pair of monitor speakers (all under $100 BTW). Works fine with Airplay.

_B

Do the amp and the speakers connect to the Airport Express through Airplay?

 

[explanade]

I have AirPlay speakers which use both bluetooth and Wifi.

The bluetooth ones are just more reliable for me, they always come out of sleep and instantly re-pair and play.

But the AirPlay speakers are better quality, more suited to music. It also has a Lightning dock connector so I use that to recharge one of my devices every day. When it's docked, it's not using wireless.

There are many bluetooth speakers with rechargeable batteries for around $100 or well under. The portability is nice, not only letting you take from room to room but something small enough to pack for trips.

The tradeoff of course is that the small speakers can't fill up large rooms with music. I mostly listen to podcasts though so they're fine for that, especially since podcasts are encoded at lower quality and the speakers are near where I am, though they can go loud enough to be heard from other rooms.

For movies, I will AirPlay to AppleTV once in awhile. It depends on the app. For instance, the HBO Go app. will actually send Dolby Digital surround sound to my AV receiver, which feeds my surround sound system.

But other apps. such as VLC will only send stereo sound via AirPlay.

 

[Beldar]

Do the amp and the speakers connect to the Airport Express through Airplay?

The amp/speakers connect directly/physically to the Airport Express (using it as the input source); the music source device (iPad, etc), connects wirelessly to the Airport Express via the Airplay function.

Similar to a Bluetooth connection, only using the Airport Express as the wireless connection device, and apparently much better fidelity.

_B

 

[spncity]

The current diversion

Saw a Bose speaker bar for TV at Costco for $219 minus a $50 instant rebate IIRC. It's quite a lot better than the TV speakers, obviously. Plenty good for us. I don't need surround sound.

Turns out, it works quite well (bluetooth) for music. Works with Airplay if flinging a movie onto the TV.

Thanks for all the comments!

 

[AllDone]

I have a Jawbone Jambox too. I carry it around the house and use it to play music and audio from my iPad. I also have a Sonos system in the living room and a NAS that stores both our music and computer back ups.

 

[calmloki]

Since you're using Apple devices you might investigate a "system" or self contained amplified speakers that use Airplay, rather than bluetooth.

As an example, we use an Apple Airport Express to serve as the input to a small dedicated amp driving a pair of monitor speakers (all under $100 BTW). Works fine with Airplay.

_B

I've found three Airport express units for $5 or so each at yard sales - and have been buying used Boston 735 computer speakers, which have an onboard amp, sub, and two tiny heavy satellites that sound remarkable to this Philistine's ears. From the computer we can have some or all of the individual airport/speaker sets play; from the Iphone we are limited to one set at a time.

 

[Sunset]

I've found three Airport express units for $5 or so each at yard sales - and have been buying used Boston 735 computer speakers, which have an onboard amp, sub, and two tiny heavy satellites that sound remarkable to this Philistine's ears. From the computer we can have some or all of the individual airport/speaker sets play; from the Iphone we are limited to one set at a time.

Has anyone not being an Apple fan, used this Airport express in a pc environment. I'm thinking setup might be an issue ?

 

[DrRoy]

I don't know what speakers will work for you. I just enjoyed the request for some splainin.

 

[spncity]

I don't know what speakers will work for you. I just enjoyed the request for some splainin.

LOL.

LTF.*



*Love this forum.

 

[Ready]

Has anyone not being an Apple fan, used this Airport express in a pc environment. I'm thinking setup might be an issue ?

I would stay away from the Airport Express. The product hasn't been updated in four years, and Apple reassigned all of their engineers to other products, which likely means they are out of the hub/switch business.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Are there wireless speakers that have remotes for this problem?

my lg sound bar has a remote. sounds great too

 

[Dd852]

This is one of those things that drives me mad! I use wireless through the house and apple airport expresses to drive Bose speakers in different rooms. The Bonjour networking gets flakey and different nodes drop off from time to time: my best solution was to manage everything with https://rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/ Airfoil. For me, it works beautifully. Every once in a while there's a hiccup, but it is mostly perfect.

 

[audreyh1]

Since you're using Apple devices you might investigate a "system" or self contained amplified speakers that use Airplay, rather than bluetooth.

As an example, we use an Apple Airport Express to serve as the input to a small dedicated amp driving a pair of monitor speakers (all under $100 BTW). Works fine with Airplay.

_B

Apple supports bluetooth quite naturally for music/audio. We connect various bluetooth headphones to our iOS devices and to our Apple TV all the time. Works very well. No need to invoke airplay.

 

[calmloki]

Has anyone not being an Apple fan, used this Airport express in a pc environment. I'm thinking setup might be an issue ?

We both have PCs but also both use Iphones. If playing from the computers we use the iTunes file (app?) on the computers. Haven't had issues with the Express units, though it's extra easy for me - the gal beats the used units we buy into submission, bypassing mystery passwords and such by resetting the units at some base level. I think. She is willing to spend hours searching the web and trying different avenues to get computery things working - I handle plugging things in. teamwork.

 

[mpeirce]

I would stay away from the Airport Express. The product hasn't been updated in four years, and Apple reassigned all of their engineers to other products, which likely means they are out of the hub/switch business.

I'd have the opposite advice.

Sure, don't use the Airport Express as a router if you don't want to, but that's not really what we're talking about here.

They are a great device that provides a remote audio jack that lets you plug in various speakers or an audio receiver anywhere around your house your WiFi reaches.

And yes, Airport Expresses haven't been updated in a long time. This is GOOD because it means you can pick them up cheap.

I've been using them in two locations around the house for years. They've been rock solid in this role. I'm my experience, they work much better than most Bluetooth speakers - and I've tried a bunch of those.