Wireless home theater

[03ozwhip]

Im thinking of going wireless home theater. I have never had wireless before, so im starting from scratch. Noticed Amazon Echo Studio on sale.

Any comments on these or any other recommendations?

[eglove]

Sonos > thread

[Mitsu3000gt]

Do you want everything wireless or just the rear surrounds?

The problem with wireless is none of them are actually wireless - they still need wall power because each speaker needs to have its own amplification, which is typically much worse than the amplification you can get from a decent receiver. Non-wireless speakers don't need a power cable, but they obviously need a speaker cable, so all that you are potentially avoiding is a speaker wire run from the front to the back of your room, but there is still going to be a wall outlet and wire required for every single speaker. If your wall outlets aren't conveniently located, you have a new problem. Generally speaking for wireless, you are limited to "home theater in a box" style products or other very expensive but very average products like Sonos which prioritize aesthetics and wireless capability over sound quality and performance. Sonos can't even decode some of the most popular audio formats for movies. For some people that works though as I don't know your budget or expectations.

Often times it's easier to run hidden speaker wires than people think, either under baseboards, under carpet, between wall outlets, or in the roof (if you have pot lights its usually very easy). Depends on your room though, sometimes it's not that simple depending on locations of joists, etc. You can buy flat wire too which make under-carpet runs invisible. Even putting channeling just above the baseboards and painting it the same color of the wall works well.

If you ever want a real Atmos setup with in-ceiling speakers, there are no wireless options.

Many subwoofers can easily be made wireless with a receiver, but of course you still need a wall plug for power. You can also run a subwoofer signal through a coax port (for cable TV) in your wall which you may already have.

Making a 'wireless' HT is expensive (for what you get), has lots of limitations, and you still have a bunch of wires so I am personally not a fan. Like I said though, it depends on your expectations and budget.

[flipstah]

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Sonos > thread

I dunno that Vizio sound bar you sold me is pretty dope haha.

Cluster of Google Max would work too if Sonos ain't your thang.

[ganesh]

I am not a fan of the wireless HT. Having said that in the bedroom I have the Sonos Beam and it is decent. Nothing to rave about.

I have heard good things about Sennheiser AMBEO. It is not cheap.
https://en-ca.sennheiser.com/ambeo-soundbar

[killramos]

I have a beam and sub pair. Great setup. In my last place I paired it with in ceiling rears on Sonos amps.

But there is no mistaking it for my atmos home theatre even with cheap speakers.

[heavyD]

I just ran my surround wires along the baseboards in D-Line cable raceway. If you have white baseboards it's barely noticeable.

[bjstare]

It's super easy to run wires under baseboards if you have carpet. Takes like 2sec per foot to tuck them under.

[heavyD]

Yeah that works for carpet. I have ceramic tile so not an option. There's also special speaker wire like Monster SuperFlat that is made to run in small gaps like under baseboards.

[Xtrema]

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Yeah that works for carpet. I have ceramic tile so not an option. There's also special speaker wire like Monster SuperFlat that is made to run in small gaps like under baseboards.

Won't some sound bouncing off those tiles weird?

[The_Rural_Juror]

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Won't some sound bouncing off those tiles weird?

You know what's weird? You being 55+ years old.

[ExtraSlow]

Settle down Frank.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Won't some sound bouncing off those tiles weird?

You never want hard floors in your HT room, it's terrible for acoustics. At the bare minimum you should put down a big area rug if you have hard floors. Room treatments and calibration are easily some of the most noticeable HT improvements to the average person, but probably the last thing most people do.

[rage2]

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You never want hard floors in your HT room, it's terrible for acoustics. At the bare minimum you should put down a big area rug if you have hard floors. Room treatments and calibration are easily some of the most noticeable HT improvements to the average person, but probably the last thing most people do.

Free Atmos height speakers. Dunno what you're talking about.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Free Atmos height speakers. Dunno what you're talking about.

You aren't wrong, but it will be more like 1000 channel random Atmos

[rage2]

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You aren't wrong, but it will be more like 1000 channel random Atmos

Sounds amazing to me lol.

[heavyD]

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Won't some sound bouncing off those tiles weird?

Nothing weird going on as it's nice ceramic tile and I'm not changing it to make audiophiles happy. Speakers are on stands and the room has a 7' x 10' rug and it's not perfect but good enough for me.