Portable and wireless speakers have gone from niche to mainstream lately; I've noticed a trend towards larger wireless Bluetooth-compatible speakers designed to be the audio foundation of a living room, home office, or bedroom, replacing last generation's mini-bookshelf stereos, but taking a lot less space. Here are 5
Portable Bluetooth speakers are quite useful, since they produce adequate sound and are easily re-positionable. But it's the larger speakers that I'm currently interested in, the ones designed to stay put in the living room, on the shelf in a home office, or perhaps even in a dining room for easy wireless playback using AirPlay or Bluetooth. Here are 5 top models on my list:
1. Bowers & Wilkins A7: B&W realized that docking your devices is no longer necessary, and they responded with two massive speaker systems that will stream basically any source in your home Wi-Fi network. The A7 is B&W's flagship model, priced at $799.99, are equipped with a Class-D amplifier, 2 × 25W of B&W's signature Nautilus tube aluminium tweeters, 2 × 25W midrange speakers and one 50W subwoofer. Connectivity beyond Airplay also includes Ethernet, wi-fi, via optical digital, and USB streaming. The A7 also offers one of the most stylish, yet decor-unobtrusive designs in the category of wireless speakers, with the premium price also affording owners a 3-month membership to B&W's Society of Sound, a high-quality audio album(s) of the month club curated by Peter Gabriel, Real World Studios, and The London Symphony Orchestra (after that, it's $59.95 a year).
2. SONOS Connect Amp: What if you've already got a few hundred or even thousands of dollars invested in perfectly good speakers? The Sonos add-on system will turn yesterday's speakers into a wireless-compatible system of today, not only providing ample power for playback, but also adding streaming audio using AirPlay or Bluetooth wireless audio. Another option for owners of older stereo systems is just purchasing an Apple Airport Express and adding the system to an Airplay network, connected the Airport module to receiver via wired connection.
3. Bose SoundLink Air: This is Bose's first AirPlay device, and while the Bose SoundLink Air comes with a battery, it's large enough to serve as a stereo for a variety of purposes. The Soundlink Air offers two wireless options: via Bluetooth and also streaming audio via Wi-Fi network.
4. Bowers & Wilkins A5: The A5 is the slightly smaller sibling to the A7 above, priced at $499.99. The A5 has no sub, but slightly larger four-inch drivers that should provide adequate sound for smaller spaces where the bigger A7 would be overkill.
5. Philips Fidelio P9: Just like the Bose, this is a larger, mobile speaker that comes with a rechargeable battery and a cross-over filter for better separation of low and mid tones from the highs. There's also the option to plug in a USB smart device for charging; the P9 can also be used unplugged for up to eight hours.
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I just received a Bose SoundLink (smaller version of the Air) for my birthday, and it's awesome. It spends most of its time in my office on a bookshelf, but it's easy to cart from room to room as needed.
This looks like a great strategy - but I have a really dumb question. Does broadcasting your music actually need an internet/wifi connection. That is, with a really bare bones internet plan, would sending my music to these speakers get me in trouble?
@lazy_lurker: WiFi isn't the same as Internet. A WiFi router creates a network which devices join and share data with eachother through the router. If the router is connected to the Internet, then those devices can access the Internet as well, but not everything they do on the wireless network will involve the Internet. For instance, streaming music from your computer to your wireless (i.e. AirPlay) speakers doesn't your internet connection because it's all within the same network. Of course, if you're using a service like Pandora then you are accessing the Internet for that, but not for the part where you are streaming the music to your speakers. Bluetooth speakers are the same; you are just "beaming" music from your phone to the speakers, and no internet connection is involved.
Hey Lazy Lurker,
Bluetooth does not need an internet connection. So if I'm streaming my own music from my phone or tablet (or listening to a downloaded Spotify playlist) on my Bose, the wifi is off, unless I'm using my device for something else at the same time. It also saves battery life. I think the Airport Express solution might require wifi, though I'm not sure.
@weatherman - thank you so much. That makes sense now. I think this would solve my living room audio needs!
I'm a big fan of the Jawbone Jambox. Big sound, small pkg, and small price point. Oh, and it comes in cool colors too.
AirPlay does require wifi. However, the upside is that the Airport Express/Appletv has a digital output, so you can feed it to a system with a DAC or receiver with built in DACs.
I have both Bluetooth speakers and AirPlay. I use Bluetooth for simple setups and Airplay for more serious setups. It works for me, but Bluetooth often needs to be reconnected while AirPlay devices always show up if I am on the same network.
Anyone have an idea for a relatively inexpensive and wireless way to play music from many small speakers throughout a space? I'd like to have ambient music without having a loud spot. You know how that is, you're at a party and the people in the kitchen say, "hey turn up the music!" Meanwhile, people near the stereo can't hear themselves think.
is not working? Tried to link to a tutorial, but link does not embed in comment preview. Shows code, not hyperlink. And yes, I'm sure I'm doing it right.
The How Stuff Works website offers a good wifi tutorial for getting started.
@Apt Therapy-- hyperlinks don't display in the comment's preview option..