Speaker zones to recieve wifi music from iTunes... how?

While installing a downstairs shower-room and extending and remodelling my kitchen, I lowered the ceilings in both rooms, so that I could install, low voltage, recessed spots. At the same time, I took the opportunity to also install flush mounted, boat speakers in both rooms. I ran the wiring to emerge at the back of my TV, where I connected up to the auxillary speaker ports and could then access the radio stations available through Sky digital, to enjoy in the two rooms, fed by the zones.

This was great as a quick set-up but, with three young kids in the house, I soon got fed up with constantly listening to Dora the bloody Explorer while I showered or made breakfast!

Rather than buying a new music system to feed these two zones, I was wondering if it would be possible (and economically viable) to set up a system which would allow the new speaker zones, to pick up music, wirelessley from my PowerBook G4, as this is by far the best source for my music, as I have a large library of MP3s and there are all the radio stations that now netcast.

I have a wireless network operating in the house and this is distributed through a Vigor 2600G router. Rather than buying wireless speakers, which are unlikely to allow direct replacement of the ones I currently have in the ceiling, I am wondering if a device exists that can connect to standard speakers, act as a receiver, and enable said speakers to emit sound, as broadcast from my laptop's iTunes, over the wifi network!

Can this be done or are dedicated wireless speakers the only option for picking up wifi music?

cheerz deerz, deano.

Reply to
deano
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Have a look at the Squeezebox system. Can run from your I-tunes library (except if you have paid for the tracks)

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I have the older (4 or so years ago) version called the SliMP3; its very good.

Reply to
Tim Morley

I'm doing a similiar thing in a bathroom I'm doing using one of these

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as the amplifier and fitting a 3.5mm jack socket as the input. Music can then be played from an airport express or from an ipod, or from anything else. Looked at building an ipod dock into the wall, but it seemed a bit prone to obsolescence. Also looked at dedicated built in streaming things, but the prices didn't make sense.

A
Reply to
auctions

Airport Express is made to do what you want to do. It will require an amp - look in ebay or cpc for a cheapo one, and a nearby main socket. I'm doing what you are doing in my kitchen. The airport output is a

3=2E5mm minijack, but thats easy enough to connect to your amp then your speakers. =A380 quid or so for the Airport express, cheaper on ebay..However, there is a possibility of an update to the Airport range in January (mac expo) so you might want to wait..

Emma

snipped-for-privacy@sheld> > While installing a downstairs shower-room and extending and remodelling

Reply to
emmakane

Out of interest... my Vigor router is mounted on the wall, outside my shower room. As such, it would be quite a simple matter for me to hook up to one of the ports on this. It's a 4-port hub as well as a router and has a USB port as well (for printer sharing).

Could I somehow connect this to an amplifier which could then power the speakers, in the rooms mentioned? I could control sound to these speakers by simply installing switches in the feed from the amp to them... I'm not that bothered about IR control of the zones... going further, maybe I could connect 2 amps to the router... one for the showeroom zone and one for the kitchen.

Before I go searching, anyone know if this is possible?

ta, d:)

Reply to
deano

Reply to
deano

On 3 Dec 2006 09:59:39 -0800, "deano" wrote in :

The Apple Airport Express can also work wired, and is what you need to use iTunes. Highly recommended.

Reply to
John Navas

But that defeats the object! If I'm to buy an AE (or two, or more), then I may as well use them wirelessly! What I was thinking about was a small amp that would do away with the need for an AE, and therefore the =A380 or so associated for each. However, it follows that any amp (wireless or wired), is unlikely to be able to stream audio from iTunes, in the way that an AE could! When using Apple kit and iTunes, only other Apple components are likely to work in conjunction, and any amp would just be a slave, used to relay the data it is fed, to a set of connected speakers...

I think I'm putting too much onus on the amp... it's the receiver that's the key and an iTunes compatible relationship between any ADSL router and amplifier is unlikely to exist for under the cost of an AE and amp combination (@ =A3150).

muchos thankos.

d:)

Reply to
deano

To be clear: to transmit music over a wireless network you need four things:

1) an encoder to convert the MP3s or analog signals from vinyl into IP packets. 2) a means ot inject these packets into hte wireless network. 3) a means to extract them again 4) a means to convert IP packets into analog signals to feed to your speakers.

The iTunes s/w can do the first (so can plenty of other s/w of course). A wireless router connected to the Pc running iTunes can do the 2nd. You need something like a squeezebox to do the 3rd and 4th.

Reply to
Mark McIntyre

On Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:35:56 +0000, Mark McIntyre wrote in :

Or Apple Airport Express, which is what iTunes software supports, and which has both 1/8" stereo mini jack and TOSLINK optical output.

Reply to
John Navas

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