Recently more and more manufacturers have started to offer home theater systems with wireless speakers or a wireless speaker kit. From a homeowners standpoint, eliminating long speaker cable runs is certainly a big plus. Multi-channel surround sound is a fairly new phenomenon and as such many older houses are not wired for rear speakers, not to mention 7.1 systems. As such a wireless solution might be the logical conclusion. But how reliable are these wireless speaker kits in a real-world scenario and do these options really eliminate the dreaded cable clutter?

Looking at available wireless speaker kits, you will notice that most of them, such as the products from Rocketfish or LG will connect two speakers to a wireless receiver unit. As a result, such systems, while eliminating the speaker cable from the front of the room to the rear, do not really eliminate speaker cable but only reduce it. As such products with separate wireless receivers for each speakers, such as the product from Amphony, offer a much cleaner solution since each receiver can be attached directly to the speaker of choice.

The big question is: do these wireless systems have any impact on audio quality? When choosing a wireless speaker kit, one should prefer a system where the audio is transmitted digitally. This will ensure that the signal does not pick up noise during the transmission. Another consideration is the quality of the audio amplifier inside the wireless receiver. A good-quality amplifier will have minimum audio distortion and high efficiency. Also, picking a small-size wireless receiver will help hide it from view.

In a home theater setting, the sound from all surround speakers should be in sync with the video and each other. Some wireless speaker kits, such as the product from Rocketfish, will introduce a noticeable delay. As such you should look at how much of a delay or latency the wireless will introduce to the signal travelling to the wireless speakers. The product from Amphony introduces a delay of a little less than 1 ms which should be low enough for pretty much any application.

The final consideration is how reliable are these wireless speakers and speaker kits in a real-world scenario. A problem facing any wireless device is interference from other wireless devices. Especially consumer devices in the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequency bands, such as WiFi or Bluetooth devices, have become more and more widespread and cause an increasing challenge for any wireless device. Choosing a product that works in a less crowded frequency band, such as the 5.8 GHz frequency band, reduces the impact of interference.

While wireless speakers and wireless speaker kits are suited for use in a home theater setting, their use is not limited to that application. In particular setting up speakers in another room often poses a challenge in terms of running speaker wires or using speakers outdoors. Just imagine being able to set up a speaker in your backyard in minutes. The possibilities are endless.