Re: Sonos, Bose or Philips! Apple+amp for me....

["peterno51" <ukha_d@xxxxxxxx>]

/lurk off


Morning all,

Sonos is excellent, its also a bit pricey. In true tight-wad style I came
u=
p with something else.

Having claimed to be a tight-wad I have cat5'd the house so treat
everythin=
g I say with a piece of salt.


I have used Apple airport expresses to create an airplay network. These
are=
a mixture of the just superseded wall wart type of both N and A-B variants=
. The A-B variants have had there radios turned off so the wireless
network=
remains N only. All are plugged in via ethernet. The N ones are forming a =
single wireless network (that took some figuring out how to get it using
et=
hernet correctly when extending a network).

I then purchased from e-bay some of these..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-15W-TA2024-Tripath-Digital-Class-D-Amp-Case-12V=
-PSU-/110946478582?pt=3DUS_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=3Ditem19d4ece=
9f6&_uhb=3D1

(sorry for the length of link, lurk mode skills do not extend to figuring
o=
ut the short url thingy.)

I was sceptical about a 2 channel 15w d-class amp, but these things are
gre=
at. As is usual with gadgets especially IT kit, most of the time we never
g=
et close to full utilisation of a gadget, with these amps you may
occasiona=
lly be up to 11 on the volume, I have done it once when 'testing' and have
=
not been back there is a while. The largest speakers being driven are
Tanno=
y 607 i.e. reasonably meaty.

So for the cost of a airport express =A380 new, less on e-bay, that amp at
=
=A330 and speakers that I had already I have a good solution that should
al=
ways get updates from apple as things change on the airplay spec.

My music is stored on a NAS that is accessed through iTunes on a PC. Using
=
the IOS 'remote' app from apple I can access this session of iTunes from
my=
iPhone (bit like remote desktop) this has the benefit of being able to sel=
ect multiple airplay devices to stream too (bonjovi in the shower and in
th=
e kitchen if you will) rather than being limited to just one airplay
device=
from an iPhone or iPad.

Internet radio, for me is taken care of by the rather lovely bbc iplayer
ra=
dio app that can be redirected to airplay devices. It would seem that not
m=
any people are aware that this is possible, it is well hidden. To do this
l=
aunch the app and start playing Chris Evans, at this point double press
the=
home button to show all the running apps, scroll left once to show the ori=
entation button and ipod controls, and then swipe left AGAIN to show a
volu=
me slider and the airplay icon, press the airplay icon and you'll then get
=
a list of airplay devices on the network and streaming will commence
(after=
some buffering).

Other apps are available your mileage may vary.

As I mentioned above Sonos is excellent but I rather enjoyed the fiddling
t=
o set up my solution and it is stable and should be supported by apple for
=
the foreseeable future.

It also has the benefit of providing an excellent wireless coverage!

Peter.

/lurk on.=20=20



--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Wayne Harrison <Wayne@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>=20
> I am looking to replace a mini hifi in the kitchen and would like to
take=
the plunge with WiFi streaming. In-house is starting the move to Apple (i =
tunes / pads / pods / macs etc) so the library that was PC based is going
t=
o be moving into iTunes at some point.
>=20
> All was going to be simple until a recent visit to John Lewes and the
dis=
covery of the new Bose AirPlay speakers ( http://bit.ly/ViRiHz ). The plot =
thickens when I also popped into a Currys Mega store to find now that
Phili=
ps ( http://bit.ly/UEoe0K ) has got in on the
act. (and yes - the assistant=
s in there wouldn't know a Kettle could boil water without reading it off
t=
he little price tags in front of them!!)
>=20
>=20
> Ideally I would like the ability for the solution to be able to still
pla=
y 'radio' (BBC, Heart, etc...) either as it has a tuner (looking slim) or
b=
e able to get a stream from the net. Airplay (or wired ethernet)
compatibil=
ity would also be good - as mentioned, most of the media will be in
iTunes.=
Also the ability to not be tethered to a single computer would be a bonus =
although at some point the 'server' side of my mac's itunes library will
be=
moved to a permanently 'on' box.=20
>=20
> The only downside with Bose / airplay in general would appear to be
that =
you have to have something pushing out airplay - there is no intelligence
i=
n them to go it on there own so to speak. Oh - and the biggie, there are
no=
multi streams to different zones from the same central library (as yet any=
ways).
>=20
> Anyways, a few questions.
> Has anyone had any experience with the Philips kit at all, as I said -
Cu=
rrys were a waste of space... the chap in there just ranted about wifi and
=
routers - and I dont think he even knew what they were! The 'stickers'
sugg=
ested internet radio but no idea if it does this off its own back or you
ne=
ed an 'app on a server'?
>=20
> With Sonos - looking at the video's there seems to be internet radio
buil=
t in, again, does this need an 'app on a server' or do these things
operate=
independently of a server for radio access? Same for iTunes access - is it=
a case of setting it up with said 'app' to connect to itunes or do the box=
es connect directly with itunes HomeShareing?
>=20
> There seems to be a workaround to get airplay to work with Sonos by
using=
an airport express as a 'feed' into a line in on a 'Play 5' to which you c=
an use that as a source. Can this then be routed to any sonos or will it
on=
ly play on the box its plugged into?
>=20
> Controls for these will be via iphone or ipad so I would imaging for
Sono=
s needing the 'bridge' to get it plugged to the lan?
>=20
>=20
> I suppose most importantly - this is mainly (at this point) going to
be u=
sed by the Wife - so big brownie points for ease of use!
>=20
> If anyone has any ideas or thoughts that would be a big help.
> Hopefully this makes sense!
> Wayne.
>



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