I have a Sony STR-DE885 a/v receiver with left, right, and center channel speakers.

I'd like to add three more speakers to get surround sound but don't relish the idea of running cables into the attic and down the walls or under the carpets or around doorways.

The audio outputs on the back of the unit are for regular two-wire speakers.

Is there some way I can hookup the speakers without wires?

Seems to me this would be a big seller if there were such a thing.

Yeah it would be massive and put me out of a job.

Philips have wireless speakers on some of there TV sets there are no wires from the TV to the speakers BUT the speakers plug into the Mains! With a thick mains cable that’s quite short in length and more difficult to extend than speaker cable.
Then there is a speaker cable from that speaker to the other rear speaker. So yeah remember wireless speakers are rarely completely wireless.

Speakers need to be powered by some kind of amp the amp has to be powered; power has to come from some where that means Rechargeable batteries or mains. Rechargeable batteries don’t last too long(on the link they brag they last 6 count them 6 hours!) and if you place the rear speakers high you would have to get them down every week/day or so to recharge them!

They do exist
[Link: threedoubleyou.com]
but tend to be poor quality in audiophile terms it means you would use the pre outs from a suitable amp so you would not be using the amplifier circuits in your amp just the processing .many will tell you the amp circuits in Sony amps are not the best in the world but they are a damn site better than in most wireless speakers.

I am only going off what I have seen and heard in the UK if there is an option it most probably is so expensive that you could get someone in to install your speakers and re- decorate to get the sound quality of normal speakers connected to your amp. Compared to wireless speakers.

If there is an option and I am wrong let me know

Wolf

How about: a stereo-FM transmitter fed from the surround outputs, and a plain old stereo receiver (or a surround receiver in 3-channel mode for 6.1/7.1) to receive that signal and power the rear speakers.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

"Is there some way I can hookup the speakers without wires?"

You still need wire to the speakers. I think he (guessing) wants his receiver at one side of his room with his rear channel speaker outputs connected to a magic box of tricks that sends the info to three wall hanging speakers with no wires.

Larry has a solution but the cost of transmitters and a second receiver with enough channel inputs as you require and place to put/hide all this equipment at the back of the room (or hide it in the attic that you don’t want to go into!) maybe a little bit harder than just running wires.

Also your Receiver has Virtual 6.1 it has 5 speaker terminals the spec sheet on Sony’s web site says it has 1 pre out surround back (this is not very clear it may have pre outs for all three rear channels but it may just be rear centre) . Now because the surround processing will be done in the first receiver and you want to send that signal to another amp you may need two different transmitters .I am not sure that a receiver fed a two channel rear out put from one amp then set to 3 channel mode will work that well, yes it will look for the matrixed signals but on discrete 6.1 DVD discs will the rear centre go dead if fed just stereo signals? If you fed all the signals surround back via one type of transmitter and the rear surrounds via a speaker level transmitter to a second AV receiver with a multi channel in you would get exactly the right signals.

All you have to do now is set the levels correctly which I guess would take a bit longer than norm especially if you hide the second receiver in the attic! And you still need wires.

I really feel the best /cheapest solution is to go out a bit more get a different hobby! Only kidding no I think the best solution is to wire the suckers up now what wire to use……

You're probably correct. (sigh)


You mean I can't use lamp cord? (Just kidding!)

Thanks, guys, for all the info!

Ramsey carries several FM-Stereo transmitters, the cheapest one here. Plus, if the rear-center channel is only a line-level output, he would need a separate amp anyway.

The rear-channel output would not go silent when fed a discrete signal; as long as there is a difference in the surround channels (i.e., stereo surround), there will be a rear-center signal.

This message was edited by Larry Fine on 02/21/04 12:15.

I have the 5/1 set up in the livingroom with 2 frontal 1 center speaker and 2 speakers in the rear of the room all wired but no wires are seen anyplace.

The subwoofer is located in the center compartment down below of the entertainment center.
The 2 rear speakers are mounted on microphone's stands with 12" round bases for stability and height adjustability of the speakers.

The speaker wire is the usual flat brown wire which is ran underneath 2 transitions by the doors and the rest is tucked all the way in between the wall and the carpet and you'll never know the wire is there.

Now I don't know the lay out of your rooms and doors, but if you plan it right you might have a chance of a similar set up.
J. Bond

What do you mean by "transitions"?

That's what carpet dealers call it (Transition). It's a wooden, metal or rubberized partition (molding like)a little curved in the middle to cover the endings of a carpeted floor,ceramic floor or linoleoum. There is plenty of room in the middle to get your wire thru.

If for any reasons you don't have a transition were you need it, install one so will allow you to bring your speaker wires accross the carpet. Also the transition doesn't have to be that wide, because you will be running only one speaker wire along side each wall for the 2 speakers in the back.

On the other side of the transition start pushing the carpet down underneath the molding with a large flat screwdriver and use a hammer if necessary to make enough room for tucking the speaker wire in there.

Beleive me it's very easy to do, and when you reach beyond a sofa you don't have to be to fussy with it, nobody sees the wire there.

The 2 microphone stands cost around $ 25 each at any large musical instrument supplier including the large base. You will need to buy also 2 little L shaped brackets (3 inches)long total lenght and drill a larger holes at on end of the bracket in order to be able to mount it onto the threaded top section of the pipe and fasten it with a washer and nut. The other side of the L shaped bracket will screw right onto the bottom of the speaker.
Hope I expressed myself clearly enough, wish things work out for you.
J. Bond

Hire a professional to install the speaker wire for you...they love to crawl around in the attic and basement...and they really love making holes in the walls!

He means "thresholds".

I was lucky. While I haven't done anything to the room itself, my wiring is all in-wall, made easy because the basement rooms all have suspended ceilings.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

At CES there were at least 2 companies selling extremely flat speaker wires, paper thin. Using spray glue you can glue these wires to the wall, preferable around the baseboard where it's less noticibale and depending on your tollerance for perfection, either paint over them or spackle over them and then paint. If you have textured walls, buy a can of texture to splatter over them and paint, you'll hardly notice them. You'll have to scour the web for them, didn't keep much info from the show.

They did have wireless speakers at CES but they tend to be very low end and the ones that did run on batteries were short lived, you'll be lucky to see one movie. The ones that use the A/C powerline were better but depended on you having A/C on the same circuit where you want the speakers. Even then, not much was available, mostly conceptual.

Suprisingly, if you shop around you can find an electrician to do it for not too much dough. CC told me they charge $200 to install a pair of in-wall speakers and run the wires.

Ah. OK. I've seen those in office supply stores, but they were all pretty big and ugly. Guess I'll check with a carpet store to see if they have something less obtrusive.

Thanks to all of you for your responses!

Larry, I think you're confusing the threshold, which is attached to the floor in doorways and anywhere else the floor material changes, with the floor cord covers, which are usually gray or brown rubber, and used to reduce tripping from power cords.

I believe J. B. was referring to the former.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

Radio Shack may have what you're looking for.....

5.8GHz Wireless Rear-Channel Amplifier (25W/Ch...
$99.99


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