We have two very nice speakers in our kitchen mounted high which are hardwired through the basement into the living room wherein our stereo system sits. Problem is, my wife now only listens to music on her iPad, so she props that up in the kitchen and listens through its crappy little speakers while the very nice speakers go unused.
So I would like to unhook those speakers from the stereo and hook them to some sort of wireless receiving station for the iPad music. I have no idea is such a device exists; I’m pretty Apple clueless. Help/suggestions appreciated.
Thanks. I always thought Airport Express was just a WiFi router, but now I see it would do precisely what I’m looking for. But I was hoping for something with true stereo output. This looks like the output is a single mini-plug.
I assume the speakers in the kitchen are plugged into the stereo as ‘zone 2’ speakers? Just plug the ipad into the stereo on an unused input with a run of the mill 3.5mm stereo to stereo RCA cable and teach her how to set the stereo to output to the kitchen speakers.
Airport Express, as mentioned, is the other option, it essentially acts as a wireless gateway. Plug the Airport into your stereo in the same way, but it acts as a wireless audio target for the ipad. That way the ipad can be in the kitchen with your wife, but outputting audio to the airport express, which is plugged into the stereo which is powering the kitchen speakers.
Either way, you’ll need to teach the wife how to change the stereo to ‘zone 2’ if that’s how you have the speakers connected.
The output will be stereo. The miniplug on the Airport is a 3.5mm stereo socket. As mentioned, a pretty standard adapter cable will get that attached to an unused input on your stereo.
The stereo is in the living room and she wants to keep the iPad with her in the kitchen, and movable. So i’m removing the stereo system from the whole question, and want to go iPad to a wireless device which would be directly hardwired to the kitchen speakers.
So yeah, the Airport Express looks like the answer. Thanks folks!
EDIT: Ah… I guess the rest of sharaleo’s post makes clear that the Airport Express would not power the kitchen speakers, only feed audio. No amp. So I would still need to go through the stereo. Hmmm…
Ah, so this needs rethinking. An Airport Express won’t power the speakers, there still needs to be an amp involved somewhere.
Is the amp dedicated to the kitchen speakers? In that case, don’t move the amp, Airport will work. If the amp is not dedicated and you can’t move it, then you need another solution. Something like a dedicated ipad dock with inbuilt amp that can power external speakers.
I realized this too (see my edit above) as you were posting. The only amp powering the kitchen speakers is the living room stereo. So I guess either I run through the stereo as you described or get a separate amp to place near the Airport Express in the kitchen.
Well, if you think the WiFi signal would extend that far, you could just leave the Airport plugged into the stereo as an input, and use the stereo to power the speakers, surely. What sharaleo said, basically.
I have this cheap and great bluetooth receiver connected to my stereo. The range is surprisingly good, I can even take my phone outside the house without dropping the signal.
It might be worth trying but in my experience Bluetooth doesn’t like walls. I lose the signal on my Bluetooth headphones going between my kitchen and my bedroom and there’s nothing between the two except a wall. Without walls, the signal goes for maybe 20 metres or so before breaking up.
Hmmm, maybe this hooked to a new mini-amp in the kitchen. Maybe that’s the ticket…
Thanks everyone for the ideas and advice. I’m going to mull this over.
EDIT: I just went ahead and ordered the bluetooth receiver and this mini-amp. I’ll either install both in the kitchen, separate from the stereo system entirely, or will try the bluetooth device with the stereo in the living, and see if the signal holds (there’s an open straight line between the stereo and the kitchen, with the dining room in between).
I was going to suggest something like the above gizmo. Let us know how it works for you (as I may be looking for something similar soon).
If you want portability to other areas of the house, I’m pretty happy with my little Logitech UE mobile boombox. It’s not going to blast your windows out, but it sounds pretty good for what it is. I love the small size and totally wireless functionality.
The bluetooth and miniamp arrived before Thanksgiving but only tonight did I get around to setting it up. Set up took five minutes tops, the iPad paired immediately with the Bluetooth receiver, and the mini-amp powers the speakers just fine. And… it sounds great.
In short, it is the perfect solution, and for just $48 total. So thanks again to magnet, ginger and everyone for your advice on this. Problem solved.
If anyone is looking for cheap wireless speakers, Best Buy has this bluetooth speaker on sale for $50 today, which is about half off. I haven’t used it, but the reviews are great.
