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Adding wireless speakers to my current, vintage analog system.

I’d like to add wireless speakers to my current setup (listed below). 

Ideally I would be able to control volume and basic EQ for the wireless speakers independent from the wired speakers, while also having a main receiver where I have control over the overall EQ/volume for all speakers - if that makes sense.

 

I like the sound and look of my vintage receivers, and would like to stay with true stereo (not single or paired mono speakers).   And I don’t want to add too much bulky gear, if possible.

 

I mainly stream Spotify (from an old MacBook to the R-2000) and play vinyl records and CDs (and occasionally cassette tape or MiniDisc). 

So far vIdeo and TV (home theater setup) have not been on my improvement radar - I’m fine with a good sound bar for the TV for now.

 

 

I live in an approx 1200 sqft open warehouse space with high ceiling, wooden floor and large windows. I don’t have a particular listening spot - I like to have good sound when I dine, but also when I cook in the kitchen corner or work in the upper mezzanine loft. 

 

Currently the KEFs and the Klipsch woofer (living room area) are driven by the R-2000, and all the Minimus-7s (upper loft and kitchen/dining area) are driven by the Nikko. 

 

For the time being I’d just replace the Minimus’ with some decent, small wireless speakers.  Probably not so easy as the Mins are surprisingly good for their size.

 

If, whatever I will add to my rig for enabling it to send sound to wireless speakers, can also function as a high-quality DAC and/or direct music streamer, that’d be an added bonus, but is not my main concern right now. 

 

 

Current setup:

  • Yamaha R-2000 - serves as main receiver and powers a pair of KEF Q500 and a Klipsch 120SW (mains). The R-2000 is then connected to:
  • Nikko NR-1219 which powers 3 pairs of Minimus-7 (secondary) in the mezzanine lofts and the kitchen/dining room
raphaz
mahler123
4,059 posts
 

I neglected powered speakers.  These basically have a pliers inside them, and then they typically are configured to accept Bluetooth, WiFi, and Ethernet, and usually you can plug in components such as CD players or turntables.

  So if I was you, You want to start with a defined budget.  It’s easy to fritter resources away when you don’t understand the concepts, or even when you do.

  Start with the laptop and USB DAC attached to your receiver.  Try a streaming service such as Spotify or Qobuz or Apple.  If you want to listen to your CDs as computer files we can help you with that.

  That might be all you need.  If you decide to go further, fine, but familiarize yourself with streaming in this low cost fashion

raphaz OP
48 posts
 
Thank you, mahler123, for laying it all out for me. 
It's not as bad as you seem to think. Some of the concepts I'm familiar with. But I did get confused, and it explains some things – and it may help me to decide how to approach this. 
What it comes down to is that I seem to suffer from first world problems:
– dreaming up things and being impatient about making it a reality
– assuming for tech to make anything possible, better, more convenient
– too many options
– expecting one thing to solve it all
– expecting high quality to be somewhat affordable
– constant upgraditis
– no time
mahler123
4,059 posts
 

My last post under powered speakers, should read “amplifiers “ and not “pliers”.

Questions you should ask yourself 

Have you defined a budget?  That should be step #1

Do you intend to stream solely from a service such as Spotify?  Or do you also want to move your CDs to a hard drive and be able to stream them?  Digitalizing lps is a whole different ball of wax.  Do you want to use a phone or tablet as a source and control, or be sticking with the laptop, or both?

 Further recommendations would depend upon your answers.  In the meantime I would consider getting a USB/DAC for the laptop and just streaming with that for a while to get comfortable.  Many audiophiles find that is enough and stop there, and it would be a low cost way for you to start 

 

 

raphaz OP
48 posts
 

Budget: it depends. Max $150.

Streaming: so far mainly Spotify (I may add other services later, dunno yet).. 

Vinyl and CD: happy with using CD player and turntable as is for now.

DAC: ideally both, Bluetooth and WiFi.

Any recommendations as far as good brands/models?

raphaz OP
48 posts
 

Any recommendation for a good DAC that does both, WiFi as well as Bluetooth aptX? 

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