[Bob in St. Louis]

Yea...you read that correctly.

Here's the deal.
I built my wife a kitchen island, complete with a 50" plasma that can be viewed from the comfort of her couch. The problem is, the plasma speakers are (expectedly) thin sounding, and don't have the volume she needs to hear the TV. The problem worsens when the house gets loud, she has to turn the TV up as high as it can go to hear it.

The solution, as I see it, would be to use the plasma "audio out" to a transmitter and place the speakers above her seated position, firing down at the top of her head.
I didn't build the TV cabinet large enough to hold a pair of external speakers and there isn't enough room for receivers and amps. To further complicate things, she babysits kids during the day. They often play on the area rug between her and the TV, so even if I got a soundbar capable of enough SPL, the kids on the floor would be deaf in no time. Plus, the kids like to push on soft mushy things, so a sound bar wouldn't be "child proof" enough. This is why I got her a (glass screen) plasma as opposed to a (soft mushy) LCD screen display unit.
This is why I'm thinking wireless active speakers above her head would be the best option.

Still with me? Sorry for the long story.

Notes:
- The audio out would be from the plasma and the available options are optical and typical RCA two channel.
- Wireless is a MUST have. I'm not running wires.
- Active is a MUST have (self-powered). There's no room on the wall above her head for an amp. I'd like to keep things as clean looking as possible.
- Regarding price, I can't get a solid answer from her on that one. Less than $500 would be nice (that's my number).
- Listening position is about 15' from the TV.
- Two speakers only. I've seen the wireless 5.1 systems, but that's more equipment than I'm looking to find "homes" for.


Here are a couple pictures of the TV and couch areas.
- Her "spot" on the couch is the furthest to the left, under the window. Since the photo was taken, there have been drapes hung. But the speakers would go above the window, pointed down.
- Just a note....I took the last photo today while she's putting up Halloween decorations...Hence the unusual decor. 

Thank you in advance! 
Bob

[srb]

The Dynaudio Xeo 3 - superb!  $2300.  Oh wait, you said something about a budget?  (Damn!)
 
Not to worry, I think I still might have you covered.  How about the Aperion Zona wireless speaker system?
 
-  4.5" woofer / 1" silk dome tweeter
-  9.8" H X 6" W X 6.3" D
-  2 X 20W amp with DSP
-  Remote control of Volume, Mute, Bass & Treble
-  Wall mounts available
-  30 Day In-Home Trial with Free Return Shipping (suhweet!)
-  $400/pair with transmitter
 
Only thing is they only come in satin black.
 
Steve

[Phil A]

Why not powered speakers you could stick on the sides behind the TV like Audio Engine?

[Doublej]

Use a wireless adapter such as the AudioEngine W3. Then you can purchase your favorite pair of powered speakers such as the AudioEngine 5+ or Aktimate. I am assuming that the analog out from the TV is fixed so you'll want a pair of powered speakers that has a remote control. You will need to connect the left speaker to the right speaker however and plug the speaker into the wall which I am sure you already know.

However, if the output of the plasma is variable then you can get a pair of active pro monitor loudspeakers. There are a number of threads on AC on this type of speaker starting at ~$200 pair.

If the output of the plasma is variable then you could also consider a pair of powered Bluetooth speakers such as the Nuforce S3-BT and a Bluetooth wireless adapter. Sony makes one called the HWS-BTA2W. I don't know if anyone make Bluetooth speakers with a remote control.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Wow, thank you guys.
That certainly expands the horizons with the ability to "make" active speakers into wireless speakers.

A couple years ago I bought her a pair of "Alesis M1 Active 320USB" speakers for her computer (from a recommendation here).
I think I need to try those on the plasma and see how it works (to see if its output is variable).
Sounds like with the AudioEngine W3, I could get her another pair of those and make them wireless.
Although....those AudioEngine A2 power desktops are pretty sexy looking.

I keep trying to drag her into this hobby.....One way or another... 

Thanks again guys, but don't be shy if you think of any more ideas.
But it sounds like I need to do a search here for "active monitors", as that shoud give quite a few options already.

Bob

[jarcher]

Hey Bob - if you built that island : beautiful job!

Just throwing some alternative ideas out there to the powered speaker as others already seem to have give you many suggestions:

A) A soundbar on the shelf / counter above the screen?  Maybe not the most aesthetic choice, but seems to be one of the simpler...

B) Get a smaller TV to give you more side space to fit tall / narrow speakers in the cabinet? I can understand she may not want to "downgrade" to a smaller set, but sometimes some people don't care - so long as they can see & hear it - and so as to not have more "boxes" sticking out elsewhere.

C) In-ceiling speakers?  If you have the skills to do that island, presumably in-ceiling is not too much of a challenge (?) This would be the most "stealth option" and the hardware is not expensive, but this is presumably the biggest hassle (unless they make "wireless / powered" in-ceiling).

Just thought I'd throw something different out there....

[saisunil]

Wonder if you could remove the stands from the TV and put ZVOX under the TV - we have one and my sister has one - it sounds wonderful ... not sure if it will work in your situation ... just as thought

[satfrat]

From the latest Sound&Vision issue; Definitive Technology SonoCinema XTR Soundbar. Fully powered 5.1 Soundbar with wireless bluetooth subwoofer. 3 1" tweeters, 6 3.5" mid.bass woofers, and an 8" long throw driver in the sub. Class D 200 watts to 9 channels in the soundbar, Class D 250 watts in the sub. Digital sound processing w/Dolby True HD & DTS HD along with Dolby ProLogic 2 & Dolby Digital Plus, and SSA Immersion Technologies. 3 HDMI in/1 HDMI out., one RCA analog in, 1 Toslink in, and a USB for firmware uploads only. 30hz-30khz

It's easy-peasy setup for A/V. 











Cheers,
Robin

[LadyDog]

Nice setup Bob.  If you built it, hat's off. 

I'm with some of the others, check out AudioEngine or IQuake.  Though not sure the latter is wireless.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Yip, pretty much everything you see, I've built, or heavily modified. Everything but the walls and fireplace basically.
Thank you for the complements (I've got a build thread, if you're interested).

Thank you ALL for the wonderful ideas. I'm pretty much dead set against a sound bar for two reasons.
#1 The little snot nosed kids like to poke their slimy little fingers into speakers.
#3 Wifey would have to crank it to hear it, and those little kiddies would get blasted by the SPL since the sound bar would essentially be right in their face.

Thanks all!
Bob

[srb]

Have you verified if the analog audio out of the TV is variable or not?  That would determine if the speakers need to have built-in remote volume control.
 
If the audio out is not variable, then some remote controlled suggestions so far have been
 
-  Self-contained remote controlled wireless speakers like the Aperion @ $400
-  Audioengine W3 adapter + Audioengine A5+ @ $550  ($150 + $400)
-  Audioengine W3 adapter + Aktimate Mini+ @ $850  ($150 + $700)
 
If the TV does have variable audio out, then you can go with the W3 + any powered monitor and choose your price range from $250 and up.
 
Steve

[Bob in St. Louis]

Thank you Steve. I have yet to hook up the Alesis to see if the TV is variable.
If all goes well, I'll do that tonight.

[jackman]

I was just about to recommend a soundbar...thankfully I read Bob's response.  Robin, thanks for posting the Def-Tech version, it looks pretty cool.  I may get one for my family room because the sound from my Sony flat screen is very bad, and my wife doesn't like the prospect of having 5 speakers taking up space.  I've heard the Yammy version at a friend's house and it plays louder and clearer than I expected.  It's not going to make you forget about your 2 channel setup but it's better than I expected for movie dialogue and music at moderate levels.   Unlike small monitors, the sound-bar is unobtrusive. 

Bob - you have some mad carpentry skills!  Very clever and attractive kitchen island setup.   

[satfrat]

I was just about to recommend a soundbar...thankfully I read Bob's response.  Robin, thanks for posting the Def-Tech version, it looks pretty cool.  I may get one for my family room because the sound from my Sony flat screen is very bad, and my wife doesn't like the prospect of having 5 speakers taking up space.  I've heard the Yammy version at a friend's house and it plays louder and clearer than I expected.  It's not going to make you forget about your 2 channel setup but it's better than I expected for movie dialogue and music at moderate levels.   Unlike small monitors, the sound-bar is unobtrusive. 

Bob - you have some mad carpentry skills!  Very clever and attractive kitchen island setup.   

I hear ya there Jack, I too have Sony flat screen speakers that have never been used.  While I knew this soundbar wouldn't be anything Bob personally would consider (he's too DIY), I thought I'd still throw it out there for someone looking fot a wireless soundbar that is actully an all-in-1 home theater w/digital processing and a mini-sub included. It's a lot packed into 1 package for those who are looking for a quick painless solution (other than the pricetag of around $2K).

Utube video

Cheers,
Robin

[Doublej]

The irony of feeble sound from HDTVs is someday Apple will come out with a set that has great sound and everyone will think it's a brilliant stroke of genius. And fitting with Apple it will be not an original idea.

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/home_theater/hdtvs_with_built_in_home_theater/videowave_ii/index.jsp


Bob - Here's a product that will solve a second problem as well, blocking the noise from the little rug rats.   http://www.tvears.com/

[Bob in St. Louis]

Bob - you have some mad carpentry skills!  Very clever and attractive kitchen island setup.   

Thanks for the complement.


Thanks guys.

Yea, the headphones would be a "no go".    But thanks for the recommendation. 

Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

Seems the problem has solved itself. We switched from Dish Network to Charter, and the TV now gets loud enough she can hear it when the house is loud.
Not the solution I was expecting, but at least it's a free solution.

Thanks for the suggestions fellas, very much. 

Bob

[srb]

Gosh Bob, you take all the fun out of spending other people's money!
 
Steve

[Bob in St. Louis]

Gosh Bob, you take all the fun out of spending other people's money!
 
Steve

Yea, I know. 
Sure was anti-climactic, wasn't it. I wasn't looking to spend money, but I was looking forward to the fun of playing with it all. The wife's happy, so that's all that counts.
But yea, that kinda killed the thread, didn't it. 

Bob