[gregfisk]

I have a friend who has a cabin in hood river, he's not going to have internet but wants to play music services using his iPhone or an iPad and sending that to a receiver/interface which will connect to an amplifier that runs a bunch of in ceiling and outside speakers.

I bought him a Crown 1500 amp and an 8 zone speaker selector with volume controls for the speakers. What he wants to do is send music to a receiver or some other interface before the amp remotely from a hand held device and play Spotify or one of the many music services he can get on his iPhone or other hand held devices.

What would be the best budget approach to doing this? it's obviously not an audiophile system at this point but he does want it to sound decent.

We are also setting up a two channel system but he will probably use a laptop with a separate hard drive and dac for that and I'm a lot more familiar with what it takes to make that sound good. 

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Greg

[Phil A]

There's probably a ton of Bluetooth devices

[Phil A]

Some rec'rs have Bluetooth built in so you can connect the iPhone.

[Phil A]

Here's a link to some of the rec'rs

http://www.accessories4less.com/index.php?page=seek&id%5Bm%5D=pattern&id%5Bq%5D=Receiver+Bluetooth

[Doublej]

I'd be tempted to purchase the Outlaw Audio Bluetooth receiver, plug it into the Crown and be done for less than $50. Too bad Apple does not support aptx.

https://www.outlawaudio.com/products/btr100.html

BTW if you are streaming Spotify you have internet service.

[aldcoll]

Windows has what is called Ad Hoc.  No need of the outside internet just wifi from point to point.  Here is a WIki that will get you started.  And this is what a lot of the smart phones will do.   I have played with it for a squeezebox in my car for the multi month trips we take.   This can be done with next to nothing.  And I have no idea if it works with the Apple stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_ad_hoc_network

[jarcher]

A mini jack to RCA cable connected to the pre or even direct to the amp from the iPhone / iPad will sound better vs Bluetooth.

The other alternative is to enable to the personal wifi hotspot option on the iPhone (or iPad if it has the cellular option) and then use a second device, such the other I-device or laptop connected via wifi which in turn is connected with a mini jack to RCA cable to preamp or direct to amp. Creating a wifi hotspot with the iPhone or cellular iPad gives you the greatest number of options for playback devices so long as they support wifi.

[gregfisk]

 Thank you for all or your replies, one thing I should have mentioned is he would like to use his ipad/iPhone for the volume as well because he wants to be able to walk around and control the music and volume without having to have a remote.

I'm not familiar with all of the music stations you can get on a smart phone or ipad. The only one I use is Music Paradise which I listen to at my beach house with my iPhone on a pure i20 running into my 2 channel music system.

I realize I can just buy a 2 channel receiver that supports blue tooth but I thought there might be something a little better out there that doesn't break the bank. I'm not looking for the cheapest solution, 3 or 4 hundred would be fine. The problem with the 2 channel rcvr. approach is having to carry around a remote for volume.

I'll look into the other options mentioned. One thing I don't want is something technical where he is going to have issues with it not working and calling me as I'm 4 hours away and he is not a technical guy.

Any other ideas are welcome and thank you for your responses, it's why I love this place.

Greg

[yeldarb]

Try Radio Paradise.  Not high rez, by any definition, but decent and the play list is awfully good, to me, anyway.

[srb]

... one thing I should have mentioned is he would like to use his ipad/iPhone for the volume as well because he wants to be able to walk around and control the music and volume without having to have a remote.

Depending on where he will be walking around, a WiFi solution with its inherently far greater range may be preferable to the much shorter limited ~ 30 ft. range of Bluetooth.

Steve

[gregfisk]

Try Radio Paradise.  Not high rez, by any definition, but decent and the play list is awfully good, to me, anyway.

Actually, that's what I meant to write. I'm a big fan of radio paradise, not sure why I wrote music paradise

[Doublej]

Some more thoughts...

Many music apps have a volume control built into the app. So feeding directly into an amp using a bluetooth adapter shouldn't create a problem.

The manufacturers are beginning to come out with stereo receivers that support Bluetooth and Wifi. They come with an app to control the receiver via phone or tablet. The new Onkyo 8160 is one example. You can download the app to see what features are provided by the app.

Since he is using Apple products I think you could use and an Airplay adapter of some sort. I am not familiar with Airplay. It might be a simple as an Airport Express connected to the Crown amp. There are many compatible airplay receivers out there too.

[Scott F.]

We are also setting up a two channel system but he will probably use a laptop with a separate hard drive and dac for that and I'm a lot more familiar with what it takes to make that sound good. 

No need to complicate things or spend extra money if you don't have to. I assume he (or you) have an old laptop you are going to use for this system. Get a cheap wireless router and add it off the back of the laptop. Then set the laptop up as a music server. Buy JRiver and add the music to the hard drive or and external USB drive. Use the 1/8" audio outs on the laptop directly to the Crown amp. Load Gizmo on his iPhone and iPad. You'll have to listen for an impedance mis-match between the laptop and amp. If it sounds decent, let it go. If it doesn't, you may need to add a passive or active pre which you'd planned on doing anyway. If you have to do a pre, I'd suggest that iFi iTube micro pre. At $300, its pretty cool and sounds good.

Bingo!
Instant music system with remote capabilities. Gizmo lets you use the volume controls on your phone/pad to adjust the volume on the system. You can then scroll, select, create playlists, whatever. Simple setup and you can stream anything from HiRez to lossless to MP3s. You also have the Digital EQ functions (graphic, parametric, etc) and many other adjustments in JRiver to compensate for the in ceiling speakers.

[mcgsxr]

Agree with Scott F's reco if a PC is to be used.

From the original post it sounds like that may not be.

Sounds like the user wants to stream cellular content only, and stream that from iPhone to Crown.

There are Bluetooth receivers out there but agree that is not ideal due to distance constraints. 

I used to use an Audioengine W2 device to stream off my iTouch to a power amp.  But it worked only with content on the iTouch not streaming sound. 

[gregfisk]

Depending on where he will be walking around, a WiFi solution with its inherently far greater range may be preferable to the much shorter limited ~ 30 ft. range of Bluetooth.

Steve

Thank you Steve, I guess I don't really understand how to set up wifi without internet service? I guess I just thought the two had to work together? It makes since to use wifi thou as sound quality and like you mention range would be much better.

Some more thoughts...

Many music apps have a volume control built into the app. So feeding directly into an amp using a bluetooth adapter shouldn't create a problem.

The manufacturers are beginning to come out with stereo receivers that support Bluetooth and Wifi. They come with an app to control the receiver via phone or tablet. The new Onkyo 8160 is one example. You can download the app to see what features are provided by the app.

Since he is using Apple products I think you could use and an Airplay adapter of some sort. I am not familiar with Airplay. It might be a simple as an Airport Express connected to the Crown amp. There are many compatible airplay receivers out there too.

These sound like good solutions, I will look at the ifi unit and some blue tooth devices as well. I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible so he doesn't have problems with the set up. He's the kind of guy who just wants to turn it on and always have it work. His motto is low to no maintenance since it's a place to get away.

Thanks again gentleman, this is exactly the info. I was looking for and you've all been very helpful. I haven't looked into this type of set up before as I run a mac mini into my 2 channel system and control it with my iPhone and I have internet.

Any specific brands or products you could point me to would be helpful and I'll start digging around on my own to find the simplest solution. Maybe just a newer run of the mill receiver with build in wifi and blue tooth is the answer or a simple blue tooth device to the crown and call it good.

[Vincent Kars]

Maybe just a newer run of the mill receiver with build in wifi

That is not sufficient. WiFi is the transport layer. You also need a common protocol
As it is a iPhone, look for Airplay support.

If both phone and receiver support WiFi Direct you don't need a LAN
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/wi-fi-direct-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care-1065449

If one of them don't you need a router.
Not to make an internet connection but because you need a box creating the LAN (DHCP, etc)

[gregfisk]

That is not sufficient. WiFi is the transport layer. You also need a common protocol
As it is a iPhone, look for Airplay support.

If both phone and receiver support WiFi Direct you don't need a LAN
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/wi-fi-direct-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-care-1065449

If one of them don't you need a router.
Not to make an internet connection but because you need a box creating the LAN (DHCP, etc)

Thank you very much for this, I didn't know the difference regarding WiFi direct. And I appreciate the explanation regarding a router, I don't really understand the "closed system" concept in the WiFi world.