All,

I have a simple need that has me completely stumped--I want to stream music from my home PC hard drive to a wireless speaker in my kitchen, selecting directories and/or individual MP3 files to be streamed. I'd prefer the speaker to be wall-mountable and lithium battery powered (i.e., cordless), but those aren't absolute requirements. I really don't need anything fancy, just a quick and easy solution to take up as little room as possible and to provide decent sound to a fairly small room. I currently have a wireless N network that connects to my WIN7 PC and Vista notebook if that's any help.

I've seen Bluetooth speakers that perhaps meet my need, but have no idea how those work vis-a-vis a PC to speaker relationship. If that's a solution and someone can provide some insight as to how that technology works I'd be much appreciative. If you're looking for a price range I'd say around $300 but willing to pay a bit higher if it fits my needs.

I hope I've explained myself well enough here to provide you the capability to articulately respond.

Thanks/Hawkeye

A wifi Internet Radio should do the job. ~$80-$110.

c crane and grace both make nice ones.

Thanks for the reply, xan. I checked out your recommendations, but perhaps looking for a better solution. Any other suggestions? Still looking as to how Bluetooth works.

hawkeye

Here's an alternative suggestion : a Sonos Play3. $ 299.
See : http://www.sonos.com/shop/products/play3

IMO much better audio quality then normal. I have one on loan.
To make it work you might also need to get a ZoneBridge (only 1 needed for as many wireless Sonos units as you need).
If you can connect the Play3 direct to your LAN, then you don't need a Bridge unit.
See : http://www.sonos.com/shop/products/Bridge.
Sonos sometimes has a special offer of Bridge + unit, so expect this again later in Fall.


I have 6 Sonos Zones (mostly Play5) and have gradually sold off my big floor standing speaker/amp combos and replaced them with Play5 units.

Control is via a PC controller or if you have an iPxxx, you can use that also.

Sonos creates its own mesh network so doesn't care about your existing Wireless N setup.
The Play3 talks to the Bridge (or direct to the LAN); the Bridge then talks to your network via LAN, so needs to be connected to your Router/Access Point/Switch or whatever. This will then stream Audio from any Music source you have AND connect to Internet Music sources (Radio, Napster etc).

How far does the wireless signal need to go? Bluetooth doesnt go that far....

Sonos is a nice piece of kit. but kind of expensive, if the price hasn't dropped since i checked a few years back.

when you say "looking for a better solution", what do you mean?

have you looked into apples airplay? (shudder, i cant believe i just suggested an iProduct.. .)

Bluetooth is just a wireless connection. It doesn't have much range and in my experience much fidelity. I would forgo that idea and run a speaker network from your computer output. It should be simple enough to find wall mounted speakers to put in your kitchen. Now admittedly I am a bit of an audiophile.

Just a thought...how about something like this logitech boombox?

Running a PC to power a speaker in your kitchen seems a bit like hunting mosquitos with a bazooka. With this boombox, you get decent sound and portability for $150. I'm sure you have an ipod or other portable iOS device...so you can either dock it or stream via bluetooth.