Home Audio Question

[Steve Frazier]

I haven't kept up with audiophile technology for the past 25 years and have a question for those who have. I've become quite a fan of iHeart radio through my DROID phone. I also have a pretty decent Onkyo home stereo system that I'd like to put music from my phone through. I think a simple way would be thro ugh the headphone jack in the phone and plug in to an available auxiliary jack on the stereo but then my phone would be tied to the stereo.

I don't know much about bluetooth technology either, I don't use it but what I was wondering is if there might be a bluetooth receiver that could plug into the stereo and allow me to keep my phone near me. I don't know what the range would be, my house is just under 50' long and 30' wide. Does anyone know of something that would work?

 

[The Peej]

Good question. I'll be following to see what others say.

 

[mitch504]

try www.crutchfield.com

If you don't see it on the website, call and ask, their tech guys are great. It is a good company to do business with, it's where a lot of my Christmas presents have come from over the years.

 

[entasis]

steve, bluetooth is gonna have difficulty with interference at the ranges and configurations of a typical house, and because its digital it wouldn't fade in and out, it'd be on and off, on and off - could get irritating and spoil the mood

I use satellite for NPR and such but mostly Rhapsody thru an old computer cause I can program anything I want as the library is massive and I can stream it instead of buying it - I have stumbled onto some really great music in this way, obscure jazz mostly........chuckle........... but if you're into mozart or george jones its all available - last I checked I was paying $12.99 a month

 

[Acivil]

You could set up a line from your pc to your home stereo and play it that way... but you wouldn't have the controls from your phone...

 

[wrangler]

You could use a Logitech wireless Speaker adapter or a Belkin bluetooth music reciever.Not that costly.Yamaha and other manufactures make bluetooth audio recievers if you want a new home theater amp.Nuvo technologies and Sonos wireless HiFI make whole house systems that you can control from any room in the house but are a lot of money.http://reviews.cnet.com/home-entertainment/belkin-bluetooth-music-receiver/4505-6449_7-34505053.html

 

[AKSNOW]

If you have a Mac you can use airport wireless.We can stream from iPhone ,pandora, or iTunes ,to anywhere in and out of the house! We run wireless speakers to our hot tub and sounds great on the deck!

 

[Steve Frazier]

wrangler, that looks like what I was thinking of. I couldn't get the video to load for me though. Do you agree with entasis about moving around the house dropping the signal? I have no experience with bluetooth accessories.

 

[wrangler]

I personally have no experience with the bluetooth adapters.The logitech has better reviews for range.You might want to just hook up your phone with a cord to see how happy you are with the sound quality over your system.Steaming audio is less than HIFI in my view.Streaming it via bluetooth farther compresses the signal,and you may not be happy with the results.On the other hand the adapter sells for around $30.00 so not a big deal to try it.It may be usefull to read the reviews on amazon for the adapters.Dropout of signal seams to depend on the phone and where the adapter is located.When my daughter was last home she hooked up her ipod streaming rdio with a cord to my large stereo and the sound was ok.Hope we don't get in trouble with this thread as it is off topic for heavy machinery.

 

[AKSNOW]

http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...53d553105c8ce7dd1b6ebd3b5d31095060fe8faf182ae

 

[AKSNOW]

You just plug into wall anywhere and speakers plug into this!Ours has. A range of about 50'/75' and doesn't have any static or interference from any other devices!

 

[kanewolf]

The ROKU (at least from the web page) http://www.roku.com/channels/#!details/20197/iheartradio seems to support iHeartRadio as an app. If you get a streaming player like this you can watch Netflix or all the YouTube videos Diggin' Ditchin' and Bitchin' post on your big screen!

 

[Steve Frazier]

kanewolf, another member had contacted me directly about the same thing and I happened to be in Sam's Club when the message came through. I picked one up and hooked it up today and this thing is awesome!! I got the iHeartRADIO I wanted and umpteen other channels to keep me busy! With the Netflix app I may just be able to see some of the movies I've always wanted to but never made to the theater. Technology today is simply amazing!!

 

[grandpa]

Simply amazing. I haven't got over the convenience of the microwave oven yet..... lol.

 

[kanewolf]

Glad I/we were able to point you in a good direction.

 

[entasis]

excellent solution kanewolf

steve, did you get the roku box? - I've got one hooked up to a tv for streaming movie channels with a coax cable - I just looked at the back and saw it had the component jacks as well (red, white , yellow) - did you connect the box to your stereo this way? - decent sound quality?