You can often fall into a situation where you will not be able to run the cables to your surround speakers. Not everyone wants to crawl through their attic and run only 1 or 2 cables to get the signal to their rear speakers. We also do not do that. We have also snaked through my good part of attics, and We can assure you that it’s not a time to enjoy at all.
Wireless speakers are the future of today’s audio/video setups. But not everybody has the ability to buy and set up higher-end wireless speakers. Sometimes one question can come to mind: can you convert your current surround sound speakers to wireless speakers?
YES, you can do it very easily with the help of a wireless speaker kit. You can easily convert your current surround sound speakers to wireless speakers. These wireless speaker kits send the audio signal to your regular speakers via RF (radio-frequency), and that’s how they make your regular speakers wireless. Sometimes you may also need to connect a separate amplifier to the speakers to provide power because most of these kits do not provide power to the speakers.
There are many ways how wireless technology receives or sends a signal to your speakers. By reading this article, you will know how these wireless kits make regular speakers wireless. Moreover, you will also know how you should set up a wireless kit. Most of these wireless kits are very easy to set up, so there is nothing to worry about.
How wireless speaker kit make regular speakers wireless?
As we have mentioned above, wireless speaker kits make regular speakers wireless by sending the audio signal via an RF (radio-frequency) signal. You can easily connect your regular speaker with a wireless speaker kit so that you can experience a high-quality wireless signal to your surround speakers.
All of these wireless speaker kits come with a built-in transmitting and receiving unit. The transmitting unit takes inputs from the receiver or other sources and then transmits them to the receiving unit. Then the receiving unit starts working. They process the signal and give you the output.
You may also need to add a separate amplifier to power the speakers because of some reason. And those are:
- Power cannot travel wirelessly
- Most of the wireless speaker kits do not come with a built-in amplifier.
- Finally, a lot of rear speakers are passive and not active it means that they do not supply their own power.
If the wireless kit’s receiving unit comes with a built-in amplifier, it will provide you with only a small amount of power. That’s why we recommend you not to use the built-in amp. Moreover, a separate amplifier is much more reliable also.
One thing you should know that Radio Frequency is the same signal that Wi-Fi uses. Moreover, many wireless kits run around 2.4GHz. So you should be careful about where your router/Wi-Fi access point is placed because they could potentially create interference.
How to Set Up a Wireless Speaker Kit
Setting up a wireless kit can feel a little complicated sometimes. But it actually depends on your speaker setup and the kit you will use. By reading this article, we hope you will get enough info about setting up a wireless speaker kit. We also recommend you to use one of the following kits for your rear speakers and subwoofer (optional).
Managing cables to the front channel speakers is easier because they are usually located close to the receiver. But when you go running cables for the rear speakers, you can face many difficulties because they are mostly located far from the receiver and amplifier. You can also keep the subwoofer in various locations.
Whether you want to run a cable or use a wireless kit is actually depends on where the rear speakers are located. Running cables to the rear speakers can feel like a big problem depending on the room’s design. To solve this problem, here comes the wireless transmitting and receiving system.
Step 1 – Choose a Wireless Speaker Kit
There are two types of wireless speaker kits available on the market:
- One type does not come with any built-in amplifier. It can only send the audio signal and requires an additional amplifier to power the speakers.
- Another type of wireless speaker kit come with a built-in power amplifier.
We recommend you to buy a kit with no built-in amplifier because the built-in amplifier of a wireless kit is not so powerful. The power output from a built-in amp is less than what your current receiver/amplifier will output.
Always remember that the inputs available on the transmitting unit and the outputs available on your A/V receiver. Moreover, if your receiver has pre-outs (RCA outputs for the different speaker channels), then you can easily connect RCAs from the receiver to the transmitting unit.
If your receiver does not have any pre-outs, then you have to make sure the transmitting unit allows regular speaker wire as an input. Otherwise, you can use a line-level adapter to convert speaker leads to RCAs. Some wireless kits also come with input and output for a subwoofer. Many subwoofers come with a built-in amplifier, so it is very easy to connect.
Wireless Speaker Kits with No Built-in Amplifier
Here are some of the wireless kits that do not come with any built-in amplifier. Prices are not included because they change constantly. So if you have active speakers, then you should obviously choose a kit that doesn’t come with any built-in amp.
Nyrius NY-GS10 (See Picture) – This kit is actually an Audio/Video wireless kit, but you don’t have to use the video in/out. It is the best wireless kit, and it has the best reviews of all of the wireless kits that can be found. You can get this from amazon.
BIC America – this kit uses RCAs for inputs and outputs. It has a range of 60ft-80ft and is on the higher end of non-amplified wireless kits.
Dynasty ProAudio WSA-5TR – As like the BIC America wireless speaker kit, this kit is also very easy to use and highly reviewed! You can also find it on amazon.
But you always have to remember that these kits don’t supply power for the speakers, just the audio signal. So we recommend you to use a mini amplifier to power the speakers.
Wireless Speaker Kit with a Built-in Amplifier
The Amphony Model 1800 wireless speaker kit is the best-reviewed wireless speaker kit with a built-in amplifier. This kit uses a single transmitter that sends the audio signals to two separate receivers.
The built-in amplifiers are rated at 80 watts, which is significantly higher than most wireless kits with a built-in amp. Moreover, this wireless kit comes with a range of up to 300ft. So in our opinion, if you want to buy a wireless speaker kit with a built-in amp, then you should go for The Amphony Model 1800.
The OSD WRSK-250 Subwoofer and Speaker Kit is a transmitter and receiver kit with a built-in amplifier on the receiving end. These types of kits are significantly less common than regular non-powered kits.
Moreover, this Subwoofer and Speaker Kit only supply 25 watts of power per channel. This amount is far less than what your receiver or amplifier can provide.
One interesting fact about this wireless kit is that it has a line out of RCAs for the speakers and the subwoofer. So if you want, you will be able to use a separate amplifier. But if you really want to use a separate amplifier, then you should not buy a kit with a built-in amplifier.
Step 2 – Connect the Transmitter
After choosing the perfect wireless kit for you now, you have to set it up so that your regular speakers can work wirelessly.
To complete the setup process, at first, you have to connect the transmitter to the receiver or amplifier. The transmitter uses Radio Frequency to send the audio wirelessly. There will be various ways for inputting the audio signal, but it mostly depends on the kit you have. The transmitter will come with a speaker wire, RCA, and/or Aux 3.5mm input available.
In the case of speaker wire inputs, you just have to connect your speaker’s wire from the two speaker outputs with the receiver to the transmitter’s inputs.
And in the case of RCA inputs, you have to connect RCA cables from the pre-outs with the receiver via the transmitter’s RCA inputs.
Step 3 – Connect the Receiver
After successfully connecting the transmitter, now you have to connect the wireless receiver to make your regular speakers wireless. The process of connecting a wireless receiver can be a little different depending on the wireless speaker kit you are using and the speakers you have. But it is mostly the same. Here you will see some setup processes for different kits and speakers. Moreover, you can also find how to connect everything properly.
If you only have a 3.5mm input available in your transmitter, then you have to buy an RCA to 3.5mm adapter to connect the receiver to the transmitter. After successfully connecting to the transmitter, you can now plug the AC power adapter into it and a power outlet.
Using a separate amplifier (More common)
If you are using a dedicated amplifier, you have to connect RCAs from the receiving unit to the amplifier. Then you have to connect the speaker wire from the amplifier to the speakers. The receiving unit sends the signal to the amplifier, then the amp powers the signal and forwards it to the speakers.
If your regular speakers are passive, if your speakers do not have any power source or an internal amp of their own, you can use this technique. Moreover, remember that you have to plug the AC adapter into a power outlet and connect the other end to the receiver.
Using a receiving unit with a built-in amplifier (Less common).
If your receiver comes with a built-in amplifier (very not likely), then making the connection will be very easy. You have to connect the speaker wire from the receiving unit to the speakers and connect power for the receiver.
Yeah, it is simple like that, but you have to remember that the amount of power provided by the receiving unit can be very low. So do not expect a huge amount of sound from the connected speakers as output.
The speakers contain an internal amplifier (i.e., using active speakers).
If you have active speakers, then you will not need an amplifier to power your wireless receiver.
You have to connect RCAs from the receiving unit to the speaker, and your speakers will start to work wirelessly. But still, you will need to connect the power adapter to the receiving unit.
Step 4 – Test the System!
After successfully connecting everything, now you have to test the system.
First, you have to make sure that the receiver is receiving the signal from the transmitter. If you notice any static, sounds unclear, is delayed, etc., from the connected speaker, then you should adjust the position of the transmitter and/or receiver. And check all the connections again.
Moreover, you will not want the front/wired speakers to be extremely loud and hardly hear anything from the rear wireless speakers. So you have to adjust the levels on either the receiving unit or amplifier or both.
After all, if everything is working well, then congratulations you have successfully learned how to make regular speakers wireless.
Conclusion
Now you know that making regular speakers wireless is very easy. You have realized that you just need the right gear and the knowledge of how to set everything up.
We hope that this article will help you with enough information about making your regular speakers wireless. But if you do not want to go through all of these, then you can buy a wireless speaker system. But it would be best if you remembered that high-quality wireless speakers are not cheap.
You can buy a set of wireless speaker systems at an affordable price, but they will not give you a great amount of sound. The higher-priced systems are usually much more efficient in producing sound.
So we recommend that, if you already have speakers and have a lower budget, then you should go for a wireless kit.
Best Seller List of Wireless Speakers:
-our editorial board has reviewed this article and has been approved for publication according to our editorial policy.
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Last update on 2023-12-07
