Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Kitchen audio

Well, now that I've been blessed with M22s (thanks, Axiom!), I'm thinking about setting them up in the kitchen. Obviously I'll be hanging them with FMBs, but I've got some questions.

First, has anyone hung M22s horizontally with FMBs? I'm not going for top sound quality here (that'll be after we move and I can set them up in a proper room, properly), but I'm not certain if it's physically feasible or not.

Second, how on earth should I get signal to these things, not to mention amplification?

My best bet seems to be the Amphony 1550 system, but I'm not sure how well it works. There are few reviews on it, so I was hoping someone here had tried it. On paper, it sounds just about perfect--wireless, built in amplification, small and can be mounted on the speakers. The downside, I assume, would be the power bricks (which I haven't been able to find pictures of), but that's easier to deal with than speaker cables.

Third, how should I get the source out of the receiver? I'm using a Harman/Kardon AVR 525. I'm already using the zone 2 line level outs for my back room system. I suspect I can use the tape outs for this function, especially since anything playing in the kitchen probably won't be playing in the living room. The downside to this would be that the volume controls on the wireless units above are on the back of the little amps, and are per channel.

Another way to do it would be to use the preamps on the receiver, but I'm not sure if those would turn off the built in amps if used. Another downside to that would be that the volume would not be independent from the M80s. In some ways, it would be nice to be able to turn off the main system while playing to the kitchen one. Which brings us back to the Zone 2...

I'm not using the Zone 2 built in amps on the receiver; I'm using the Zone 2 line level outputs to my back room. The wireless doohicky above has both line level and speaker level inputs. I could therefore use the zone 2 speaker level outs to the Amphony and then I would have independent volume control, sort of.

Whaddya all think? Am I crazy?

Yes, you are crazy but that is beside the point. I only wish I had your problem!

Ken, got a bit dizzy reading this, but one point that I'll make is that using the receiver pre-outs doesn't shut off the receiver amplifier; there's no problem with feeding voltage to two amplifiers.

I'm completly confused, good Luck Ken.

ditto

Take heart Ken, I got the same response with my confusing post about how to power my Algonquins. The good news for me was that just writing it out helped me solve the problem.

I too admit I don't totally understand the problem, but another solution for independent volume is buying a cheap 2-channel receiver that will control the volume for the kitchen system. I know you're not running wires to the speakers so I'm not sure if you have anywhere you could put a new receiver where you could hit it with a remote control for volume. If so, you could still run the outs from your main receiver to the new one and get the signal to it that way, but control volume with the second receiver.

Good luck.

Jason

Sigh...

OK, let's try this again:

I want to put the M22s in the kitchen. I'd like to run as few wires as possible.

The place in the kitchen that they'll be is 30 & 40 feet from the receiver in the living room.

Since I'm already using the zone 2 outputs on the receiver, I need to figure out how to get the same signal out of the receiver that is playing on the mains into the kitchen.

I've found a couple of wireless audio devices that include amplifiers on the receiver end (little T-Amps, it looks like), but have no volume controls, other than physical knobs.

Anyone tried any wireless audio recently? These are going to be right next to a 5.8GHz phone and a 1000 watt microwave, so they'll have a little work to do. On the other hand, it's essentially line of sight from the main receiver in the living room.

Ken - I use iTunes wireless (2.4 ghz I believe). It's called AirTunes and is not wireless amplification, but it does transmit the signal wirelessly. Phones do not seem to be a problem, but the microwave is guaranteed to interrupt the signal, every time. Nevertheless, that's the setup I have, so it's not so bad that it's unusable, it's just a given that it will happen when you fire up the microwave.

Jason

Yeah, I've considered the Airport Express, but since I primarily use iPods for digital music (and CDs) and the only computer that can be reliably on (since the laptops get closed all the time) is a power sucking G4, it doesn't seem to be the right fit for me. Thanks, though!

Why is it that we should help you, again?



Can you use a Y-Splitter on the zone-2 line-out jacks?

Personally, I'd opt for remote amplification/volume control in the kitchen. As far as how to get the signal TO the kitchen, that's what copper is for

Or just get a T-Amp and an iPod dock and make it a separate, stand-alone system for now.

That Amphony thing looks pretty good.

The thing about hte y-splitter on the line-out jacks is that I lose volume control. If I could get my hands on a BPA-1 or the like, that might work with regular wireless line level transmission, but BPA-1s seem to be a bit thin on the ground these days.

I think Parts Express had a clone of the BPA-1.

So I see. Interesting--it looks almost identical. I wonder who was sourcing whom?

Don't forget to include a time delay circuit for the M22s. 30 - 40 feet is enough distance from the M80s that you may begin to detect a fatness the sound due to the slightly delayed sound from the M80s mixing with the sound of the M22s.

Okay, so I might be exaggerating. But only slightly.

Way to feed my paranoia. Thanks, buddy...

What is your source Ken? Prior to the receiver that is. I'm assuming multiple sources but if it's 90% about all your music stored on your PC, (as I know you are a big download guy,) then I have had very great results with a Squeezbox feeding an inexpensive 100w Panasonic amp that I had left over from my old setup.

The frequency used by a Squeezebox is in the realm of wireless routers and such so it is unaffected by phones and other such 2.4 and 5 GHz devices. It seems impervious to my microwave as well. It is open to the kitchen but across the distance of both my living room and kitchen. I still think this demonstrates you would be OK though as traveling through empty space is something microwaves are very good at.

I initially tried to do what you are thinking about in regards to using the pre-amps on your receiver. On my Denon, this caused confusion, then frustration as I soon discovered that it would only forward analogue signal in this manner. (I was testing with a music DVD then CD that never had a chance.)

That being said, it doesn't solve your speaker wire issue.
I have never yet heard a a wireless speaker that didn't sound like am radio but then again, they were not Axiom speakers. I'm not an expert to comment on getting the whole audible spectrum effectively sent via 2.4 GHz so I'll leave that for others or at least until Google fills me in.

Reread some posts, if you are interested in simultaneous listening from your speakers and the kitchen speakers, a squeezebox may not be the right choice. Unless you use two of them, but that's not practical price wise when you already have one working system.

A good friend of mine has one of these that he uses to transmit audio from his main AV room to his kitchen. Note that this is a 5.8ghz unit, which gets you out the of the frequency range of microwaves and 802.11 signals. It can also do video, though my friend doesn't use this feature so I can't comment as to the quality.

Attached to the receiver in the kitchen is a decent Altec Lansing powered speaker+sub combo. It sounds great. Nothing about the sound suggests that it's a wireless connection.

It also has a remote IR blaster feature as well, so you could control your gear from the kitchen.

And as far as the T-Amp goes, I have a Gen 2 T-Amp powering a pair of M22's in our bedroom. It works very well for this and sounds fantastic. The only drawbacks are that the build quality feels like something won at a carnival and that the volume control is simply a knob, as you mentioned. No remote power/volume.

My primary source is an iPod (at least for this purpose).

Thanks for the tip, Peter C. I had looked at those a bit, but was tempted by the integrated nature of the other system. Which has apparently been recalled indefinitely to fix a quality problem.

But I think Peter B is right... I'm thinking about what else to do with them. Perhaps a bedroom system.

Ken, where did you finally end up putting your M22's? How do you like them?

Uh... haven't quite decided yet, and I don't have an amp for them, either. I suspect the kitchen's out; it's not needed, and the fridge is do dang loud, it's kind of pointless anyway. Bedroom's a possibility.

My garage could use some speakers untill you decide