When it comes to home theatre systems, sometimes wired is wiser

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 3 years ago

When it comes to home theatre systems, sometimes wired is wiser

By Alice Clarke

Having real surround sound without needing to route long wires or mount anything in the wall is an increasingly realistic dream thanks to wireless rear speakers, but like all cord-free technology it’s not perfect. Depending on where you live, you might need to be prepared for a wired plan B.

My inner-city apartment complex has more residents than the small town I grew up in, and for the most part it’s wonderful. There’s no mowing, washing the outside of the windows is someone else’s problem, and the walk to the nearest form of public transport is a lot shorter than an hour (and involves fewer mountains).

The Bose Lifestyle 650 is a $7000 system that looks and sounds great, with wired or wireless options.

The Bose Lifestyle 650 is a $7000 system that looks and sounds great, with wired or wireless options.

If you can get past the lack of storage and outdoor space, the only consistent problem with living in an apartment building is that other people also live and own wireless devices here, and there are only so many wireless devices that can coexist peacefully at a time before you start running into issues. It’s something you probably notice when you wear Bluetooth headphones in a busy train station.

Your headphones, as well as standard Wi-Fi and most proprietary radios in things like gaming headsets, run on 2.4GHz wireless bands which provide good range and are handy for getting through the odd wall, but there’s fewer channels available and more devices using them so there’s more interference. Meanwhile 5GHz (in phones, newer wireless routers, most recent computers) is great because there are more channels and less interference, but it doesn’t travel as far and isn’t fond of walls.

Usually this is fine, because most devices can handle a little interference and the occasional cutting out is a liveable annoyance. But where it can be a bit too much is when it causes speakers to cut out, particularly rear speakers and subwoofers in a home theatre.

For example, I love my Bose 650 Lifestyle home theatre system. Its tiny speakers are adorable and sound amazing. Plus, it fits perfectly in my weirdly shaped living room.

Loading

One of the things that drew me to it was the wireless rear speakers, which only needed power and then they could run off the proprietary 2.4GHz radio built into the receivers, saving me from cable running inconvenience. The subwoofer is supposed to be able to run wirelessly as well, but has never managed to do so reliably, but since it’s so close to the unit wiring it was no problem.

Then we got new neighbours and a pandemic, and suddenly the wireless interference got so bad the rear speakers were cutting out for a moment every few minutes: just enough to take you out of any immersive moment in a movie.

Advertisement

The good thing about this $7000 Bose system is that, if you’re willing to give up on your wireless dreams, you can just buy a $3 dongle and some speaker cable and convert it to be wired pretty easily. If you get some nail-in cable organisers to run the cables along the skirting board it's quite neat, too.

Where it becomes more of a dire problem is when the system is purely wireless with no capacity to convert it, particularly when it’s not from a company known for its wireless capabilities. So, if you’re shopping for a wireless home theatre system and think you might end up living in a densely populated area, that’s something to factor into your planning.

Loading

That advice changes a little when you’re dealing with something like a Sonos system, which can’t be wired together but is from a company that specialises in wireless technology. A Sonos system can make its own mesh network that talks to your Wi-Fi and needs it to connect to your phone and the internet, but can rely on its own network to talk to the other Sonos speakers in your house.

If you’re having connectivity trouble, a Sonos spokesperson recommended connecting one of your Sonos speakers to your home network via an ethernet cable.

"Most Sonos speakers have hardware and software to operate a separate wireless network, specifically for audio on Sonos speakers. This can improve issues with stability, and allow you to use your router bandwidths specifically for other devices in the home," they said.

While wireless things can be very convenient and certainly look neater, wired will almost always give you better reliability and sound quality, especially if you live in a place where your neighbours can hear you scream.

Most Viewed in Technology

Loading