on the cheap

"that would not have to be hooked up to the internet but would work via wi-fi or bluetooth"

Not sure how or what you would be streaming without an internet connection. Did you you mean a hardwire connection? You have to get your content from somewhere, and if not physical media (disks) or a local streaming server ($$$) , then it has to be from the Internet.

@mahler123  WiFi IS Ethernet, 100%. it simply uses a different Layer 1 Transport. Regardless if it is coax, twisted pair, fiber optic, or wireless, if it uses the Ethernet protocols for the other Layers 2 and 3 of the stack, it's Ethernet.

@mahler123 @knock1 I am not confused. I've only been working with Ethernet for 40 years, longer than Wikipedia (founded in 2001) or Tech Target have even existed. I started working with WiFi (wireless Ethernet) in 2000 when I created the wireless strategy for a very large Seattle-based coffee company as a means of connecting kiosks back to the main store, and then as local WAPs to encourage customers to stay longer (and buy more than coffee to go).

Wi-Fi is a type of wireless Ethernet. Ethernet is a wired technology that connects devices in a local area network (LAN). WiFi technology uses radio signals to transfer data and wired Ethernet connections use a physical twisted pair ethernet network cable. Any other differences between these connections arise from this basic difference. What they share is the use of an Ethernet frame, a data link layer protocol data unit, and the use of underlying independent Ethernet physical layer transport mechanisms, one being wired, the other wireless. In other words, a data unit on an Ethernet link transports an Ethernet frame as its payload, regardless of the underlying physical media. Above that are the Layer 3 protocols like the now ubiquitous TCP/IP. You may want to read up on the OSI 7-Layer network model to help you understand these basics. 

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model breaks down data transmission standards, processes, and protocols into seven layers. Layer 1, the Physical Layer, is where the differences between Coax, Twisted Pair, Fiber and Wireless all lie. Ethernet is a Layer 2 protocol, as was IBMs Token Ring. TCP/IP, and once popular but now forgotten NetBEUI and Novell IPX, all are Layer 3 and 4 Protocols.

The beauty of all this is the ability to interchange technologies, Layer 1 media in this case, without having to redesign the entirety of the whole stack. Likewise, the shared bandwidth and scalability shortcomings of the CSMA/CD implementation of Ethernet at Layer 2 were addressed with the introduction of Ethernet Switching. The extensability of networks via routable protocols like the now ubiquitous TCP/IP and UDP enabled creation of the internet as we know it.

And our DACs? That all happens up at the top of the stack at Layer 7 - and above. 

So this isn't about one of us being right or wrong, or having an opinion, or changes in the language. This is about trying to get everyone on the same page when it comes to how digital audio actually works. There is no discussing if Ethernet works, it's settled science. There is no opinion as to whether TCP/IP assures bit perfect delivery - it is inherent in the protocol, initially designed so a network could survive a nuclear war. These things simply have to be or nothing would - or could - connect.

As our hobby becomes increasingly underlaid with digital infrastructure, it behooves everyone to take a few minutes to understand these basics so we can all focus on the music.

@jastralfu This stuff doesn’t come particularly easy. I spent a long time getting comfortable with how all pieces fit. And that was working with it every day, professionally. So check the diagram. Layer 1 is the physical media - copper, fiber, radio. The Layer 1 protocols have to talk to the Layer 2 Data Link ’defines the format of the data on the network’ Layer. In other words the Ethernet frame. The WiFi Layer 1 protocols have map the data from their data format into the Ethernet frame at Layer 2 so the data can keep moving. That the interface happens at Layer 2 does not mean WiFi itself is at Layer 2.

And OP, just find a BluSound Node. Best money ever spent. It's a no-regrets buy.