Adding wireless speakers to my current, vintage analog system.


I’d like to add wireless speakers to my current setup (listed below). 

Ideally I would be able to control volume and basic EQ for the wireless speakers independent from the wired speakers, while also having a main receiver where I have control over the overall EQ/volume for all speakers - if that makes sense.

 

I like the sound and look of my vintage receivers, and would like to stay with true stereo (not single or paired mono speakers).   And I don’t want to add too much bulky gear, if possible.

 

I mainly stream Spotify (from an old MacBook to the R-2000) and play vinyl records and CDs (and occasionally cassette tape or MiniDisc). 

So far vIdeo and TV (home theater setup) have not been on my improvement radar - I’m fine with a good sound bar for the TV for now.

 

 

I live in an approx 1200 sqft open warehouse space with high ceiling, wooden floor and large windows. I don’t have a particular listening spot - I like to have good sound when I dine, but also when I cook in the kitchen corner or work in the upper mezzanine loft. 

 

Currently the KEFs and the Klipsch woofer (living room area) are driven by the R-2000, and all the Minimus-7s (upper loft and kitchen/dining area) are driven by the Nikko. 

 

For the time being I’d just replace the Minimus’ with some decent, small wireless speakers.  Probably not so easy as the Mins are surprisingly good for their size.

 

If, whatever I will add to my rig for enabling it to send sound to wireless speakers, can also function as a high-quality DAC and/or direct music streamer, that’d be an added bonus, but is not my main concern right now. 

 

 

Current setup:

  • Yamaha R-2000 - serves as main receiver and powers a pair of KEF Q500 and a Klipsch 120SW (mains). The R-2000 is then connected to:
  • Nikko NR-1219 which powers 3 pairs of Minimus-7 (secondary) in the mezzanine lofts and the kitchen/dining room
raphaz

My understanding is that wireless speakers come complete with their own amplification.  Even if you were to add a source,  that can Bluetooth or otherwise wireless feed speakers and was simultaneously connected to your receiver (such as a turntable that can Bluetooth or a streamer), it is bypassing the amplification in the AVR and relying on the amplification of the wired speakers, afaik 

mahler123

Are you saying that, when I use wireless speakers, the sound quality is mainly defined (and/or even bottlenecked) by the speaker’s built-in amplifier?
If so, is there no way around that?

Do audiophiles avoid wireless speakers altogether, or are there speakers with excellent amps built in: If the latter, how do I control volume and EQ – on the speakers themselves?

Or, is the only way to use some of the proprietary speaker/amplification pairing (Sonos, MusiCast...)? If that, wouldn’t the receiver/amp have an influence on the sound quality?