Adding wireless speakers to my current, vintage analog system.

Thank you all for taking your time and being patient wth me!

mahler123:
I guess my questions are confusing as I’m not yet familiar with terms and technology, or maybe I expect more than what’s currently possible.

To clarify: I was wondering about both, wirelessly to and from the receiver.

Receiving:
One of the questions I have now is if it’s worth skipping the laptop and stream "directly" to the receiver, and if an added Bluetooth receiver/DAC is the only/best way to do that in terms of sound quality.
I understand that it’s streaming to begin with and probably one way or another always inferior to wire-connecting a CD player or a turntable. So I guess this part of the equation is more about convenience.
I just wonder, if I were to get a Bluetooth receiver, what brand/model folks here recommend (best DAC, ease of setup and use, stability of signal, least amount of footprint...).

Sending (to speakers):
I understand that I cannot send sound directly from my receiver to my current speakers. I’d have to get wireless speakers, which seem to have wireless receivers built in (making them capable of receiving a wireless, digital signal). In addition I probably need some sort of transmitter connected to my receiver if I want to send a wireless/digital signal from my receiver to the speakers (when playing my turntable for example), correct?
Do I need to match the transmitter brand to the wireless speaker brand (proprietary technology) or do I have a choice, can I mix and match?
Either way, what wireless speaker and transmitter brands/models do folks here recommend (sound quality, uninterrupted signal, ease of setup and use...)?

Also:
I also heard that small devices can be added to existing analog speakers to make them capable of receiving wireless. Does anybody here have experience with that? Is it complicated? How’s the sound quality? What do folks here recommend?

New receiver?
I start wondering if it would be worth looking for a newer receiver with the desired technology built in.
Are there receivers out there that can match the sound and looks of my current setup?
Would I need to match receiver and speaker brand (proprietary tech)?
If I invest in something like that, do some of these come with separate/multi-channel options – so that I can control the volume of one pair of speakers independent from another pair of speakers?

Thank you all for sharing your advice and experience!
I’ll be happy to share mine once I get to a satisfying solution.

After a bit more research I come to understand that there is Bluetooth and then there is WiFi. And WiFi seems to be the better choice when it comes to hi-res/losless sound quality. Ideally I get something with capabilities for both, WiFi and Bluetooth. 

If so, it comes down to a Receiver and Transmitter with WiFi and Bluetooth capability, a good DAC and flexible option for good speakers  – if that exists – which most likely limits the selection and makes it more expansive.
I can dream, right? Sigh!

I think that you have some fundamental lack of understanding here, although you seem to be progressing.  I recommend reading the latest version about Hi Fi by Robert Harley.  He updates his book every few years and I don’t doubt that he has a chapter that covers the basics of streaming.  His magazine, The Absolute Sound, had a good series on basics a few years ago that should be easy to Google.

  So let’s try to be basic.  Streaming involves playing computer files through your Hi Fi system.  Those files are either stored on a commercial server (Amazon, Apple, Spotify, etc) or else on some kind of storage in your own collection, such as a hard drive or a usb stick.

   The files can sent via Ethernet, which is a wired connection to your Internet Modem/Router (I assume you know what a router is, since you use a laptop and are accessing this site).  Or the files can be sent without a wired connection.

  WiFi is the standard for wireless.  Hopefully you know what WIFi is. If you use your laptop to access the without being tethered to an Ethernet cable, or a cellphone, you are using WiFi.  Your HiFi system  does need a receiver for the WiFi signal.

  Bluetooth is another way to send wireless files.  Related technologies are Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast.  In general you need a sender and a receiver for these as well.  Bluetooth and AirPlay in general compress the original WiFi signal and are of lower Fidelity than straight WiFi.  WiFi and Ethernet in general are equivalent and uncompressed and the best sound.  I am speaking in generalities here and you might get others disagreeing with some points.

So then how to stream?

You have a laptop. In theory that is all you need.. The laptop can take the files from a storage device. Laptops also have DACs. A Digital to Audio Converter converts those 1s and Os in the digital stream to analog sound. All you need to do is run RCA cables from the laptop into your ancient receiver. You are done.

Laptops have DACs, but they aren’t that great. So you can greatly improve things by using a separate DAC. The simplest way to go here is a DAC that looks like a USB stick and attaches to a USB slot in the laptop. The other end of the DAC has an attachment for a RCA cable that will attach to your receiver.

You then need a subscription to a streaming service, such as Spotify, from which you can get files to play. Or you can play your own CDs or lps, but you have to store them on a device as digital files.

Streamers are dedicated audio components that are basically computers optimized for computer audio.

Bluetooth is a convenient way to wirelessly send audio. Most wireless headphones or ear buds use Bluetooth as do many other devices. You need a sender, such as a cellphone, and a receiver, and a DAC. Some laptops can receive a Bluetooth signal. Bluetooth uses only a portion of the WiFi band so historically it has sounded inferior (but good enough for most non audiophiles). There is a new codec out for Bluetooth, which I haven’t heard, that purports to be lossless, but many devices, such as cellphones, are not equipped with that codec.

Ultimately I would recommend that you get a streamer and a new audio amplifier. You can buy all in one, AVRs that come with DACs and streamers included, but I wouldn’t recommend starting this way

I neglected powered speakers.  These basically have a pliers inside them, and then they typically are configured to accept Bluetooth, WiFi, and Ethernet, and usually you can plug in components such as CD players or turntables.

  So if I was you, You want to start with a defined budget.  It’s easy to fritter resources away when you don’t understand the concepts, or even when you do.

  Start with the laptop and USB DAC attached to your receiver.  Try a streaming service such as Spotify or Qobuz or Apple.  If you want to listen to your CDs as computer files we can help you with that.

  That might be all you need.  If you decide to go further, fine, but familiarize yourself with streaming in this low cost fashion