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Best Airplay sound bar option for my Home system?

ECJ

ECJ

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 5, 2006
565
197
Memphis, TN
Ok, I decided to go all in on the Airplay multi-room system for the house. I'm using the Philips DS8800W for each of the 4 rooms. I also have a 5.1 system in the upstairs media room, that is ran by a Sony DN-1040 Airplay Receiver. Then each of the 3 TVs have a 3rd Gen AppleTV. All this connected via two Airport AC Extremes (one upstairs and downstairs), with a ethernet connected 2009 iMac as the media server.

airplay.PNG



I said all that to say that I want to add a airplay enabled sound bar to the living tv. I've looked all over for one that supports Airplay natively and I found two. Both are over $1,500 each. So I can ignore those. Is there one that I'm not finding or can I just plug in a good soundbar via optical to my living room AppleTV, then via HDMi to the tv and get the same effect? This is the last piece of the puzzle to complete my multi-room airplay system.
 
I know it's not exactly what you are looking for.

But have you considered the YAS-101 from Yamaha?

Amazon has it for $199 (also referb for $159)

It has two optical inputs.
Thus you could hook to the ATV via an optical cable and use airplay.

I realize it isn't the native you are looking for, but it is an option.
 
Thanks. I will check that one out. I may look at the Sonos soundbar and just connect it to the AppleTV. It's just strange that no one has a airplay soundbat below $1,500.
 
I too was searching for a soundbar with airplay....like you've said most don't have it. But most have Bluetooth...streaming from an iPhone/iPod to the Bluetooth enabled soundbar is almost as seamless as using Airplay.
 
Roy Hobbs said:
I too was searching for a soundbar with airplay....like you've said most don't have it. But most have Bluetooth...streaming from an iPhone/iPod to the Bluetooth enabled soundbar is almost as seamless as using Airplay.
Click to expand...

I thougth about that, but I'm looking for the ability to play the same music throught the house. Plus I have to keep it down to one app, or my wife won't use it. lol
 
I don't believe your options are so limited. If your desire optical audio output, you can purchase a separate AppleTV or AirPort Express if you don't require optical out. Both will effectively add full airplay support to any receiver or sound bar system you can buy for under $1,500.

Find, say a superior receiver used and a few years old, add AirPort Express or AppleTV, and you're relevant in terms of tech..
 
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exzachtlee said:
Find, say a superior receiver used and a few years old, add AirPort Express or AppleTV, and you're relevant in terms of tech..
Click to expand...

This... Particularly if you don't care about 8.1 channel audio or whatever (an Apple TV will only ever handle 5.1) and there is a myriad of high end 5 and 6 channel amps out there that will do what you want and provide better quality audio.

The kicker is that a lot of them can be had for less than $200, some of them also have multiroom setups the same as Sonos like my Onkyo receiver.

Spend the money on a set of high quality speakers first and foremost as this will make the most amount of difference, of course make sure you've got an amp that will drive them.

Any decent brand receiver made in the last 8 years is all you ever will need to power an Apple TV.
 
Roy Hobbs said:
I too was searching for a soundbar with airplay....like you've said most don't have it. But most have Bluetooth...streaming from an iPhone/iPod to the Bluetooth enabled soundbar is almost as seamless as using Airplay.
Click to expand...

Here's the rub with Bluetooth. Audio quality is marginally/arguably better with AirPlay. AirPlay from your Mac also enables you to stream to multiple devices at the same time. I have a part at my house I'm streaming the same music to my basement and living room simultaneously.

Most soundbars don't have AirPlay but Apple TV should negate that need. AirPlay from your device/computer to Apple TV. Look for HDMI inputs and the availability to decode the modern audio codecs. You can get by with optical inputs if you TV has an optical out. Route that to your soundbar if it doesn't have an HDMI input.
 
joey15024 said:
yamaha just released 2 new sound bars both with airplay ysp-5600 and the ysp-1600 more reasonably priced im looking at
this as an option http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/digital-sound-projector/ysp-1600/
Click to expand...
I have the YSP-1600 and it works well as an airplay speaker. Can also be used as a bluetooth speaker. It has two small built-in subwoofers to add bass and also has an output for a dedicated subwoofer. The big advantage is that it accepts HDMI inputs which is required for the Apple TV 4 since it ditched optical audio. The Sonos does is not capable of accepting HDMI inputs and is optical only.
 
Hello everyone.
I watch Tv and movies with an Apple Tv connected to a projector, so I was looking for a soundbar featuring AirPlay in order to put it on the opposite side of the room, just in front of the screen. I decided to buy a Libratone Diva, a fancy and powerful soundbar completely covered in real wool! The Brand is danish and they discontinued this product, but you can still find some of them for a reasonable price (the release price was way too high for my pocket). I wrote directly to Libratone and they sell it on request for 400 euros.
Here you have a video presentation with some specs.
 
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You can get a device called Air Enabler (search Amazon) and add AirPlay to any speaker. If I were you I would get a digital AV receiver with AirPlay support, there are lots of those, and a decent pair of speakers to match it with the TV
 
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