Cutting The Cables: A Wireless Home Theater System

Cables are typically the big bugbear of home theater setups. Cable spaghetti is pretty much a given... unless you can find a clever way to hide, minimize, or disguise it. It's like that unsightly dent on your new car or the stain on your expensive designer shirt.

Even when coiled, twist-tied, and neatly stuffed behind your HT setup - cables are still an eyesore every purist detests.

Here are some ideas to make it all go away...

Remember Infrared Technology?

At the time, this was the coolest thing since sliced bread.

This was the first clumsy step toward cutting the AV cables. It marked the beginning of a true wireless home theater system.

Unfortunately, it worked best when the wireless speakers were positioned at exactly the right angle to the IR beam; when there was no furniture (and usually people) in the room. Not very practical... but it at least it was a start... and it was sooo cool!

WiFi

Then along came WiFi. Initially it was designed for use with PCs. It didn't take electronics manufacturers long to figure out it was useful for all kinds of things - like linking your home theater system to your home computer network; or sending audio through the air to remote wireless speakers.

The Factory WiFi Connection

These days, more and more AV components such as receivers and Blu-ray Disc players leave the factory with built-in WiFi. There are also after-sales WiFi and radio frequency (RF) or Bluetooth™ adapters - sometimes called "dongles" or "add-ons" - that you can plug into components that don't have this feature. These are generally used for wireless networking, but they are also available for transmitting pure audio signals.

Now, high-end and even mid-range TVs come with built-in WiFi as standard. This means that you can connect them to your home network just like you would a PC. Then, virtually right out of the box, you can log on to various Web-based services (e.g., Netflix) and start streaming movies to your TV.

Or, you can use your TV to view photos stored on your computer. This has been possible for some time with Ethernet cables; but we're looking to eliminate every wire we can, right?

Even our boring old remote control has received an extra bit of wireless pizazz. An RF remote uses radio frequencies that can travel through walls. This eliminates the line of sight required by IR (which made it so poor for wireless speakers).

Now it's possible to stash most, if not all, of your equipment in a closet or another room. However, since we just LOVE to show off our components, this may not be such a bonus.

A Cautionary Sticker

A wireless setup may sound like the way of the future. But it also comes with a word of warning.

Getting your devices to play nicely in a wireless environment can be incredibly frustrating. And, in spite of continual technological advances and new IEE standards, wireless connections are still subject to interference issues. Hard-cabled devices get free pass on these problems.

Just be sure to weigh the advantages of wireless versus wired component and network connections. The extra cost and the possibility of extra time and hassle are things you want to take into account when considering this route.

And while you search for the Holy Grail for a wireless home theater system and wireless surround sound, remember this: One tether will remain for a long, long time to come: the power cord.