The sleeper aspect to this product is that it can actually be used for more than just surround sound… so tune-in.
The folks at Rocketfish, a customer of ours, have put together a nice solution for anyone with a home theater system. Traditional home theater amps have a couple connectivity challenges that are solved elegantly and reliably, and it’s rather affordable too at a reasonable $99.
Problems to be solved:
The first, connecting surround-channel speakers up to the amp. Stringing speaker wires from the front of your TV-room to the back of the TV-room — it typically yields a trip-hazard, and is often unsightly. Not wife-approved. So many consumers have to get crafty, sloppy, or give in altogether and forgo their surround experience.
The second, not utilizing your Zone-B speaker outputs (common on many mid-to-high end AV receivers) to enable some cool party mode music scenarios, or patio audio. Who the heck knows what to do with their B outputs? Few houses are pre-wired for speakers anymore, and hardly anyone is really willing to dive into the nuts and bolts of solving the routing issues for speaker wire to secondary rooms.
The Solution:
The RF-WHTIB is comprised of two main components: (1) a little black box called an audio sender, (2) a slightly larger black box that is simply a wireless stereo amplifier… and not a bad one at that… it can easily can light up a large room with it’s full dynamic range, and killer wireless audio link.
What the solution essentially does is let you “cut” your speaker wire, and move the two ends up to 100 feet from one another. The rest of the challenge is taken care of by the latest high fidelity wireless audio system that must be heard to be believed. It is arguably the most bullet-proof wireless audio system ever created. This is not hyperbole. No cordless phone, microwave oven, or WiFi enabled laptop is gonna phase this thing.
Simple to install and use:
1. First, you take your the speaker wire that feeds the signal from the speaker outputs on the back of your receiver (this output can be for surround speakers if you are going for the home theater, or the “B” output if you are looking to light up the next zone in your house), and you plug it in here:
(That’s the sender)
2. Walk up to 100 feet away, through a few walls, or a floor even…
3. Then you take your favorite pair of high quality passive speakers (the old fashioned kind, i.e. the ones that sound good), and you plug those in here:
(That’s the wireless amp)
4. Plug both devices into a wall outlet.
5. Done.
The devices supposedly come pre-paired from the factory, so the connect buttons are only there for field service reasons, to be honest.
You will forget this is a wireless system within minutes. Just enjoy what ever sound effects or music you throw at your new wireless speakers! Once they are setup, they behave like any other wired speaker you could have plugged into that speaker output you chose in step 1 above.
Verdict:
Well, that’s not fair. I can’t give an objective opinion. I know the details a little too well (disclosure — the company I work for supplies the wireless mojo), and really believe this is a darn savvy piece of marketing by the Rocketfish guys. They nailed a solution for a frustrating pain point that anyone with a home theater system knows all too well. I wrote this rambling and unprofessional review just to say, that if you are one of these folks, there is help for you now
I personally know more than ten people who can use this product, like yesterday. Well, Best Buy says they can ship them in 1 day, so you can have yours day after tomorrow… go get one.
How much power is the amp in the receive unit?
Specs in user manual state 2 x 25W into 4 ohms, RMS.
Keep in mind, for surround channel audio, that is plenty.
Here’s the frustrating part for me: I want to mount my rear speakers on opposite sides of the room (pretty obvioius, huh?). Now I’ve got this big black box that has to feed both of those speakers.
Where do I put the black box? Do I mount it on a wall and then still have to run speaker wire to each speaker?
I guess it’s not a bad solution if you have a bunch of furniture on the back wall or the speakers are fairly close…don’t know. But this falls short to me.
What I would like is the BIG black box to go with my receiver then two little black boxes that attach to each speaker. But…then again, I have to run the power cords, so now, I’ve got to hide that cord.
Only kind of a solution.
Shannon,
These are valid points, truly. However, as you so effectively argue with your self, there are tradeoffs in any solution to this problem.
Rocketfish performed numerous market studies, and found a sweet spot in offering a solution to a common frustration.
For the independent black box scenario (one for each rear speaker) costs go up, because now you have to double up on power supplies, wireless receiver ICs, and use mono amplifiers (of which there are few, so you are really ending up burdening your system with more cost)… so as you can see, does your ultimate solution warrant spending what would be around $160? And then you are still left with the power plug issue.
Bottom line, trade-offs do exist. But the primary pain point for the majority of users remains the wire that goes front-to-back of room.
Thanks for the post.
Is the wireless signal digital? if so, can it take a digital signal input (TOSLINK, Digital Coax, or HDMI)?
Does the wireless signal travel through the power lines? If so, does X-10 affect it, or vise versa?
Looks great!
Thanks.
What is the frequency response range?
Ken, The wireless signal is digital. It transmits uncompressed stereo, 16-Bits, 48 KHz audio over the air. That being said, the inputs and outputs of this product are tailored specifically for the powered-speaker stage of the audio signal path, therefore the inputs and outputs are speaker-level analog.
Your application sounds like it will require one of the future products we are enabling.
But for the home theater, surround speaker application, this product will do you a major solid.
Stay tuned.
Chris,
Frequency response is the full 20-20,000 Hz. As mentioned in the post, this makes it useful for full range audio as well as typical surround effects.
Incidentally, it works awesome with some great DTS 5.1 content I personally enjoy.
Check out some of these titles.
http://www.dtsonline.com/shopping/catalogue/music.php
What is the wireless frequency? Is it running at 5.8Ghz? Is there ‘no’ hissing? 2.4Ghz solutions tend to have intereference with phones and Wifi (actually can slow down Wifi network).
What is the amplifier? Is it a compact T-amp?
TIA
The wireless transmits at 2.4 GHz. There is “no” hissing.
Rocketfish was VERY in tune with the wireless coexistance issues with WLAN and FHSS phones. Nuisances like interference noise and such tend to result in product returns… and high product returns generally result in changes-of-career-path for marketing folks. So they selected the wireless technology keeping this in mind. The company I work for is responsible for the wireless portion and I am not at liberty (just yet) to say much more, other than our system knows where yours and neighboring WLAN systems are, and avoids them in real-time. Marketing b.s. aside, the wireless system is best-of-breed, and Rocketfish is not the only mass consumer device company designing us in at the moment.
The amp is similar to a T-amp (in that it is a switching variety), but was chosen because it sounds better, and produces less of that annoying “hiss” so common with switching amps. In fact, the amplifier stage is very similar to what is commonly used in mass retail HTIB systems, which is to say, it will work for most folks. Full disclosure: audiophiles should not expect miracles for $99.
[…] marketing. trackback The Rocketfish Universal Wireless Rear Speaker Kit (RF-WHTIB) that I reviewed last week made it into the Minneapolis-based retailer’s weekly ad […]
Looks like it could be a great product. Just a couple questions…
Does adjusting the master volume on my main amplifier adjust the volume of the rear speakers as well??
Also, it would be nice(?) to have (variable?) line level outputs on the remote receiver so I could use my own amp if I wanted to.
What do you think?
How does the wireless system adjust for volume? I would hate to adjust the volume manually on the back of the Rocketfish receiving device.
Wayne
Emjay and wayne,
Have no fear. I know exactly the issue you are concerned about and it is taken care of seamlessly.
When you turn the volume up and down using your main system, the level of the rears will also change just as your wired speakers would.
Volume adjust on the back of the Rocketfish receiver is for one-time setting only to tune the level for your installation — slight variances in speaker sensitivities and placements — so it’s essentially a “trim” feature. This is actually a cool feature, because a lot of entry and mid level HTIB systems don’t have level tuning features for surround speakers.
Emjay,
Line-level outputs or pre-amp output on the Rocketfish receiver would be interesting for the reason you mention. Stay tuned, as there will be other solutions that may address your needs in the near future.
Dang impulse buy. I bought one of these today and no joy. You state ‘plug both devices into a wall outlet’ - it only comes with one transformer/plug and that’s for the sender unit. The reciever doesn’t seem to have anywhere to plug power into and nothing in the box to perform that task. Sender turns on and starts blinking looking for its receiver brother but power button on the receiver does… nothing. No clue where the darn thing is supposed to get its power.
Goes back tomorrow. Question is, do I exchange it for another because something is seriously amiss, or just return it?
Power cord is neatly hidden in a compartment under the unit. Slide open the door and there’s your AC power cord. The reciever is sleek enough to perhaps not notice where the power cord is stashed. See if that jumps starts a little joy.
Holy crap, how stupid of me. I only skimmed through the instructions - don’t need no stink’n instructions, ya know - but missed the open the ‘cable’ compartment under the receiver unit step. I’d even called the 24×7 support and all they could suggest was to return it. Should have told me to RTFM.
One errand off my list and hopefully more joy tonight. Thanks!
Craig, pls post your feedback.
Im about to pull the trigger, but would like to see your comments.
I also have the problem where my 2 back speakers span the room. I’m hoping I can buy 2 of these, one receiver for each speaker ( i have outlets near the speakers), and link the 2 receivers to the same “sender”. Is this possible?
Or will I need to use both senders, 1 for each speaker?
Dale, Big spender! This generation, you’ll need to use both senders.
Also, it may not be necessary, but it may be good to separate the two senders physically from one another by a foot or two. If you do play with this, let me know how it goes.
I used to have an amp that only went on when a signal passed through it. It went into hibernate when the tv went off. Does this unit go into hibernate when you turn off the receiver and tv or do you have to manually have to turn the power off on these? I like to conserve power and would not like to have to turn the units off separately.
Amazing how much better these work when both units are powered on.
Only ran a few brief tests but this seems to work just fine. Linked right up once turned on and had no issues with the sound or response from the unit. Nice to finally get rid of the wires that have been trailing around the perimiter of the room.
Dale - I really don’t understand your ’span the room’ comment. You just run the existing wires from your rear speakers to the receiver and hook the outputs from your amp to the sender. Why again would you need two of these? I guess that would work, use one set (they cannot be purchased separately) for left only and the other set for right, but I don’t see why you’d need to do that. Just curious.
G - Units are always on and don’t hibernate. So if you wanted to conserve power you’d need to manually turn both off when not in use.
Just bought this yesterday and plan to hook it up tonight. I was considering running wires through the wall behind the TV, up through the attic and back down behind the couch on the opposite wall, but was saving up to buy the right pieces. Figured I’d give this a shot because, worst case scenario, I can still go the in-wall wire route (maybe even install in-wall speakers) in the family room, but use rocketfish to send the rear signal in my office. Can’t really go wrong (unless the product signal doesn’t work well). It’ll be a real test because I’ve got wireless lan, phones on 5.8GHz (which shouldn’t interfere) and who knows what else.
The only disappointment is that I’ve got a 6.1 speaker system and short of buying another rocketfish, I don’t think I’ll be able to hook up the rear center channel speaker. Seemed like the ultimate, cheap solution…but alas….I guess there will always be some limitations.
Now they just have to make a weatherproof version so I can use that Zone B to send the signal outside — otherwise I guess I’m looking at an even more extensive wiring project. I’ll try to post a review after the install…hardest part is going to be either a) accessing the back of my receiver…too many things already plugged in in a cramped space and b) getting this installed without my wife noticing I shelled out $100 for something she just won’t appreciate like I do.
Oh and Craig, I didn’t read the manual either…though I did find the cover on the bottom of the box and was starting to get pissed thinking I was going to have to change D Batteries every months (there was definitely no mention of that on the box) — can’t tell you how relieved I was to find the power cord wrapped up in there (which coincidentally allows you to decide the wire length to extrude from the box) — pretty smart design in that respect.
I guess in my case, RTFM too…..but of course, I won’t.
Craig:
My rear speakers are on either side of the room, i can cant run the speaker cable to a central receiver unless i rip up the carpet, or go through the roof.
This is no back wall on this room, its a great-room arizona style
dale
If you wanted to use this system to pipe music into multiple rooms, could you purchase two systems (2 x $99), and only hook up one sender, but two receivers? Are the sender/receiver units so matched that you could not mix units from two different kits? The question is a bit different than your response to Dale, who was trying to get different signals (L/R) to two different speakers. Sounds like in your response to Dale, that you would have to purchase 2 units.
When you mention “near future” in your posts, for example your response to Dale, are you suggesting next month? This summer? Next year?
Sounds like a great product, with awesome potential to embelish.
Houston, we have a problem…
I hooked up the unit and it works as stated with the amp on (Sony 5.1 S Sys.) but when I turn off the system, Hummmmmmmm. And quite good I might say, but a most not wanted option.
I disconnected the speaker wires from the unit and hummmmmm went away. Also if I force the transmitter off no Hum…
Do I need to shield the inputs to the sender or is Sony the problem?
It is a Tuner system..
Ed - the manual states the units are “pre-paired at the factory” so I doubt you’d be able to use two receivers with a single sender.
Wilfred - sure sounds like interference from something nearby. Don’t know if you can move things around or would want to pop for shielded wires for the sender without knowing if that’s really going to help. You might also want to check you’ve got the + and - wires the right way, I think getting those backwards might cause an issue like that… perhaps… maybe.
There is an 800 number you can call 24×7. Actually, there’s two in the manual, one of which is for a different company - and of course, that’s the one I called first. You both might be able to get your questions answered by them, who knows?
1.800.620.2790
Good luck.
Ty Craig, Will do
Let ya know..
When wires are removed off Amp, no hum.. I moved unit around (the 2 feet limit) and no change
Just purchsed this unit today, hooked everything up as instructed by the manual, and no audio. The sending and receiving units link up without any problem, but no audio from the rear speakers. I took the speakers and connected them directly to my amp and they work fine. Also, the power on the receiver has gone out on its own several times. Any suggestions before I return this product?
I’m looking at this to pair with a Sony 800W system that the specs say push 133W to each rear channel (3×133 for front + subwoofer, 2×133 rear). Will this be able to handle that? Obviously that’s peak power and doesn’t need to be cranked up, but will the rear speakers be overpowered by the front with only 25 watts from the Rocketfish?
Wilfred Little, - please email me at digitaldel at yahoo.com regarding your Hummmm issue. I am the official RocketFish support and want to investigate this further.
Brad, are the LEDs solid or blinking on your sender/receiver?
Thanks,
I have the same issue as Wilfred. This only happens when the amplifier is off with the unit connected. I have to switch off the sender to stop the hummm.
The sender and receiver work as specified once the amplifier is on. No hummmm.
thanks for finding a solution.
Andre, also send me an email at the above address.
Thanks!
I have the same issue as Wilfred. This only happens when the amplifier is off with the unit connected. I have to switch off the sender to stop the hummm.
The sender and receiver work as specified once the amplifier is on. No hummmm.
thanks for finding a solution.
Hello , my Rocketfish setup also works fine, however when source is turned off i get a really loud amplified Hum on rear speakers. Removing speaker wires from sender stops it or powering off sender or receiver stops it. I thought plugging the sender into my source receiver’s switched AC would work, but the sender unit has soft on and off, so when power is removed it switches off and will not switch back on when ac power returns without human intervention. This is a show stopper for now.
Anyone have a solution to the amplified HUM ?
I emailed the support guy above with this info, will try 800 number shortly.
Thanks,
Nick
Unfortunately, this product didn’t work for me… at all. I returned the unit and the second one had the same issue… no sound at all. The receiver and sender connect, all wires are connected correctly, etc. and I couldn’t get any sound whatsoever to the rear speakers. Called tech support and got nowhere. I was really hoping that it would work, however, I’m guessing there must be just too much interference or something that I can’t figure out. Also I tested the speaker outs and when directly connected they worked find so it’s not my AV receiver…
Onkyo TX-SR803
Sony STRDE845
Energy Take 5 speakers
The concept is great… if I can get it to work.
I have been looking for a wireless set up for a while and decided to give this one a shot. I purchased the unit tonight and hooked it up to my Sony STRDE945 and a set of JBL outdoor speakers that I just picked up. I got the same results as Brad (#30) and M Orlet (#37), no sound at all. The units connect just fine, lights are on solid but no sound at all. I hooked the JBLs directly up to the receiver and they work fine. The Sony receiver kept going in to “protect” mode and shutting down with the sender connected. I then tried it on my Yamaha upstairs with a set of Bose 301s, same deal, no sound. So I just put it back in the box it’s going back to Best Buy in the morning. I don’t know what else to do. I really wish it would have worked but I guess I’m back to running wires again.
M Olmert, M Burns,
Did you turn the volume knob at the back of the RocketFish receiver all the way up to the maximum settings? It took me some time to figure that out when I was setting up my unit, so I thought I should point that out. The polarity of the audio input at the RocketFish sender may also matter.
My set has been working fine for few days now.
Gents, before returning the units, we are going to see if we can replicate your issue. M Burns, can you also tell us the model of your Yahama receiver which you had the issue with? Brad, what receiver do you have? The sooner we can lay our hands on one of the offending receivers the faster we will have this issue solved.
Thanks
ok i’m having the same problem no sound. the rear speakers worked fine when hooked up the reciever… i’m also very frustrated…
I purchased this item today.
A for idea, but sadly, it misses the mark on function.
What do you do when a movie is over? You turn off the TV…turn off the DVD player, and turn off the AV receiver. At that point, the Rocketfish starts humming like mad…out of the speakers connected to it. So you have to crawl around behind the TV, and find the wall wart for the Rocketfish and yank it out. Does that sound do-able?? No, not at all.
Harmon Kardon AVR 635 AV amp
Dave, please read note 32 and send me a note and we will take care of that issue.
Thanks
To all those with NO SOUND.
Mine had this problem also, but as AK said in message 39…the unit came out of the box with the volume all the way down. You need to turn it up somewhat. It is used to set the levels for similar volume to match the front speakers.
I am working with Digitaldel on the hum issue, and am hoping for a solution.
I thought I wasn’t having the hum issue when I realized… I don’t ever turn my Yamaha DTX-CS800 ‘in a box’ system off. It’s interconnected via a Psyclone switch along with my consoles, tv, etc so just been leaving it on. Turned it off today and - here comes the hum.
My answer is to just turn the Yamaha back on and leave it in Aux/Digital mode by default, but I understand why most won’t want to do that. Hopefully, someone can come up with a solution.
did the hum issue ever get resolved?
Does the box that connects to the speakers have to run through an electrical outlet or can you use batteries to power it on?? I do not have an outlet up high behind the couch were I would be locating the receiver and speakers??
Does the rear receiver/box that plugs into the speakers need an electrical outlet to plug into or can you use batteries to power on the unit? I have no outlet up high were the speakers and that box would be located.
Brad, You need AC power. No battery power on this one.
I am considering purchasing two of the Rocketfish units. One to handle my surround speakers and a second one to power my “B” speakers located in a different room. Are there any interference issues when two transmitters are hooked up to the same reciever? Thanks.
This device is a great idea by the way. I agree with one of the comments above suggesting a line level output on the Rocketfish receiving unit. I would like the ability to add my own amplifier so I can exceed the 2×25 power offered by the Rocketfish.
Hi. Just bought one this week.
The on-off button(s) should have been mounted on the front of the unit, especially because once you turn your amp off the rear speakers hum like crazy. Not good AT ALL.
It’s just not convienient to have power buttons on the back of……… well, anything…
I think that Rocketfish should have tested its product with their amps off, it seems that a lot of people here are getting the same rotten loud hum [when their amps are off].
Any suggestions to kill the hum besides just turning the sender off? I hate returning stuff… but may. I don’t know.
P.S. A remote control would have been sweet.
Marblerye1, Email Digitaldel (see comments above). He will take care of the “hum”.
[…] innovative solutions, and your willingness to subject yourself to early kinks. Your input on this blog and on others has been extremely valuable to the innovative teams involved in bringing this product […]
Thanks for the reply. I just emailed him. I don’t see what can be done, unless the product itself is sent back to the manufacturer and tweaked.
We will see…
I think the approach of having a brand-independent solution is awesome. Curious though as to how the wireless performance compares to brand-specific solutions like Panasonic’s SA-740 HTIB. I’m thinking about getting a Panasonic SA-XR57 with their wireless adapater I’ve seen on closeout and hooking them up to my Infinity 5.1 speakers.
Biggest concern is wireless interference from 2.4G phones and wireless network.
Here is a new one for the post list. I am having the hum issue whether the receiver is on or off. It is a consistent hum that overrides the sound coming from the rear speakers when the system is on. I have emailed digitaldel about the issue and hopefully there is a cure for this issue as well. The receiver is a Technics SA-EX600.
I don’t see any specs on this unit, but from what I have heard, it is 25 watts max. The surrounds I am looking at, like most speakers, require a minimum 25 watts to operate. I have seen that some people get no sound when they hook it up. Could it be that there is not enough power available to drive the speaker? Why such a low powered amp, it would seem that 50 watts should be the minimum. I was looking at the similar Kennwood solution, which had 50w per channel, but feedback was mixed, with several saying they had interference. I would love to have minimum 50 watt unit with no interference, but none available at this time that I can find. Do you have plans to make a more powerful unit? And how are you eliminating interference on the 2.4 ghz frequency when so many others have failed (my phone line is 2.4, not to mention other appliances, etc.). What gauge wire do you use from the back receiver to the speakers? Would a heavier gauge work better, and can the wire you use be swapped out for better wire? I am not looking for audiophile miracles, but do want a wireless solution that has enough power to do the rear speakers justice, and has clear, clean sound. Also, what receivers are you having problems with. I have the Yamaha 661 a/v receiver, and am looking at the Aperion 422’s for surround sound.
I have the same problem as #28. The system works great (i though there would be no wires ( :*( but no biggie) when its on. As soon as you trun the system off the rear speakers start making a “hummmmmmmmmmmmmm” noice, that sounds like interference of some kind.
I’ll check the pos/neg connects again tonight, but I’m pretty sure they are correct. I do have a linksys wireless-G card and router as well as a 2.4GHz phone in two rooms (Two handsets). All this is running on 2.4GHz. I hope I dont have to start movign everything around.
Craig, yup I RTFM too, but there was no mention of the cord. I also got the pictures confused at first and mistook the sender for the reciever. RoFL! but I wasn’t RoFL until I correctly set the system up. Then my Wife was actually the one who RoFLx2!
Anyway, other than the feedback from the speakers when the stereo system is off, I got no complaints! Solid Product. Though I wish they could build something that requries no wires to the speakers, maybe mini transmitters to hook into the speaker jacks that send the signal back to the reciever - eh? That would kill the need to even have another box plugged into the wall for the speakers going wireless.
(I want a 10% commission if I see that product out anytiome soon - RoFL!)
-Sean
err - that was #27, the reply was #28
Sean - please send email to me, see #32
Sent her off Del. hit me back. Muchas Gracias!
I bought this product based on your review, so good job…it works well. I was having an issue where I moved into a house from an apartment and for the rear wires, where I had always just hardwired under the edge of carpeting, I just installed hardwood floors so that was no longer an option. The Rocketfish product solved that issue. The only adjustment I made was to dial down the delay to the rear speakers by 20ms as suggested in the product manual.
I do have one problem though; whenever I kill the power to the audio receiver (a mid-range Yamaha) I get a loud hum in the rear speakers. I thought I could fix this by using the switched power outlet on the receiver, but then I have to manually turn on the wireless sender unit (no auto-on feature that I can tell.)
Is there any way to stop this from happening? At worst its an annoying inconvenience, but I’d ideally like to leave the Rocketfish system on all the time and just have it kick in when the receiver is activated.
Heh, note to self…read comments THEN leave a comment. I can see that the hum issue is just a product flaw rather than an isolated incident. Hopefully a solution can be found, I’d hate to have to return it. For now I’ll just have to move where I mounted the receiver unit (about 6 inches off the ground behind a couch) to a place with more convenient access to the power button (so I’ll mount it backwards since some genius decided that would be an ideal place for a power button). I’ll just click the receiver off before I peel my fat ass off the couch.
The power button will not respond on the reciever when the system is powered down. You can hit it all day long and it will nto power off that way. Trust me
So, that won’t solve the humming sound. The only way I have found to kill it, is by pulling the actual power cord from the outlet.
Hopefully Del has some insight on this.
^^
I’m having the same humming problem as well, and emailed DigitalDel yesterday. I’m able to power on/off the receiver (I leave the sender always on).
Right now my receiver is sitting on the ground to the side of my couch, so when I’m using my rear surrounds, I just lean over and turn on/off the receiver. It is inconvenient to have to do this every time I want to use the rears however, so I’m hoping there will be a fix to the problem.
Humming Issue -
Have humming problem when I turn off my amp/receiver, sent an email to Digitaldel and waiting to see what could be the solution.
Its really inconvenient to pull out the power cord to the Rocketfish receiver everytime to get rid of the humming issue.
I am surprised that Rocketfish did not see this problem before launching the product into the market!
HUMMMMM issue………
I received the solution in the mail today.
In a UPS envelope was a replacement set of speaker wires.
They have a component soldered in series, and shrink wrapped over. As there were no instructions included, I do not know if I am to use these on the sender or the receiver.
Does anyone have any ideas on this???
….Dave
Follow up to #67 (Posting to Dave):
I think those wires should be used to connect the rear speakers with the receiver unit. Question: how long are these wires? As the original 2 feet speaker wires provided in the original Rocketfish package was not useful at all.
Also, I used Monster speaker cable to connect all the speakers to the AMP/receiver. How is this new speaker wires gonna be used?
I hope DigitalDel will be able to clarify things here.
SAY NO TO HUMMMMMM……….
Nope…..I assume those wires are to connect the sender to the amp. They are the same length as the originals. They knock the signal/hum down a bit. The hum is still there, and prevalent….just not as loud.
…Dave
I want to use this to drive some speakers in my patio. Any comments or suggestions?
Dave, you are correct, they are to connect the sender to the amp/receiver. In most of our installs they have pretty much knocked the hum away, what receiver do you have?
Dave,also let me know the serial number on the unit?
I’m having the same issue as Mr. Burns on post 38 only I have mine connected to a Sony STR-K7000. Any solutions yet?
You are getting the Protect message on the display? We have ordered one of these type of Sony units from ebay since they are out of production and we are waiting to receive it.
Thanks
Yes, it shows up on the display, but only when I try to equalize the room. Otherwise it doesn’t even attempt to use the rear speakers. The protect message on this particular unit indicates that the receiver is detecting electricity back from the “Speakers.”
FYI I just got my receiver from Best Buy a little over a week ago.
Digitaldel….
Answer to # 71 and 72…
My receiver is a Harmon Kardon AVR-635
Serial number of the Rocketfish unit is 7C17A0004750
I am trying to hook up 2 or 3 of these wireless kits throughout my home and I am starting to think it can’t be done. I would like to set up a set of Bose 151’s indoor/outdoor speakers in my front yard and back yard and in the bathroom for the shower time. I have a Harman/Karden receiver and tried to use 2 of them (wireless kits) and hooked them up to the front A and B switches on the receiver but could not get both of them to work at the same time its one or the other. So then I went to best buy and bought a speaker selector box with 4 outs. Thinking this has to work and if so I could get crazy with it by hooking up speakers everywhere in my house. But to the same result as the A B switches it’s only working one kit at a time. Not both sets. Does anyone know if it’s possible to do what I want it to do? or am I doing something wrong? And I have tried to call tech support and the guy said “uh yeah you should be able to install more then just one kit”. But he didn’t sound sure at all so not much help there. Can any one help me out with a confident answer yes or no or is it just me doing something wrong?
mike -
perhaps you should try moving the two senders further away from each other. let us know how it goes. very interesting what you are doing!
thanks.
Do the A and B outputs drive simultaneously for sure? i.e. if you hook the speaker directly can you get all four speakers on at the same time?
mike, as AK noted, the best thing to do is to give each transmitter some breathing room, placing them on opposite sides of your amp should help. They like their “breathing room”. Even 12 to 18 inches of separation can greatly improve simultaneous operation. But if you can give more, even better. Good luck.
I have had trouble when I bring my baby monitor into the room. The rear audio starts crackling every once in a while, or I will get pops on the monitor. (I am assuming because they are both 2.4GHz). I have also had trouble getting the rear speakers to work when I am working on my laptop downstairs (which is connected wirelessly).
What model is your baby monitor? They are not all created equal.
What are the distances between your WLAN AP and your laptop, and you laptop and the Rocketfish in the scenario in which you have trouble? It is not typical for WLAN to affect our system as you describe. Is it b g or n?
It is also possible your baby monitor and your laptop are stepping on each other quite a bit.
I’m eager to purchase one of these! I have a question…
If I connect the power cord of the ’sender’ to the amp/receiver that I currently use for my subwoofer, would this prevent the humming since it would power off the ’sender’ when I turn off the amp/receiver?
Thanks.
The present design doesn’t work that way, but it is a good idea and we are studying it. The hum should be cured as far as I know, I only know of one person with the hum issue who has received the modification we are providing and we are looking into that.
Thanks
I hooked up my rocketfish last week and it didn’t work. I had a few people look at it and they could not figure it out. Luckily a friend of mine works for bestbuy and told me how much of an idiot I was. I hooked up the receiver and transmitter in reverse. The directions were a little confusing. So, if anyone else is not getting any sound at all fromt he rear, make sure you don’t have the units backwards. I am transmitting from over 60 feet away and it sounds great. I use a Denon AVR 1707 receiver and Mirage satellites (all from bestbuy). Sounds awesome. WIthout it, I would have had to run exactly 155 feet of high end cable wire through my attic and rafters. I was not happy when I was mapping out the pathway. This helped drastically.
Only issue is the humming when my receiver is shut down. I just emailed Digitaldel to get some help with that. Other than that I would recommend it to anyone.
Oh, I hid the rocketfish under my couch and ran the wires up through my drywall using a “plum,” fishing wire, and a fishing weight. No wires are visible and you cannot see the rocketfish. I have never done anything remotely like this and it came out pretty nice, If I say so myself. I hope the company comes out with one that will run more than two rear speakers so we can add more satellites.
Speaker wire=bad
Rocketfish=good
Ok, here is the fix.. (been busy for awhile, y so late)
I have not took apart or looked at the input ckt of the sender.
Did recv a new sender, problem still exists..
Ok, the fix for hum..
Go to radio shack and get 2 100 ohm 1/2 watt or 1 watt resistors.
Get a some tape.
Ok, im at work, so give me a break on memory
put resistors 1 each across the red/black push term with speaker wires
Resistor Resistor
| | | |
RED BLK BLK RED
The resistors will load the input of the Rocketfish inputs.
to 100 ohms.. Speakers are 4 to 8 ohms
Unloaded is infinite with all the goodies inside and audio amp made to connect to infinite op amps causing hum.
You can toy with the values, but remember
the wattage output of you amp vs the load resistor.
No Load will cause a protect.. no where for energy to go..
If you crank up the volume on an amp and it pushes 80 watts, at 8 ohms you need an 80 watt resistor..
Providing your amp is happy.. lowering it will not cuase protect.
80 ohms mean 8 watts in theory.. again at work and no calc and waiting to go home for Holiday.
Since surround is not on 100 % I think the 1/2 watts will be fine, but feeel the resistors after a good mover.. if finger burns, get higher wattage or try increasing to 220 ohms.. check for hum..
Im home monday and might try to find the happy resistance
W L
oops.. and not even drinking
Kevin-
Digital Del will send you differnet wires with a filter in them, cuts the hum down to a minimum
Del-
I just want to thank you for all your help with the Rocketfish, it works great now, minimum humming, clear signal everything. You were very professional and responded very quickly, I know I wasn’t the only one having problems out there and it seems like you are helping everyone out. Just wanted to say thank you.
Denny
To anyone following this thread:
Just for the record, i had that loud hum too. I emailed Digitaldel (digitaldel at yahoo.com) and he sent me new speakers cables. They were too short, just like the originals, so i soldiered the new and originals together and hooked them up. Problem is solved.
Also, if you have a electric outlet in the back of your amp you can plug your ’sender’ unit into it and when you turn your amp off it should not let the back speakers hum. (You don’t need the new cables for this.)
Bye/marblerye1
Thanks to everyone on this thread for taking the patience of working through the issues, we have obviously learned a lot from you folks and will keep improving the compatibility of the product from your feedback.
I wanted to let you all know that the thread by marblerye1 is correct where he said plugging the rocektfish sender directly into the back of your receiver (if there are outlets there) will cancel out the humming. I just did it and it works perfectly. Why didn’t I think of that? Once you turn off the receiver, the rocketfish automatically turns off. If the receiver is turned off and your rocketfish is plugged directly into a wall outlet, it still send a signal beucause it is on but the receiver is not. Basically, the rocketfish starts transmitting nothing, so the speakers start humming. I don’t even need the wires now that were sent. Thanks you marblerye1 for that. Thanks again to rocket fish. I get comments all the time like “where the %^&* are your wires?” Cool.
Well… that doesn’t really “cancel out the humming”. It’s the same as turning them off manually, just without the pesky manual part.
Still, helpful - thanks for pointing that out.
ICraig, you plugged your rocketfish directly into your amp/receiver and they still hum when you turn off the receiver? It should just cut off all transmitting altogether cancelling out the manual turn off. Then again, what the heck do I know.
Hey digitaldel ;
I tried rasing the values of the resistors to 680 ohms like you have in the new cables.. Still has Hum.. I tried lowering the values to find where hum is gone and its at 100 ohms. Note: only had on hand 680 down to 100 with 220 and 180 in center values)
So seems like 100 ohms is a go. I have em clipped the speaker wires and work good and no need to power off units.
Wayne
W L
May be we should put a variable resistor there. No, really. People could easily tune it for whatever brand amplifiers/ears they have.
Following up on the idea by marblerye1 and Kevin, I plugged the rocketfish sender to my Amp/Receiver and indeed when I turn off the amp/receiver the Rocketfish sender also gets switched off and no humming sound anymore. BUT ..
the problem is, when you switch the amp/receiver on, the Rocketfish sender does not power on. I have to then manually press the red power button at the back of Rocketfish sender to turn it on - so its a faulty solution.
Will be interesting to know how marblerye1 and others solved this problem.
BTW, I am still waiting to get the cables from digitaldel and will inform this forum if it works.
[…] for the cheesy graphic. But as I’ve been writing about the Rocketfish RF-WHTIB (here, here, external-review-1, external-review-2) for weeks now, I thought it would be useful to […]
PG -
You’re gonna have to turn it on manually.
I don’t think enough thought went into this product. The on/off buttons on the back of both units are a big sign of this.
Besides being able to turn on the send unit on with the power from your amp, it would be cool as hell if the send unit automatically turned the recieving unit on & off everytime it is turned on and off.
Don’t be surprised if sometime in the future they have Rockefish II that does all this…. but in the meantime, you’ve got what you’ve got.
Thanks marblerye1.
I guess I should have waited for RocketfishII
But in the meantime I have to deal with RocketfishI-the trial version.
I heard from digitaldel that I will be receiving the cables from him soon, I hope it will take care of the problem.
Will post my experience here after I receive the cables.
Peace - say no to HUMMMMM…….
I also dislike turning on the unit every time I turn on my receiver. Grrr. Still better than the wire maze I would have had to run. I will definitely buy RocketFish II (RocketFish with Vengeance). On a seperate note, my 65″ HighDef tv is sick. I don’t want to go to work.
Can anyone tell me if we were supposed to receive one set or two sets of cables in the mail to take care of the humming. I only received one set with the resistors and I’m not sure what to do.
Kevin, we are sorry about that, it should have been two and it was our fault. Another will be sent to all who just got one.
I received one set of wires and after attaching them between the receiver and the sending unit, the Hum went away.
I now have a nice set up for my rear speakers.
when i receive the wires for the humming noise do i connect the to the existing wires for the rear speakers since i’m using store bought speaker wires.
The new cables are only used to connect the sender to the AV receiver unit, you do not need to change anything on the Rocketfish receiver and speakers.
i have a denon receiver so will this completely git rid of the humming noise
Still have hum with replacement interconnect wires from amp to sender. Has there been any updates on this???
…Dave
Looks like a great solution for the rear speakers and I’m going to give it a try.
Anyone know of a good way to do a wireless subwoofer?
OK, I’ve just read 110 comments regarding this product and I’m still interested!
Ive got a few of questions:
1. Is there going to be a Rocketfish Version II coming out any time soon? (I’m assuming this Hum/Switching issue will be corrected in version II)
2. If not, if I buy a Rocketfish Version I, will it come packaged come the modified Amp to Sender cable that reduces the hum, or do I have to then contact Digitaldel for the “new” cable?
3. How can I purchase one of these from overseas? (I live in Australia)
I don’t really want to buy a “humming” Rocketfish off Ebay and then find out I can’t access the cable “fix” from my country.
Cheers
HH
I sent this message about a month ago. Can anyone answer these questions? In particular, will I have a problem with the Aperion 422 speakers (25-100watt range, 8ohm). I also noticed these are 25 watt at 4 ohm max, so should have a higher max with 8ohm, right?
I don’t see any specs on this unit, but from what I have heard, it is 25 watts max. The surrounds I am looking at, like most speakers, require a minimum 25 watts to operate. I have seen that some people get no sound when they hook it up. Could it be that there is not enough power available to drive the speaker? Why such a low powered amp, it would seem that 50 watts should be the minimum. I was looking at the similar Kennwood solution, which had 50w per channel, but feedback was mixed, with several saying they had interference. I would love to have minimum 50 watt unit with no interference, but none available at this time that I can find. Do you have plans to make a more powerful unit? And how are you eliminating interference on the 2.4 ghz frequency when so many others have failed (my phone line is 2.4, not to mention other appliances, etc.). What gauge wire do you use from the back receiver to the speakers? Would a heavier gauge work better, and can the wire you use be swapped out for better wire? I am not looking for audiophile miracles, but do want a wireless solution that has enough power to do the rear speakers justice, and has clear, clean sound. Also, what receivers are you having problems with. I have the Yamaha 661 a/v receiver, and am looking at the Aperion 422’s for surround sound.
One other thing, I have read about the new wire to help with the hum. Does this wire come with the units that are available at Best Buy at this time, or do you have to call/email to get it? And, is the wire longer than 2 feet? I have a table behind the couch where the speakers will go, but I need to put the receiver on the bottom shelf of the table. I would probably need closer to 3-4 feet.
George, the wire is for the sending side. Doesn’t require anything special on the receiver side.
Digitaldel will have to comment to all on “Rocketfish II” and when the new versions will be available. In the meantime, I think customers who have the hum issue will continue to have to contact Digitaldel for the wires.
Regarding your Aperion’s, you seem to have all the math right. Not sure how hard that input power spec is on those speakers.
Kenwood uses a different wireless system which is why they get more interference. Rocketfish will give you your most robust wireless performance. See the links to other reviews on this blog. As you have a pretty high power system, you will have to be the judge of whether 2×25 is good enough for your ears and equipment.
Like Howard above, I am very interested in finding out if a new version will be available addressing the hum issue and whether there is any way to order this product from Australia. Aus/US mains power supply differences aside, I see that Best Buy does not ship to Australia and I haven’t been able to find any listings on ebay as of yet. If any Aussies are reading and have found a supplier, please reply with details. Rgds, Luke.
The cable change has been cut into production units already, however there will be units in the stores with the original config and we will obviously help those customers out. Regarding support in Australia, if you get hold of a unit we will support you on getting new cables if you need them.
George, regarding your question, assuming the speakers are passive (i.e. not connected to a power outlet, only connected by speaker wire)there really is no minimum power rating. Think of it in this way, when you turn the volume very low you are putting out a very small amount of power (much less than 25W) to the speakers and you will still get sound out of them. Hence in general, what we have found with the customers getting no sound it is either a bad hookup or the volume control on the Rocketfish was turned all the way down. You will find for surrounds 25W is adequate for most installations, in talking to our customers I have not heard a complaint on this to date. Anyone using a RF kit is more than welcome to chime in on this issue.
Thanks
Digitaldel, you seem a little vague on the issue of the cable fix…..
When you say “The cable change has been cut into production units already, however there will be units in the stores with the original config ” - does that mean;
Yep, we have started packaging the Rocketfish wireless with the “new” cable but if you are unlucky enough to score an older unit, you’ll have to go through the whole crazy process of obtaining a fully functional cable anyway?? This sounds a bit hit and miss.
If I’m going to order a unit to be shipped to Australia, I can do without that hassle.
Also, as Luke has asked:
Is there another distributor besides Best Buy for these units? One that is happy to ship internationally. There is someone on Ebay flogging them off, but they won’t even ship to non-mainland US states!!
These guys could be missing out on some serious overseas business here!!
Maybe I’ll call up a long lost mate from the states and ask him to buy me one then send it over. Then all I will need is a power adaptor x 2!
Cheers again
HH
I purchased one of these and had to obtain the cables from Digitaldel and I can confirm that it is not a “whole crazy process of obtaining a fully functional cable”. They arrived in a timely manner and functioned well.
Just my input anyways.
-Carlos
Thanks Digitaldel:
One other thing, then I think I will be ready to purchase. Does the rear receiver have to use the 2′ speaker wire you package with it, and can that wire be slightly longer (3-4 feet to each speaker)?
George, the cable we supply is only for connecting the sending unit to your AV receiver. You can use any speaker wire you like to connect the Rocketfish receiving unit to your rear speakers.
I hope that is clear.
Thanks
But with the new wires will the hum completely go away or is it just reduced or are different people getting either or.
Digitaldel is there a problem with only turning off the receiver part of the Rocketfish and leave the sender on with the blinking light. Will that affect the system over time do you know?
Willie, In typical scenarios, leaving the sender on with the receiver off for long periods is fine - don’t lose any sleep over it.
Thanks MTC. Have you had problems with humming also and if so did the new wires fix or reduce your problems
My amp didn’t have the hum issue… so no need. Judging from numerous folks above, it seems it has taken care of the issue in all cases.
In my case the hum is still there, but almost imperceptible. I can only hear it if I have my ear inches away from the speakers.
BTW, I have an older Yamaha A/V Receiver (HTR-5250).
I’ve had to get the new cables from DigitalDel and he was very responsive with my emails, and the cables arrived within a few days of me requesting them. It was not a “whole crazy process of obtaining a fully functional cable”. The new cables did reduce the humming, but was not able to get rid of it completely. I’ve just gotten used to having to turn on/off the receiver whenever I’m using my surrounds. It’s something I’d rather not have to do, but at least the humming isn’t very loud when I do turn off my amp and then turn off the Rocketfish receiver.
I did receive an extra wire however in the mail a few days ago. I remember someone requesting an extra wire, so hopefully it didn’t go to me in error, and hope whoever was requesting it was able to get their’s.
Thanks for the outstanding customer service DigitalDel. Other than the minor inconvenience to turn on/off the receiver each time, the product has been working great.
digitdel i’ve been calling rocketfish for 2 weeks now to get the new cables I need and haven’t recd them yet. Can you be any assistance with this problem?
Digitaldel, are you aware of whether a 240V AC version is planned for other markets? I have found someone who will ship to me in Australia but I understand the receiver unit is hard wired for AC power meaning that I would have to source a 120V->240V transformer. Ive gone without my rear speakers in my new apartment for a number of weeks now and am getting a bit desperate! Just wondering if I should hold off for a little while longer..?
cheers
Luke
Hi,
I have purchased the kit at BestBuy recently. Few question to Digitaldel..
1. I have not used the speaker wire provided in the kit to hook up the Rocket Fish sender to Yamaha reciever, instead used regular speaker wire (12 guage). I amhaving spotty reception in Rocket Fish receiver. I am guessing but.. should I be using the supplised speaker wire instead, why not regular speaker wire?
2. I have Hsu Research Ventriloquist speakers, http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vt-12.html, which provides 6.1 speaker setup even with 5.1 recievers. It requires the center (6.1) speaker wire connection comming from rear left and right speakers. With Rocket Fish wireless kit I am not experiencing the rear channel effects as I thought I would, even with the Rocket Fish reciever volume at high. Could it be the extra wiring required by the rear center speaker. My reciever is Yamaha RX-V2700.
3. Have the hum described in the thread. Waiting for the cables (then I would test the spotty recpetion as well).
4. Good product but… not exactly wireless practically speaking, have to physically get up to turn on/off sender and receiver :-). I plugged my sender unit to the Yahama reciever outlet, it takes care of turning off but not turning on. So my question/request/suggestion, would Rocket Fish 1.0 users get a discount or swapped with Rocket Fish 2.0 when available.
Luke, can you advise of your supplier to Australia please. Thanks.
Clearly I should have done more research before buying this Universal wireless system. My HTIB is a Panasonic SC-PT650, with two 125w surround speakers at 3ohms. Am I out of luck due to the low output of the receiver? Is there anything I can do to boost the power, or lower the power required for my surround speakers? #87 might have been in response to this same problem, but I couldn’t tell.
Thanks for the help,
Ben
Howard - I managed to convince one of the ebay sellers to ship to Australia based on my feedback record. This seller is not offering any more for sale so this was a one off. I ended up paying just over $120AU including airmail and insurance (thank god for the strong Aussie dollar). Hoping that the system lives up to my expectations - now all I need to do is find my stepdown transformer.
cheers
Luke
There are no plans for a 240VAC version of the product.
Vinnie, spotty reception is not tied to the cables. We have not seen any issues with spotty reception, so this surprises me. When you say spotty, what do you mean?
Thanks for the reply, Digitaldel.
When I turn on the sender and reciever, after they are connected (no blinking lights), a few minutes after later the reciever unit starts blinking. If I turn off power of reciever unit and turn it back on it will not catch the signal. I have to turn off power of sender (while reciever unit is blinking)and turn it back on. It happens quite frequently. The distance between sender and reciever is barely 10ft or so, and they are in direct sight or each other. One other thing to note besides my suspision of not using the supplied wires was my kids running around now and then. I have to do some testing while they are there but I do recall the disconnect even when they are not around. The protective thin plastic film is still there as well (didn’t peel it off just in case if I had to return)
Btw, can you answer 2,3 (Ticket#2007060610000296) and 4 as well.
Thanks.
Vinnie, regarding 2), how is the center channel hooked up? I am bit confused on the exact wiring diagram of that 6.1 setup. With respect to 4), the expectation was that the sender should be left on so there is no need to power cycle it. I believe with the new cables you should be able to do this.
Thanks
RF reciever
RF Receiver
| |
| |
LR–CR—RR
The center channel has two sets of + and -’ve inputs. The LR and RR speaker wire banana plugs have two speaker wires joined. One end goes to the Rocketfish reciever and the other goes to Center Rear. Obviously the CR is powered with LR and RR.
Sorry, digitaldel. Didn’t realise the tabs were taken out in the wiring diagram. The second vertical line from RF recienver goes to RR speaker.
I just wanted to drop a line to say that I love this product. For over a year, since we moved to our new house with no crawlspace, I have been threatening to run speaker wire under the carpet, and my wife has threatened me with death if I do so. I happened across this unit at Best Buy last week, and bought it on the spot.
I am using regular 12 gauge speaker wire, and none of speaker wire provided by Rocketfish. The receiver and sender are about 15 feet apart. The sender is less than 6 feet away from my Linksys wireless 802.11g router, and I have two cordless phones within 10 feet of the receiver. I have no reception problems or hum.
I am thoroughly satisfied!
bishop–what kind of receiver do you have?
Vinnie, what is exactly happening with your system? Since I don’t have one of those special rear centers I am not sure what could be going on here, but if you give me more details on exactly the issue you see I might be able to figure something out.
Thanks
Only odd issue I continue to have is the occassional ‘turing off’ of the receiving unit. No clue why, but once in a great while I’ll notice the sending unit blinking and the receiver off. No big deal to turn it back on, but wondering if anyone else is seeing this and might have a clue what might be causing this?
The two units are ~12 feet apart and in direct LOS of each other.
Andrew over at The Practical Home Theater Guide web site reviewed the RocketFish.
This is pretty significant since I think this device is starting to change his mind about wireless speakers, so it’s a good read.
Wireless Speaker Page
The review itself
Hopefully the tags work as expected, I don’t see a “preview post” button.
-tsh
I am having the same problem that others mentioned — speakers buzzing when my receiver is turned off. I gather from the other responses that there is a fix for this. How do I get the better cables?
Andrew, See comment #32. Contact digitaldel. He will hook you up.
I tried the fix explained in #87 with no luck. Went to Radio Shack and bought the resistors, plugged them in with the speaker wires and the problem still exists. Mine is a little different though. When I first turn on the unit after leaving it off for a while, it works fine for about 15 seconds. Then, as the electronics come up to temperature, it starts to emit a loud, raspy electronic buzzing and popping, even if there are no speaker wires hooked up to the sender unit at all. Still waiting on Rocketfish Customer Support to send me the “magic fix” cables, but don’t see how that will help if the resistors didn’t work. Any similar scenarios? I have a Yamaha RX-V361 receiver. Thanks for oyur help.
If you hook-up no speaker wires you will get some kind of noise as you will pick up 60Hz from everything around. The resistors should be connected across the positive and negative terminals in addition to the speaker wire.
Let me know if that is not clear.
I understand what you’re saying. But this is not an electical hum, but a raspy interference sound. If you put your ear up against the speaker, you can hear the sound from the TV program but it is drowned out by this interference.
Very loud hum when receiver is off. Running an older Sony STR-DE 475. DigitalDel - Help!
Can you use the Rocketfish with a volume control? The speakers would wire into the volume control and the volume control would wire into the receiver of the Rocketfish.
Can you tell us the speaker control you are using?
I just received the Rocketfish as a gift and it works great except that I am also getting a loud hum when my receiver is switched off. My receiver is a Harman Kardon AVR-335. Where can I get my Rocketfish repaired?
Please read post #32 above.
Thank you DigitalDel, I have forwarded you the information.
I bought the rocket fish yesterday and connected them to my onkyo ht-sr700 HTIB. I am also getting the hum.
DigitalDel,
I have already sent you a mail on this. Please help!
Will this work as a good alternative to the bose SL2 for BOSE acoustimass series. Bose SL2 goes for $225, and can go with other speakers also. I was thinking of using this for my Acoustimass !0 set-up sijnce it would save be $150….
Seriously? Dude, there is no downside to trying Rocketfish first. At $225, the Bose system is a joke. Further, the wireless system they use won’t stand up to interference as well as Rocketfish can. The coding used is nowhere near as comprehensive as the system employed in the RF-WHTIB. I would even say try both side by side, and return the one you feel is less value to you…
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Hello.
Can I use 120W / 8ohm speakers with Rocketfish? Will it work?
Dmitry, Dah. Go for it.
Is the reciever designed to turn itself off when the transmitter is off. I have my reciever located on top of a cabinet and have discovered when I turn off the transmitter, the reciever eventually turns off. I then have to climb a ladder to turn on the reciever. Is this supposed to happen or should I return it to Best Buy for a new one.
Is there a lot number or date range on the box that we can look for when checking out the Rocketfish at a local BB? I understand it’s not a hassle per se to get the replacement wire from Digitaldel, but if I spend another $100 on this HT setup without making the surround speakers work ASAP, the wife is likely to kill me!
Can this be hooked up to an amp to run front speakers. I want an easy solution to running my patio speakers outside.
Can I buy and use one of these in the UK? Will I need a voltage converter?
Thanks
Rich, not sure this means the hum issues is fixed, but I see that the newer Rocketfish RF-WHTIBs have a little peel-away on the bottom of the amp… which can be seen through the window on the box. This was a recent addition, actually as a result of #16 above. Cool.
Rwsmitty,
Yes.
Ian, not sure. Don’t think so… you could buy one in the States, and you would need a voltage converter.
I have a Yamaha HTR-5650 and installed the Rocketfish a couple of months ago. Everything is fine except for the fact that the sound is badly distorted, in a fuzzy sort of way. It’s as if there’s too much coming from the receiver and the Rocketfish can’t handle it. I’ve been attempting to work with phone support and they feel that the new cables will help. They were going to send them to me but it’s been two months and I’ve yet to get the cables. Firstly, do you think the cables will help in this situation (I don’t seem to have the humming problem)? And secondly, any ideas why it’s taking so long?
Thanks.
first off let me just say after reading all the posts here i am still interested in this unit.
but first a comment to “vinnie” concern