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.
292 Comments
Hi,
I am in deep thought of purchasing the rear kit, but am wondering how I will connect it to my 3-2-1 Bose system…we are in dire need of more speakers, but w/o the wire hassle in a big open room. Is there any way possible to connect the rear of the Bose receiver that only has RCA outs to this setup? Banana plugs, monster plugs….anything?
OK, I have read every post above, althought not every one of them in their entirety. I still have one simple question that they cannot answer at Best Buy: Can I buy two of these, connect them to the same surround sound system and use one for the front speakers and one for the rear. My system is set up in the middle of the room and when we use it, we have wires going out in all four directions.
Donnie, Yes. Should not be a problem. My only advice is to place the transmitters on opposite sides of your AVR. If they are too close to each other, they may interfere from time to time. Giving about 2 ft separation works for me in my setup. Having the AVR (a big metal box) in between ensure even more robustness…. sorry… RF physics…
We have finally hooked up our surround after purchasing the kit over the summer. We’re getting the hum – Digitaldel – how do I get a set of the new speakers? I just called Rocketfish and they said it would be 3 days before someone contacted me? Is there some place to buy the resistors instead of radioshack? Like a speaker wire kit that has them in it?
I am recieving no sound from my rear speakers. I am using a Sony DAV-fx80. The connect lights on the rocketfish are not flashing they are constent, The volume is all the way up, the wires are connected as instucted. Do you know if this kit works with my reciever? or should i take this back?
Thanks,
Scott
Scott – make sure you are in a mode that outputs rear channel sound, we have found quite a few of the receivers only output 5 channel sound when in certain modes or with certain content. If the link light is constant and you have the smaller box connected to you receiver and the bigger box to your rear speakers (and of course you hooked it up as per the manual) then it is highly unlikely that you won’t get sound. Most of the support calls on this issue have been found to be related to the receiver. I did a quick lookup on your manual and please check the following:
Make sure the sound field function is on Page (60)
Digitaldel,
Thanks for the info… Turns out I’m a big dummy
little box in the front huh?…….
This product is awesome thanks for your assistance.
Scott
I get interference with my wireless internet and rocketfish wireless speakers. Once i unplug my rocketfish wireless speakers internet start to work, how do i solve this problem.
If you can, try relocating either your Router or Rocketfish sender? In your situation, it is most likely if you can bring them closer together it will solve the problem.
Thanks
I was just reading this and found out about the ‘hmmm’ noise, i believe this noise is coming because the power cords on either one of the component(amp/sender)can be plugged in wrong, try changing them around and see if the hmm sound is still present.
Basically,
reverse plug the ac adapter for the rocket fish and see if the noice is still present. if so, it might be another component that is connected to the amp.
if it still comes check if the wires for the rocket fish is running near a power line and move it away.
hopefully this will do. good luck.
You guys are awesome. I was so distraught that the unit I just bought was finally connecting, but had no sound coming out of it. It was so frustrating.
Sadly, I’ve realized, due to reading this forum, that I forgot the rule that so many of my elementary school teachers attempted to impart upon me: Read the directions before you continue!
So me being the smart guy tossed the directions to the side and wired it in myself. Of course, bigger unit goes with the receiver, smaller one to the speakers. Wow, was I surprised when I finally swapped them out and presto, full surround sound with no cables.
Thanks all, I appreciate the help.
– Steve
All my speakers are 8 ohm How will this effect the sysem if you call for 4 ohm
Great site ,great information.
Can I use 2 sets , one to send to rear ( surround ) speakers,
and one to send to left an right speakers , thus doing away
with wires to both sets of speakers ?
thanks,
Tommy
Tommy. Yes. But you’ll want to separate the two transmitters by a few feet, or better yet, put them on opposite sides of your receiver.
MTC
Would 3 – 4 feet be enough seperation , I’m going to put
reciever/ transmitter in a wall cabinet , and I could put
the other rockfish transmitter in an adjacent cabinet.
thanks so much for the info,
tommy
Oops,
just read post #207 , and there’s the answer !
Great.
I have an 8 year old Onkyo TX-DS575 hooked up to the Rocketfish. I’m on my 2nd unit because tech support thought that my initial unit was defective. (Other than suggesting I return it they were stumped)
I get the following scenarios (the connection lights are solid):
1. Everything works fine and the surround is great!
2. Nothing works
3. One rear (left or right) works and the other is silent
4. I can hear something out of at least one of the rears but it’s very low volume and obscured by a “staticy” noise.
I’ve especially noticed this when I put my receiver in test mode (white noise is sequentially played on each individual channel). I also noticed a couple of times that the receiver switched into stereo mode (I hear a relay click and the mode goes from surround to stereo). I believe that this is an indication of the receiver thinking that the surrounds have been disconnected.
I’ve also noticed that if I am not hearing anything out of the surrounds that if I turn up the volume on the Onkyo I can increase the likelihood of getting the surrounds to produce something that sounds normal.
I believe I have one of the updated units (manual states the specs at 10 V into 220 ohms). Could my Onkyo receiver be especially sensitive to a different impedance than expected on the surround speaker outputs? Would the resistor “hack” help?
I’ve been a bit frustrated that I can’t get this to reliably work with my Onkyo receiver. It’s the perfect solution to my needs.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for any advice!
Got a Samsung HTX-50 audio system, along with Samsung TV. Anyone using a similar system with the Rocketfish wireless unit, and any inputs re: results? Just have messy wires running and want to get rid of them. Thanks.
Buck
Sorry to Kevin and Wilfred Little, whose last couple comments didn’t make the shift to the new hosting location. Feel free to resubmit and continue this very valuable ongoing discussion.
I really am thankful you all have kept up such a good forum for the RF-WHTIB. This was one of Avnera’s first design wins (with Rocketfish), and as one of the early implementations of our chips, it’s been gratifying and educational to witness end-user reactions. I know the Rocketfish folks appreciate the product feedback as well.
Thanks.
I have written a review of this product on my blog (You can read the review here). I am more impressed as I use it. I have watched two football games and part of a movie and it has been fantastic.
No interference (so far) with my WIFI.
I would say that buying this unit from Rocketfish is pretty much a slam dunk.
Hey Kevin, Thanks for the great review, and for letting everyone here know about it. Good to hear!
I have one of these units and can not get it to work.
I hook it up and the transmitter and receiver pair up, but no sound. I put my surround receiver into test mode, (white noise on each channel) and nothing.
I have checked all connections five times and everything is hooked up correctly. With the volume all the way up on the rocketfish receiver there is a barely audible hum. I contacted customer support and they sent me the wire set. I found this site and now know that is a fix for another problem altogether. Is there a fix for a non functioning unit?
Small box in the front? Big box in the rear?
Hey guys,
I must say, I have had these for a little while. And, as of right now, I am ready to put them up for sale on Ebay. I have 2 connected in my family room. They intermittently just shut themselves off. This is after I have had to contact the Yahoo email address COUNTLESS times for tech support. Really? A Yahoo.com email for tech support? Seriously? The response? “Have you tried moving your wireless router closer to the sender?” Well, let’s see? NO. My internet connection is directly wired in to my office (thanks to the way my cable company sets things up here). So, in order to do that, I need to run a Cat 5e cable about 50 feet across the floor. yeah, that would look a ton better than running speaker wires around the back of a couch. SURE. Not a tripping hazard for guests, either. Why does it feel like we are being used as testing guinea pigs????
Pierre, How long have you had your units? You say “a little while”. It is possible you have one of the early few thousand that had a shutdown issue. Gotta go in the way back machine for that one… all the way back like 2 months ago when it would have been likely you picked up an early copy. Recent models have not shown any shutdown issues… at least the chatter would suggest so.
As for yahoo.com email. I’d say it’s a good thing that a conscientious employee has taken it upon himself to help customers above and beyond the normal Best Buy support system, which would be less personal, and less responsive.
MTC,I have had them since April. I have gone thru 3 iterations of cables from digitaldel. With that said, why was the shutdown issue never mentioned by tech support? Look, in concept, I love the product. But, the fact that I have to turn them back on 3 times during a football game is a letdown.
I guess I am SOL in terms of returns, since BestBuy won’t return stuff over 90 days?
Hi,
Although I read mixed reviews on this blog (great help as whatever will be wrong it is probably on this blog) but have a commercial question. I have a pretty high end “front” system (Rotel, B&W speakers) I don’t expect audiophile miracles from this system but what are good surround speakers that work well with this system? You write somewhere in the blog that the output is 2*25W. I prefer a small speaker that I can put under the couch (live in a small Manhattan appartment) when not in use.
Seccond question, saw a pile with boxes at Bestbuy (one block away) how do I make sure I get a “new” version and not one from the early patch?
Thanks, Andy NYC
I just got a 7.1 home theater system. How do I use the rockfish for the rear and side speakers. Can I just use two, what about interferes. Do rockfish make a unit for the side and rear speakers.
Chris WVU – See comments 207 and 218 thru 221. Numerous folks have asked this before. See that our recommendation is to provide a bit of separation between sender devices. Your new amp should provide plenty.
That’s the current solution to get 7.1 action.
Andy NYC, I would try to find some decent 6-8 ohm speakers with relatively high sensitivity and SPL performance. The other thing to consider, is your satellites are always usable whether you use the Rocketfish solution or want to re-deploy them in other modes of use in the future… so you may as well buy something decent that perhaps matches the performance and voicing of the front B&W’s that you have. The power output level of the Rocketfish is sufficient for most surround effects, and at moderate volume levels, you are likely to stay within the power capabilities of the unit. Seeing as there is not a lot of bass headed to rear speakers, it will be very rare events where you may get into clipping. My guess, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
So, what is Rocketfish doing for those of us that got versions of the initial batch? My question still wasn’t answered. Am I just out $200?
Pierre. First of all, I am not a Rocketfish employee, not even remotely. I’m sorry you’ve been frustrated, and BBY may not like me pointing this out to you, but point-blank, you should be exercising your rights as a consumer…
You are still under 1-year warranty, and product sounds to me that it is not operating to spec, and generally unusable as a result. So, in my estimation, Best Buy’s 30-day return policy window doesn’t apply. It should however, be covered under warranty, which means you should be able to exchange it at the very least, don’t u think?
However, your issues do not sound representative of all early buyers, so I don’t think this is a systemic issue to “early batch” per se. Shutting down 3 or 4 times in a 3 hour period, sounds just plain weird.
Also, Andy NYC,
You can tell it’s a newer model by peering inside the box, and look at the bigger unit… if you can see a peel-away sticker on the left side surface (as mounted in the package), then it is a new model. The sticker isn’t too obvious, but you can see the edge of it. This sticker is there to remind the consumer to open the cord-management panel to find the AC cord. This label was added after the first batch saw many confused people not knowing where the cord was… yeesh.
Well I just upgraded my receiver to the Onkyo NR-905 and I am sad to say the hum is back, but only when the receiver is shut off. Any suggestions? do the newer units in the store have this issue resolved? I bought mine in the first few months of the year
I am also have the humming sound in the rear
speakers how do I get the replacement wires to
try and fix this problem. Thanks
I recently bought this product and cannot get it to work on my old Onkyo TX-DS575 at all. No sound out of rear even though i have a solid link light.
i am thinking of getting a new receiver since this one is so outdated and my remote wont work anymore either!
Tater2005, you sure you got the big box in the back, and the small box up front?
I would like to thank the latest post here (245)! My husband and I have been searching online helplessly and calling the helpline (which I might add is somewhat of a joke). I am not very technical and was not understanding most of what has been posted and “mtc” dumbed it down for me and we switched the boxes and we have sound now. So in short . . . thank you for your ability to simplify something that we should have already figured out!
This is why I am here.
Glad it worked!
I got a Panasonic SC-PT950 surround system which
has built-in rear wireless. I have two pair of
satellite speakers(in different rooms) I used to
run off the old amp,
tuner, etc which is all still under the new 950.
I’d LIKE to get rid of all the old stereo stuff
(amp, tuner, CD player) and simply play the radio
or CD player that is built into the 950 but also
power the 4 extra satellite speakers. Only the
front speakers play on the 950 system while using
the radio or CD. I can’t plug extra wires into the
front outputs of the 950 – they say the impedence
mismatch would damage the unit – plus the speaker
output wire holes are very small.
Would plugging a Rocketfish
into those outputs hurt the Panasonic? Would this
work to use my 4 extra speakers?
Hey I bought mine towards the end of August and have had no problems until this week. I went to turn them on but no dice. When I push the power button the red lights blink for about two seconds and then turn off. Anythoughts on why this might be happening. Unfortunately I got rid of the packaging after I had no problems the first month so I might not be able to get my warranty honored.
Roy, make sure that there is no short in the audio cables (that is, the ends of the red and black cables do not touch each other).
Which box (smaller or bigger) is having the trouble?
Does anyone know if there is a wireless solution for a powered subwoofer. I do not need the amp on the rocketfish as the subwoofer already has one. Therefore I need a transmitter and reciever with RCA jacks (instead of speaker wire) for the out of the reciever or preamp and the in to the subwoofer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Wesley, I know just the thing. I can tell you about it next week, after CES.
OK. I will check back next week.
Has anyone heard the humming noise with a Harman/Kardon AVR 210 receiver
Hi there. I have been interested in this product and have read the many replies. I would like to use this with a Bose Acoutimass Surround system. Has anybody used this in this configuration? Is there any issues? Can i hook from Acoustimass box to Sender unit and then receiver to rear modules?
Well I got the new version of the Rocketfish and gone is the hum but now I have another problem. Every 20 minutes or so I will get a loud pop in the rear speakers. Only last a second or two but it sort of scares you if you have a quiet passage. Any ideas?
Greg,
I bought the Rocketfish unit from BestBuy to hook up my Bose Acoustimass 10 Series IV speakers driven by Onkyo SR-605 Receiver. I was hearing more hum than anything. Returned it to BestBuy and wired the Rear Speakers. Works Great!!! How can they put out a product to Market without testing it thoroughly????? Save your time and wire the rear speakers.
I got the set from Best Buy tonight and wired it up. Very small hum when the amp is turned off, but not noticeable at all. I do have a question about the volume on the receiver unit of the rocketfish and the speaker level setting on my amp. When I ran the auto calibration the amp set the surrounds to about +4.0db for the right and +6.0db for the left. Is this too much? I am not sure if this means its trying to send too much power to the speaker if that makes sense. I wasn’t sure of the effect over wirless. Its sounded nice and loud so I turned them down and turned down the volume knob. So what should I do here. Should I keep the speaker level dbs down or is it alright to turn them up on the amp?
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