How To Buy A Wireless Surround Sound System

A few months ago I decided to take another leap forward into the technological world that so often has passed me by. I had saved a few precious dollars and decided to go for a surround sound home theatre system. But to take it further how about a wireless surround sound system, after all who wants a mass of unsightly cables running around the house.

Now lets be clear, I am no tech guy. Like most of us I have an underlying addiction to gadgets and technology that is easily kept at bay by my lack of dollars. When I get the chance to splash out, I like to do my homework and get the best I can for my money. So off I went to do a little research and wow – a nightmare of information overload.

I wanted to share my experiences with you and if I can shed a little light and help one person through the jungle of jargon – I will be a happy bunny.

At home I had a mid range HD television hooked up to a basic cable package. I had already invested in a DVD player and use my PS3 for Blu-ray. So what I thought was – set up a home theatre system, wireless if possible and hopefully get a lot more out of my existing kit. I'm also a PS3 fan and heard I could get amazing sound for gaming using surround sound systems. Could I link in my iPod , and ooh.... how good would multi-room music be! I looked at my budget and thought $500 isn't going to cut it.

I was not even sure this set up was possible without being a complete geek!

Here is the killer. For most people trying to find basic, easy to understand, reliable information online can be an absolute nightmare. The geeks seem to dominate the marketplace and boy do they love to show off. Even your local electronics centre will have some spotty, condescending teenager spouting out as many technical words as he can, in an oh so matter of fact way, like of course you know this already! Try to avoid the personal humiliation, do not enter a shop without any knowledge of the product you want – you may leave feeling two feet tall.

So your knowledge is close to zero about surround sound systems and home theatre set-up, what to do? Copy the more knowledgeable people in this field. Where can you find one of the biggest selling sites, that has a lot of customer reviews ( not seller reviews – there is a difference) ranging from full on techy to basic English. Amazon of course!

A simple search in Amazon for “home theater systems”or “surround sound systems” will bring up a page of results. Look at the top right of the results list and click the drop down menu “sort by”, then select the best selling products first. You can sort into price ranges etc. later but think about the best selling principle. Amazon is huge, if you are looking at a list of the best selling items you have the best products available – why? - because so many people can't be wrong. If a surround sound system is selling well in Amazon it must be pretty good.

The site uses a rating system based on customer reviews, mostpeople will check a few out before buying. This means if a product has poor customer reviews it will struggle to get near the top of your search results. You can use this principle for most goods, but it is very good in the technology type products, especially if you have limited knowledge about the item.

You can refine your search further using the options on the left hand side of the search page, by Brand, Price and Seller. In case you are not aware, Amazon will lead you to other selling sites as well, so you can search further for your best deals.

Another thing to note about customer reviews is the total number of reviews. A product with a large number of reviews, that still has an overall high star rating will be good. Think about the review writing process. If you choose to write a review of a product you need to care one way or the other. People will not write reviews unless a product is really good or really bad.

Reading through customer reviews will give you a much clearer idea of your products. Read reviews from several different items and you will get a better idea of the technology and how people are actually using their surround sound systems. Keep reading and you will come to understand some of the jargon a little, you may show signs of becoming geek like yourself!

I got my search results as described above, and started my research. A couple of things quickly became apparent. Wireless surround sound speakers tends to mean having the rear speakers only wireless. The rest of the speakers will still be wired to the unit. For me this isn't an issue, but be careful to check product descriptions concerning how wireless they really are. Some surround sound systems are merely wireless ready – meaning you can buy add-ons to achieve wireless capability. You should also check out my Hub on easy surround sound speaker placement for a few tips.

Another thing to look out for is what exactly is included in the package you are looking at. It can be a little confusing when some home cinema systems have a Blu-ray player included, and others are just the amplifier plus speakers. Some may have extras like iPod docks included. So check the specification and be sure what you are getting for the price.

Anyway, I soon zoomed in on the Onkyo HT-S3300 receiver and speaker package. Reading the reviews and the ratings shows me it is definitely at the top of this price range. As it is sold, it does not yet meet all my requirements, however I cannot get past the quality and the price. I always like to buy the best within my budget, I reckon I can still purchase some add-ons and come in around my budget.

In the end I choose the Onkyo HT-S3300. After all my searching and reading it ticked my boxes in one way or another and quite simply I liked it! When it comes to shopping choices, we all buy what we like in the end, but it is smart to be informed before buying.

I bought my Onkyo and have adapted it to suit my requirements. I just copied a few ideas from the reader reviews to make the surround sound speaker system suit me. I bought the Onkyo DS-A3 Universal iPod Dock for the iPod so I could link in my music. I also purchased the Rocketfish Wireless HD Audio Starter Kit : model RK-RBKIT so I have no nasty cables running to the back of my room. I can now use the Rocketfish to play my music in other rooms through my system and the sound is superb.

I must say I am over the moon. You will not understand what all the fuss is about until you listen to the sound you can achieve with surround sound. It takes watching movies to a whole new level and as for the Playstation gaming – handle with care!

Remember – what is important is the way you can use a site like Amazon to do your research and find some great products. The products I have chosen suited my needs but your needs may be different. That being said I do so love my surround sound system!