Norwood, Mass. –
added a new
option for its wireless three-zone audio systems with the shipment of a
wireless receiver incorporating built-in 2×30-watt amplifier.
The WA-5030-r
wireless-receiver/zone amplifier can be connected to passive speakers to stream
music wirelessly from a companion wireless 2.4GHz transmitter, which can be
connected to a computer’s USB port or to other audio sources’ RCA analog
outputs.
The receiver/amplifier, which
also incorporates a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), is part of a
$399-suggested WA-5030 powered wireless audio system. The WA-5030 system also
includes a wireless transmitter, IR remote to control the receiver/amp’s volume
and mute, USB cable, and RCA input cables. Additional WA-5030-r receivers are
available separately at $199 each.
The new package joins the
company’s
, introduced in January 2011 with wireless transmitter
and wireless receiver. The receiver, which lacks built-in amp, can be connected
to legacy audio systems or to powered speakers. That system, called the WA-50
wireless audio system, features a transmitter, receiver, USB cable and RCA
input and output cables at a suggested $199. Additional WA-50 receivers are
available for $89 each.
The new system’s receiver/amplifier
will drive most compact bookshelf or in-wall/ceiling 8-ohm speakers, drive
speakers in a commercial or distributed audio system, and drive speakers in
bi-amp mode, the company said.
Both wireless systems support up
to three stereo zones with a range up to 150 feet within a house and 300 feet
in line-of-sight applications. Up to three transmitters and three receivers per
transmitter can be used in a home simultaneously. Transmitters and receivers
feature a three-position switch that assigns each transmitter and receiver to
Zone 1, Zone 2 or Zone 3 use. When a transmitter is connected to the USB port
of a PC or Mac, it broadcasts lossless, uncompressed CD-quality digital audio
with a 48kHz sampling rate.
The systems boast “virtually no time
delay or data drops,” and they use a dedicated non-Wi-Fi 2.4GHz streaming audio
network to reduce interference with Wi-Fi networks or other 2.4GHz devices,
such as cordless phones and microwaves, the company said.
Song selection cannot be
controlled remotely from another room.
