One of the challenges facing those who want to enjoy immersive surround sound at home is the need for lots of speaker wires. WiSA (Wireless Speaker and Audio Association) is eliminating the need for speaker cables by enabling up to 8 speakers to connect wirelessly from a single source. That means it can work for both stereo listening and for home theater, supporting Dolby Atmos 5.1.2.
A few established audio brands are already integrating WiSA into their products such as Bang & Olufsen, Klipsch, Platin, LG and Dynaudio. What makes WiSA appealing to audiophiles is its ability to transmit uncompressed lossless and hi-res audio wirelessly.
In this episode we talk about the future of wireless home audio with Tony Ostrom, President of WiSA. Tony has a 25-year career in the consumer electronics industry and has previously worked in product development and marketing roles for Klipsch, House of Marley, Powermat, and JL Audio. Tony has a BA in Music Engineering and a Minor in Physics from Ball State University.
Will your next wireless speakers support WiSA? There’s a good chance they will.
For more information: wisatechnologies.com
Where to buy: WiSA is available on Amazon
Sponsor: Happy listening from our sponsor SVS. Acclaimed for punching well above their class, experience thrilling and immersive sound from SVS speakers, subwoofers, and cables. Join the Sound Revolution today. Click here to visit svsound.com.
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Related reading:
Credits:
- Original intro music by The Arc of All.
- Voice Over Provided by Todd Harrell of SSP Unlimited.
- Production by Mitch Anderson, Black Circle Studios.
ORT
April 5, 2023 at 5:39 pm
Considering that the Denon Home Soundbar 550 and their Home Wireless Subwoofer and finally a pair of their Home 150 Wireless speakers which work seamlessly as the rear surrounds in Dolby Atmos are, well…Wireless. It is already happening.
And the Soundbar 550 has HEOS! Easy-peasy-mac-n-cheesy! For those that claim to “hear” High-Def? The 2nd Gen version and on of HEOS speakers is ready for that even if you are not really a bat-eared enthusiast but just want to believe…Cruel? Nah. I have the elusive Sixth Sense (that was a TV show in the early ’70s). No…Not ESP but a Sense of Humor/Humour!
Every new year has the potential to bring something to someone who has been waiting for what ever that exact something for them may be.
Even the whiners. But they’ll NEVER admit to it. 😉
ORT
Chris Boylan
April 5, 2023 at 8:12 pm
Hey, ORT,
There have been (and continue to be) several proprietary wireless audio transmission formats – Sonos, Sony and Denon come to mind, but there are many more. And some of these like Sony and Sonos already support more than 5.1.2 channels for immersive surround sound. What WiSA offers is a wireless audio transmission *standard* that could be used by any manufacturer. So you could theoretically get a receiver from one brand that uses wireless speakers from another brand without any compatibility problems (imagine that!). My only “beef” with WiSA is that is caps out at 8 channels, which means 7.1 or 5.1.2 MAX. And as already mentioned, there are proprietary wireless systems that already exceed that.
Still kinda cool though. The Platin 5.1.2 WiSA system can work with any TV and do real discrete 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos with six discrete speakers (no soundbar required). But it does need a dongle plugged into the TV’s eARC port to feed the wireless transmitter. Moving forward, the WiSA transmitter could be built into the TV so even the dongle wouldn’t be required. There are LG TVs that already do this, but only for 2-channel (not for 5.1.2 channel).
ORT
April 5, 2023 at 10:06 pm
Hi Chris,
I am looking forward to this or something manufacturers can all AGREE on and support becoming an industry-wide standard. There should be a standard as it is something to be held to and to be improved upon across all marques. There could even be firmware updates to include all current wired systems so that no one is left out.
I would guess that I appear as something of an apologist for HEOS but if memory serves, Onkyo and Pioneer both had their own proprietary wireless systems that went belly up. They aligned with Sonos. A good friend enjoys his Blueos and I like HEOS. If would be nice if products could work together but given that people rarely can and people design products…One thing I know is this:
And it sure as poop ain’t any thing that includes the BS MQA. FTN.
ORT
Ian White
April 5, 2023 at 10:13 pm
ORT,
I’m starting to think you don’t like MQA. 😉
Ian White