Rocketfish Universal Wireless Rear Speaker Kit
Written: Jun 08 '07 (Updated Jun 10 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good sound, very compact, inexpensive
Cons: Included speaker wires are junk, hissing/buzzing when no audio signal is present
The Bottom Line: The Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit offers audio fans a simple and reasonably priced alternative to running rear channel speaker wires.
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| Howard_Creech's Full Review: Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit RF-WHTIB |
I've been a popular music fan since my early teens; I grew up listening to Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Patsy Cline, and Sam Cooke. I’ve never regarded myself an audiophile, even though I’ve been buying and using audio components since the early sixties. When I got a chance to try out the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit - I signed right up. Rocketfish (like Insignia) is a Best Buy house brand.
My audio set up is getting a bit old, so I asked a friend who’s a musician and a self described audiophile if we could test the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit with his A/V system. After he allowed himself to be persuaded we invited another friend who is a complete technophobe with minor Luddite tendencies, to assist – the reasoning being that if the three of us (one technophobe, one audiophile, and one photographer) could successfully hook up and use the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit then basically anyone should be able to use this product.
Wireless audio devices broadcast their output via radio frequency (RF) waves – RF output is susceptible to various types of electronic interference between the sending device and the receiving device. My musician/audiophile friend is proud of his aural acuity and very picky when it comes to his music. He reminded me that earlier wireless speaker systems had all suffered, to varying degrees, from electronic interference and that electronic interference causes distortion. Typically, distortion increases (in direct proportion) the further the sending device gets from the receiving device. Our technophobe friend pointed out that no wires should be a good thing – nobody likes lumpy carpets, tripping over speaker wires, or not being unable to vacuum around the edges of the room.
What’s in the box?
The Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit RF-WHTIB consists of a tiny sending unit, a slightly larger receiving unit (wireless stereo amplifier) with stand, two - 2 foot lengths of super-thin bargain basement speaker wire, AC adapter and user’s manual.
Technical Specifications
Output: 2 x 25W RMS @ 4 ohms
Range: up to 100 feet
Impedance: 4-16 ohms
Power: DC (5 volts) via AC adapter
Guarantee: 1 year
Price: (MSRP) $100.00
Set-up
Connect the rear channel speaker terminals on the back of the AV receiver to the sending unit of the Rocketfish wireless speaker system – then plug in the AC adapter and connect the rear speaker wires to the Rocketfish receiver unit.
Performance
Assessing speaker performance can be a very difficult and challenging experience, since the criteria for what constitutes excellent audio is pretty subjective. The best way to assess speaker performance is to play several of your favorite CD’s (nothing too new or too trendy), but several long time favorites that you know by heart, love, and never tire of.
For our movie test we watched (and listened to) portions of Last of the Mohicans and Sideways.
For the audio only part of the test we listened to the following full CDs
The Beatles Revolver
Ry Cooder Bop ‘til you drop
Chris Isaak Forever Blue
Van Morrison Moondance
Paul Carrack Groove Approved
And several favorite single songs
Snow Red Hot Chili Peppers
Underneath it all No Doubt
Why don’t you and I Santana with Chad Kroger
The night time is the right time (live) Ray Charles
Two more bottles of wine Delbert McClinton
Policy of truth Depeche Mode
Here’s a breakdown of the audio/video system we used to test the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit - a Samsung LT-P326W 32" LCD TV, a Sony DVP-NS775V DVD/CD/SACD Player, a JVC RX-6042 Receiver a pair of JBL Northridge E 30’s in front and a pair of Klipsch SS-1 Surround Speakers in the rear. We disconnected the subwoofer and center channel speaker to facilitate the test. At my friend’s insistence we left everything in its original position – so the distance between the sending unit and the receiving unit was a constant 12.5 feet. For each piece of source material we listened first with the rear channel speakers wired traditionally - then with the rear channel speakers running wireless and then compared notes after each listening session.
Our consensus opinion was that the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit does a pretty good job maintaining adequate/acceptable quality audio output while (mostly) eliminating rear channel speaker wire clutter. My audiophile friend felt the audio output from his Klipsch SS-1 rear channel speakers was, "noticeably thinner" when using the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit than it was with his traditional wired set-up. I did notice that the sound was "fuller" when we listened to familiar source material with the traditional wired configuration – but it was (at least in my case) a subtle distinction. Our technophobe friend was unable to discern any difference between the wired and unwired configurations. All three of us noticed an irritating buzz when there was no audio signal present. In addition my audiophile friend complained that he heard some faint hissing in the unwired configuration that was not present in the wired configuration – neither I nor our technophobe friend were able to hear this audio anomaly.
Conclusion
Just a few years back wireless speaker systems suffered from powerline hum, poor signal to noise ratio, limited audio response, signal dropouts, a noticeable delay between the front and the rear speakers, and electronic interference induced distortion. Thanks to constant improvements in wireless technology RF speaker kits have gotten progressively better, plus increased competition has driven prices down For less than one hundred dollars, the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit is a solid Best Buy. The Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit is probably not the best choice for audiophiles, but for folks who want to get rid of ugly speaker wires running under the carpets or meandering around the perimeter of the listening area this product is a viable option. Additionally, for those who continually trip over exposed wires and pet owners who can’t break their kittens and puppies from chewing through or disconnecting speaker wires – the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit may be the answer.
I received the Rocketfish Wireless Rear Speaker Kit RF-WHTIB from Hass MS&L (a public relations firm) in exchange for posting a fair and objective review on Epinions.com.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Howard_Creech
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 in Electronics |
 in Home and Garden |
 - Top 10 |
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Member: Howard Creech
Location: Louisville, KY
Reviews written: 334
Trusted by: 1276 members
About Me:
Photographer/Writer fascinated by Movies, Music, Books, American Diner Food, History, "Popular Culture", and Travel.
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