The young and the wireless - headphones and speakers

Sunset, May, 1994 by Bill Crosby

A new generation of headphones and speakers brings music outdoors or upstairs

TO BRING SPEAKERS OR headphones to life, you need that coated copper umbilical cord, right? Speakers without wires are just boxes, and headphones without wires are earmuffs. Right?

Not necessarily. A number of new wireless speakers and headphones need only a little electricity to spring to life. In place of wire, these units get their signal from a transmitter that sends its signal by infrared beam or radio wave.

Transmitters for both kinds of units plug into a wall outlet and an audio output (such as the headphone jack).

Infrared technology is used mostly in headphones. The transmitter, placed near your sound source (on top of the TV, next to the stereo), washes the room with an infrared signal that the headphones can pick up. A dial on the headphones lets you adjust the volume.

Headphones run on standard AA batteries (manufacturers estimate batteries to last for about 40 hours of listening). The signal is pretty much as clear as a wired setup, but there is one drawback. Infrared signals are line-of-sight: if you can't see the transmitter, the transmitter can't "see" the headphones.

SIGNALS THAT GO THROUGH WALLS

Radio-frequency headphones and speakers aren't limited to line-of-sight transmission. Their transmitters essentially broadcast the audio signal to the headphones or speakers. Just like AM or FM signals, this one can go through walls and floors, windows and doors, staying crisp up to about 150 feet.

Headphones and portable minispeakers for this system use various kinds of batteries, but regular-size speakers need to plug into an outlet (things that make noise drain batteries fast, and the larger the speaker the more energy required to drive it). Both mini-and regular speakers have their own built-in amplifiers. Some systems have an amplifier in only one of the speakers: the slave speaker has to be wired to its amplified mate. With others, each speaker has its own amplifier, and each needs to be plugged into an outlet: a switch on the back of each speaker lets you set it as the left channel, right channel, or mono. Each also has its own volume control.

Some radio-frequency systems let you plug your existing headphones into a little receiver pack about the size of a calculator. And with some, you can use the same transmitter for headphones and speakers.

Wireless headphone setups, infrared or radio, range from about $100 to $250. Speaker systems sell for between $150 and $250. You'll find wireless systems at department, discount, and electronics stores. As with all things electronic, look for deep discounts.