Wireless speakers have become very popular in the audio industry. It’s convenient to have speakers free of wires that come with a lot more flexibility than traditional wired speakers. Audio manufacturers have made big strides in the quality of wireless speakers. There are now a few different options on the market today: wireless speakers that broadcast via RF, WiFi network connected wireless speakers, and wireless Bluetooth speakers.
What is a wireless speaker system and how do they really work? You generally have a source that is connected and paired to the speaker. That may be a box, like a Sonos Connect, or a personal device like a cell phone, but basically, you just have to pair one device to another. Then depending on whether your wireless connection is made over WiFi or Bluetooth, you will have a wireless range based on those attributes.
In the home realm, some speakers just broadcast wirelessly from the subwoofer over to rear satellite speakers via RF. Some wireless speakers are connected via Bluetooth like from a soundbar to a wireless subwoofer, and then sometimes they are actually WiFi or network-enabled.
You may be wondering if you should connect your commercial business speaker system wirelessly or via cables. As you are trying to choose if wired, Bluetooth or WiFi speakers will work best for you, we’ve come up with 5 reasons you may not want to use wireless speakers for your commercial audio sound system.
Why NOT To Use Wireless Speakers For Your Commercial Audio Sound Systems
Bluetooth Range Limitations - Limitations on how far Bluetooth speakers can reach are some of the most common reasons why Bluetooth wireless speakers won’t work in many commercial applications. Bluetooth typically only reaches 20 to 50 feet in order to broadcast wirelessly. So in cases like school gymnasiums or large warehouses, Bluetooth connectivity doesn’t work because it is too far away for the distance that the speaker needs to be able to cover. In those types of situations and applications, a wired speaker option makes the most sense.
Quality and Power Limitations - Currently wireless speakers are primarily relegated to background music or foreground music for home-type environments. So if you’ve got a large-scale commercial environment where you really need high-output sound and lots of wattage like a gymnasium, stadium, or arena, right now wireless speaker options aren’t available with the amount of power needed for something of that size.
High-Performance WiFi Necessary - With wireless, you also have to keep in mind that if you are using a wireless WiFi speaker such as Sonos wireless speakers, Yamaha wireless speakers, and others, those speakers require transmitting data through your WiFi signal to a speaker that is plugged into a wall outlet that has a built-in amplifier inside. So there is data being sent to and from the speaker and the amplifier that requires high-performance WiFi. That means if you have limited wifi connectivity in certain locations or slow WiFi in your space, a wireless speaker may start to degrade signal and audio quality.
Hassle of Firmware Updates - Because wireless Bluetooth speaker systems and wireless wifi sound systems operate on WiFi or Bluetooth, that means there is software built into the speaker. Dealing with firmware updates can be a hassle because those updates can happen at very inconvenient times. When you use an analog speaker connected to an actual speaker wire, you don’t have to worry about any of that.
Size of Applications - Sound systems with wireless speakers can have limits on how many speakers you can connect at one time. When the speaker uses Bluetooth, sometimes it is possible to connect two powered speakers via Bluetooth in a stereo pair. But generally, with Bluetooth, we can’t connect to a dozen in-ceiling speakers. Bluetooth generally requires a handshake of sorts between the personal device and the device it is being paired to.
If the wireless speaker uses WiFi, like Sonos wireless sound systems and Yamaha wireless sound systems, there are some restrictions on a very high number of speakers. This is something to keep in mind if you are looking at a large project. Those limitations are not present in most cases in a distributed 70-volt commercial audio system. So if you are looking at a very large office building that needs music or a large hospital that needs paging, projects of that scale, at this point in time in history, a wired solution is still the most popular.
In some commercial applications, wireless speaker systems that use WiFi can be appropriate. There are wireless speaker options for commercial applications like restaurants, retail stores, small offices, spaces where volume may not necessarily be super loud, and where there is a good wireless infrastructure in place. However, many times it is still best to go with a good old-fashioned wired speaker if you aren’t interested in using your WiFi network and dealing with other restrictions and limitations.
If you have questions about what are the best wireless speakers versus wired speakers for your application, check out our website, give us a call at (888)-256-4112, or email us at [email protected]. We would be happy to help you find the best speaker for your space.
