Multi-Room Audio Gets Cheaper
I was planning on writing the Eos Wireless iPod Speaker System off as another wannabe Sonos clone, until I saw the price. At $299 for the base station kit, which includes one wireless speaker, and $129 for additional speakers, makes this pretty good value if you're an iPod owner wanting to stream your music around the house. There's also a weatherproof outdoor amp option, for swish garden parties and those times you're locked out of the house due to a bust-up with your loved-ones.
Particularly clever is Eos' mounting system for the speakers – the power-supply is integrated, meaning the unit can mount directly on a wall-outlet without needing brackets, nails or ridiculously strong glue. The wireless technology is apparently "WiFi friendly", by which I assume that it's something proprietary that won't interfere with your network, and you can have up to four speaker units registered to each base-station.
With a 150 foot range, CD-quality sound and a variety of on-board sound boosting technologies that purists will turn their noses up at ("SRS Wow" anybody?), each system has stereo drivers and a ported-subwoofer. There's no indication as to whether each zone has to listen to the same thing, however, which if it were the case would be a serious black mark against Eos. Still, fingers crossed that those low prices are still the case when the system is launched in March 2007.