Anyone stumbling into a Best Buy looking for some sort of wireless speaker solution has probably been ushered over to the
Rocketfish section, but up until now, only a few devices have been available. Now, the Best Buy staple is introducing an all-encompassing system that aims to cut the (speaker) cable to all of your speakers. The wireless whole home audio system, which is obviously only available at the yellow-tagged retailer, is comprised of a Wireless Amplified Audio Receiver, a Wireless Sender / Receiver, a Wireless Outdoor Speaker and a Wireless HD Audio Starter Kit, which includes both a sender and receiver. The whole rig is designed to work with standard connections for speaker line and line level inputs, so most any speaker assortment should play nice. All told, the devices combined can send up to five sources to nine receivers throughout the home, but not surprisingly, there's no mention made of the presumably lofty price tag.
posted Oct 23rd 2009 12:53PM
Pretty cool, but, one question, would this pose a risk of cancer formation - by cancer meaning the mutation of body cells by exposure to radiation, frequencies, etc. ?
I hope you're joking.
No, that is why I am asking, so I don't dwell in ignorance.
The simple answer is yes.
In order to counteract the effects, you need to undergo radiation therapy, which can be done by touching your forehead to the front of your active microwave at least twice daily.
Well, I don't know if this poses any relevancy, but think about Wi-fi. It's kinda similar, and Wi-fi's radio waves practically harmless. Here's an article from BBC on Wi-fi, hope this helps:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6676129.stm
Ah, better a fool for 5 minutes than for life, right?
Well the way I understand it is that if that were the case, then we would all be dead by now. Every hour of every day we are bombarded by radio waves from cellphones, radio and TV broadcasts, cordless phones, WiFi, microwaves, etc. So if such radio waves were harmful, we'd have long expired.
Every now and then someone comes out and says that he's found new evidence that cellphones cause cancer. However these claims have never been verified by actual scientists; so far there is no correlation between cancer rates and radio waves. These claims are usually made either by the sensationalist media, or by lawyers looking for a new target.
The funny part is the people who say WiFi (or whatever radio waves) causes headaches. These people, when tested, will still claim to have a headache, even if they are in a room with a WiFi router whose lights are blinking but whose WiFi transmission is actually off.
Long story short: we'll be fine.
Just wear your tinfoil hat and you'll be fine.
@ Amerist And my red shoes (there is no place like home)(there is no place like home)
Amerist
That's what they want you to think.. "just wear a tin foil hat and you'll be fine".
What actually happens is the EMF passes through your body and is reflected and amplified INSIDE your skull because of the tin foil hat. Simply put, wearing a tin foil hat makes the radiation in your head worse.
LOL.
...the blue waves look awfully similar to the engadget logo..
...your name looks awfully similar to the iroNydude logo..
I'm more than happy with my rocketfish wireless headphones. Good distance and sound quality, zero static on 2.4ghz. Battery life could be better, but 2AA's can keep recharging every 3 days.
I'm not buying anything from a company called 'Rocketfish' without first seeing a fish strapped to a rocket or a rocket strapped to a fish.
Actually, the company name is a wordplay on RockFetish, so I'd rather not have that image shown.
If only their website had pricing on it! Oh wait it does! I have performed some investigative journalism: http://www.bestbuy.com/rocketboost
Its also notable that they use RocketBoost, which is a standardized digital wireless streaming thing. So when/if other RocketBoost things come out, expect compatibility.
wow you should work for engadget.
i wonder why they didnt think to check bestbuy.com
i guess they thought sarcasm would sound better.
Uh oh, I hope geek squad is ready for a whole slew of "My laptop only gets 1 bar in the living room now" calls. (unless it's not operating in the 2.4ghz band, I couldn't find any info)
http://z.pe/yBb
Yep, 2.4
Yes... but then Best Buy can sell them a new wireless n router and laptop with this magical 'n'.
Hm, I hadn't heard of Rocketfish until September. I had just built a computer and the integrated audio went out. Went out to Best Buy looking for a cheap solution and picked up a Rocketfish card. Pretty respectable, despite the bizarre name.
If one actually takes time to click through the links, they would find that pricing is available:
HD Audio starter kit $189.99
Wireless Sender/Receiver $56.99
Amplified Receiver $94.99
Wirelesss Outdoor Sender/Receiver w/ Speakers $169.99
does it do Pandora, lastfm, shoutcast, does it play network media? If not, step into this century.
It accepts speaker wire for signal, or has a 3.5m input jack. Did you read the product description? Plug a sender into a computer.
As the owner of a Rocketfish wireless system, all I can say is this: It was so great, it's in a rubermaid tub in my attic. Interferred with wifi, if you walked past it, the signal cut out.... Utter Shit. Pass.
Wow you already used the RocketBoost version of it that came out last week and its already in your attic, or are you referring to the analog version that runs about $100?
The Analog runs on the same hz line. Won't be a difference.
Just because they release the "UPGRADED" version now with "BOOST" won't make it any less of a turd. See: American Car Companies, RIM Storm 2, Samsung Glyde 2, Messenger for Mac, Vista, Wordpress, etc....
Yeah the FAQ on the website reads that its 2.4Ghz but won't interfere with other 2.4Ghz devices? I don't see how that's possible since its the same frequency. The FAQ also reads not to leave it within 15 feet of a router. Umm warning signs?!
I'm guessing you put it right next to your router? Don't lie. There shouldn't be any interference if they are separated
Um, just go to bestbuy(dot)com and search Rocketfish, then click Rocketfish Under "Brands", then sort my newest arrivals.
Done and done.. priced and available... Like your mother Trebeck... Heeyooooo!!!
Did you read the other replies?
Ok so how does this compare to the old rocketfish kit of similar capability? I use it to provide signal to the rear speakers of my 5.1 setup and while it works, it drops from time to time and the amp included is pretty anemic. Anybody know if they've beefed up the new kit or is this just pretty repackaging?
I actually use this same Rocketfish kit for my surround speakers in my 5.1 set up (impossible to run wires to the back of my living room, unfortunately). The sound is more than adequate. It's not like the surround channel in most movies or TV shows is all that interesting. They just supply background noise. The only thing I hate about this setup is that I have to turn on the rear receiver whenever I decide to watch TV. For some reason it always powers off when not receiving a signal for more than a few minutes. For the hundred bucks I spent on it, I am more than satisfied.
Crappy audio quality. Rocketfish's previous wireless speaker kit was spec'ed at "10% Total Harmonic Distortion". In other words, it uses a headache-inducing HTIB-grade amplifier.
We can't expect much quality out of a $94.99 component. But we shouldn't be listening to the ̶s̶o̶u̶n̶d̶ noise out of a $94.99 amplifier.
I'm with shanemspurlock here. I have the rear speakers of my system using the Rocketfish wireless system and it's just fine for rear speakers.
However he must have a slightly newer version than I do, since my receiver is always on, unless I turn it off. I just leave it on all the time since it doesn't suck down much power, and the receiver is stuck in the back of a bookshelf so it's not really convenient to power it on/off every time I use it.