help please - need idiots guide to what's needed to listen to CDs etc in every room

ukcarper

http://whathifi.com/Review/JBL-Control-24G/

these might do the job

Nenen

Many thanks for all the replies. I did some further investigation (based on all your advice) and went to John Lewis today to have a listen to some speakers for either the airport express system or the laptop and to look at the Sonos system. Although it was much more than I originally budgeted for, I was extremely impressed with the Sonos and it looks amazingly easy to use. I worked out that in the long term it could save money as my dh would not need to buy any more CDs! LOL! Seriously, it is a lovely system and, if he doesn't like it then I can return it to JL and he can try one of the other options suggested for less money without guilt.
:beer:

whowants2brich

I've got a radio transmitter, one of those car things, which I use in my house to stream things through the radio, any radio can be tuned in the house and play whatever is connected to the transmitter - phone, mp3 player, laptop, tv...

Yes, the radio quality isn't as good as cd, but with the transmitter being so close to the receiver unit, the quality degredation is barely noticeable...

daytona600_2

try www.sonos.com or www.nuforce.com

or if your loaded www.meridian-audio.com

Nenen wrote: »

My dh and I are not at all techie but do use a laptop, PC, and Blackberry phones (just very basic functions). DH bought me an ipad for my birthday a few weeks ago but I have yet to get to grips with it! We do not (as yet) use itunes/ipods etc and haven't a clue how to transfer CDs to digital files.

We currently have a stereo system in the sitting room. My dh wants to be able to listen to DAB radio and his (vast - 800+) CD collection in the kitchen and bedroom (both have limited space so need something with a smallish footprint). He asked for a good quality, portable DAB/CD player for Christmas. I've been researching options for several weeks but have ended up getting more and more confused! He is quite fussy about sound quality and usually goes for Sony or Bose. My maximum budget is around £300 but would be great to spend less.

From what I can gather I have 3 options and would be very grateful to have opinions on the pros/cons of each and/or advice regarding any options I don't know about.

Option 1)
The Roberts MP53 (link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roberts-MP53-Digital-System-iPod-Black/dp/B001MVQYJC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292581877&sr=8-1) might be a suitable portable CD/DAB player and costs around £220.

Option 2)
One of my sons says I would be better getting him an ipod classic and a portable docking station with speakers. However, this means that he would have to transfer all his CDs to the ipod and my other son said this is extremely time consuming and not always straightforward. No idea which of them is right! Went in to Maplins to look at some kit and salesman told me buying CD player was buying 'backwards technology' and I should go for an ipod classic which would hold his entire CD collection, a speaker docking station and buy a CD ripping machine (£30) to help upload all his CDs. However, he couldn't tell me if this was quicker than using a laptop or PC to do it!

Option 3)
During my searches I've come across some info on wireless speakers but am at a loss to understand all the info about 'streaming' and/or 'Spotify' (do not really understand what these are or do). Am I right in thinking that a third solution would be to buy a couple of pairs of wireless speakers to go into the kitchen and bedroom and linking these to our laptop or pc? I've looked at several and they all talk about playing digital music and radio but none mention if you can also play a CD in your PC/Laptop and listen to this through the wireless speakers too. Is this possible?

Any advice much appreciated.

Mankysteve

Richer sounds do the sano stuff http://www.richersounds.com/information/sonosPage

Although personal I would go with the ripping my collection slowly onto a Classic Ipod. And have a dock in each room.