Old speakers to wireless and iTunes

Anne_Marie_2

I would like to be able to play music which is stored in iTunes on my iPad wirelessly through an old speaker dock which has really great sound (to me anyway). The iPad works well with the dock, just sometimes a bit inconvenient to have it connected, particularly when working in the kitchen, when the speakers are in the living room (open plan living room to kitchen) and want to change music on the iPad, or sitting outside.

I read on here a while ago about Chromecast Audio and thought that would be the thing for me, but have read that it doesn’t work with iTunes, and not likely either in the near future or ever, as Apple don’t seem to be interested, so that is scored off my list, which is a great shame, as it’s around £30.

The speaker dock in question is a discontinued Klipsch iGroove HG. http://www.klipsch.com/products/igroove-hg-ipod-speaker-system
I connect the iPad to the dock via a jack plug lead, as the lead in the dock is too short to support the iPad, it works well with this, albeit a bit untidy. I can live with that, rather than spend a fortune on new speakers.

I also have Apple TV (3rd generation), which I can use to connect iPad via Airplay to my tv. Apple TV doesn’t have a jack plug socket, but something called optical audio. It’s great to be able to watch some video which I have on my iPad on the tv, and I know that I can listen to music too, but the tv speakers are not as good as the speaker dock, and really I don’t need the tv to be on if I am only listening to music. If I could connect the speaker dock to Apple TV this may be an option?

I have been googling and trying to make sense of the options. One is Airport Express which comes in at £79, which is a bit more than I’m willing to pay. Others talk about different cables and connections through Apple TV, and really I have not got a clue or any understanding of the technology.

Can anyone give me any help here please?

flashg67

I only speed read your post so hope I understand what you're after - apologies if not!

How about a bluetooth receiver that plugs into the headphone jack on your dock and will play the music sent from your ipad - presume ipad has bleutooth?

Example here - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth-Wireless-Audio-Transmitter-Receiver-3-5mm-Music-2-in1-Adapter-PC-TV-/272050875278?hash=item3f577eeb8e:g:Zq4AAOSwFGNWTiCU

Gloomendoom

As above. I have a bluetooth receiver connected to the aux input of my amp.

This one...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O8GASEA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I can recommend it.

Anne_Marie_2

Thank you both, will look into that.
I had wondered if Apple TV could be connected somehow to the speaker dock, to enable me to use Airplay on the iPad.

wba31

The Apple device you could buy to do what you want to do is Airport Express http://www.apple.com/uk/airport-express/ but £80 is a lot to spend on this compared to the alternatives already offered. have you tried googling an alternative for airport express?

this seems like an interesting forum on that result http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/airport-express-alternative

Or have a look at gumtree/ebay for used versions

Anne_Marie_2

Thank you, will have a look at that forum. I have tried googling, but Airport Express seems to be the one that pops up, and quite frankly, it's too expensive for my needs. If I was to spend that amount, I'd probably be as well getting wireless speakers. Sounds as if bluetooth is going to be the cheapest option. Appreciate your input, many thanks.

wba31

Your thread got me thinking last night, i have a printer, cable only thing, that since i have moved i have nowhere to put anywhere near my desk.
Airport Express would enable me to plug it in, albeit in another room, and print wirelessly. BUT for £80 i could buy a brilliant wireless printer and have change for spare ink!

Anne_Marie_2

wba31 wrote: »

Your thread got me thinking last night, i have a printer, cable only thing, that since i have moved i have nowhere to put anywhere near my desk.
Airport Express would enable me to plug it in, albeit in another room, and print wirelessly. BUT for £80 i could buy a brilliant wireless printer and have change for spare ink!

Indeed!

After reading through that link you gave, lead me on to other things.
I came across another option for me which is a wifi Airplay receiver, something like this.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012825VCE/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00IHGMGNI&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=10S6GEWB783XRQPVH4V1

Also brought to mind that I have another small hifi system which never gets used any more purely because I tend to play music through the iPad, and I should either get some kind of system going that links everything, or get rid.

KathysBoy

I have an Apple TV connected to an old TV without a digital audio input so I convert it using this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002KHA1J6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

And this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-3-5mm-Female-Stereo-Audio/dp/B00KTHGDCS/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1455616353&sr=1-4&keywords=rca+to+3.5mm+jack

Anne_Marie_2

Thanks KathysBoy, already have Apple TV connected to my tv via HDMI lead. What I wanted to do was connect it to speakers without having to have the tv on to enable me to play music from ipad to speakers wirelessly.
From what I have read so far, this seems to be not possible, so another bit of kit required, such as bluetooth, Airport Express or a wifi Airplay receiver seem to be the options available.