No doubt you have tried AirPlay through your Apple TV or Airport Express but you might also be looking for a great set of speakers or a receiver that you can use with AirPlay.  There are some specialized speaker sets already hitting the market which have built-in AirPlay capability.  Here’s what they are and how to use them.

AirPlay Speaker Systems And Receivers

The first question you might be asking yourself is why you would want a dedicated set of speakers for Airplay.  One of the advantages you get with dedicated Airplay speakers and receivers is that they include features such as displaying the name of your songs, track information, and zero configuration.

There are actually two routes to go here.  You can get an Airplay receiver and then add your own external speakers or you can actually get an entire Airplay speaker unit (it’s the receiver and speaker all in one single unit).  Typically, the receivers will cost more but they will provide the best sound and features such as the ability to also act as your Home Theater Surround Sound.

AirPlay Receivers

Denon makes some very nice Airplay receivers.  Using one of their receivers you can instantly stream music from your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or your iTunes library.  And if you use the Remote app you don’t even need to be in the same room as all of your audio components.

With Denon equipment you also get to see the following information about your music right on the receiver itself:

• Album Art
• Track Titles
• Artist Information

Here are some of the Denon receivers that support AirPlay:

Denon AVR-991 (Click Here For More Information)

Technical Details:

• The equal power amp design features 7 discrete power amp circuits, and each channel is rated at a powerful 125 watts (8 ohms, 20 Hz to 20 kHz, .05% THD). Denon’s versatile Power Amp Assign function lets you use 2 of the 7 amp channels for surround back speakers, or front height effects speakers, or they can be assigned for second zone multi-room speakers.
• Decodes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIz, DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS ES 6.1 Discrete, DTS ES 6.1 Matrix, DTS Neo:6
• HDMI 1.4a Repeater Inputs (6) and Output (1) support 1080p/24, 3D (All formats) Audio Return Channel, 7.1 Uncompressed Audio, DVD-Audio, Deep Color, Auto-Lip Sync and CEC
• Anchor Bay ABT-2015 advanced analog and digital video 1080p/24fps/60fps upconversion and deinterlacing with multi-cadence detection
• Audyssey DSX surround processing, Audessey MultEQ automatic room acoustic measuring and correction system, Dynamic Volume and Dynamic EQ audio processing

Denon AVR-3311CI (Click Here For More Information)

Technical Details:

• Fully discrete 7-channel power amplifier delivers 125 watts per channel (875-watts total)
• Decodes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Surround EX, Dolby Pro Logic IIz,
• HDMI 1.4a Repeater Inputs (6) and Output (1) support 1080p/24, 3D (All formats) Audio Return Channel, 7.1 Uncompressed Audio
• Anchor Bay ABT-2015 advanced analog and digital video 1080p/24fps/60fps upconversion and deinterlacing with multi-cadence detection
• Audyssey DSX surround processing, Audessey MultEQ automatic room acoustic measuring and correction system

Denon N7 (Click Here For More Information)

Technical Details:

• Compact 65-watt/ch (4-ohms, 1KHz) AM/FM/CD receiver with built in iPod dock and networking capability. Made for iPod and iPhone with digital audio transmission.
• Internet radio and network audio straming via Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Online support of Napster, Pandora and Rhapsody (Service subscription may apply)
• Supports Apple AirPlay allowing straming of music files directly from iTunes music libraries located on Mac, PC, iPod Touch and iPhone.
• Allows playback of music files stored on PC or NAS when networked connected. Front mounted USB input for playback of WMA and MP3 music files. 96kHz/24-bit audio format capability.
• Hard button remote control included. Supports “Denon remote App” for operation control by iPod and iPhone.

Denon AVR-4311-CI (Click Here For More Information)

Technical Details:

• The fully discrete 9-channel power amplifier delivers 140 watts per channel (1260-watts total).
• Enhance network capability: Internet Radio and network audio/photo streaming via Ethernet.
• HDMI 1.4a Repeater Inputs (7) and Outputs (2) support 1080p/24, 3D (All formats) Audio Return Channel
• Decodes Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Surround EX
• Audyssey DSX surround processing (supports 11.2 ch.)
• Discrete Mono Amp construction has 4-ohm speaker drive capability

Marantz AV7005 (Click Here For More Information)

Technical Details:

• Ver.1.4 3D ready 6 HDMI inputs(including 1 front input) 2 selectable outputs
• USB input for music playback with iPhone/iPod and USB memory
• Bluetooth capability with option RX10
• Network player function for music/photo streaming, Compatible with Windows7, Support UPnP, Internet Radio(v-Tuner), Online streaming service available: napster, PANDORA, Rhapsody and flickr, iPhone/iPod Touch Apps Control
• Audyssey Dynamic Volume, Dyamic EQ, DSX and MultEQ XT room accoustic calibration

Airplay Speaker Systems

There are not that many Airplay Speaker systems out on the market as of yet.  However there will be more in 2011.  The current one that is most talked about is the iHome Discover. It will be released early 2011 and is a complete unit.  It has the following features:

• Complete Wireless Music Control
• Multi-room audio (with multiple units)
• Completely portable
• iPod, iPhone Docking capable
• App Enhanced
• Capacitive Touch Panel
• Rechargeable Battery

When it goes on sale the suggested pricing will be $299 for each unit. The nice thing with the iHome is that it will work with Airplay right out of the box with nothing else to set up or configure and it can all be controlled via your iPad or iPhone.

There are a few Airplay Speakers and Receivers.  Most of these systems are high-end and can be used for far more than just Airplay but they do have built-in functionality which makes it really easy to have a great audio experience right out of the box.  Keep your eyes out for more systems as we learn more to see what will come onto the market.  It’s an exciting time for Audio especially now that we are moving toward wireless system.

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