Review: Powerline Audio wireless multiroom system

One of the main problems with audio and AV is wires. There's spaghetti everywhere in the average audio visual enthusiast's house but it's almost always seen as a necessary evil rather than a fun part of the AV experience. Not that this has always been the case. There was a time not so long ago when wires were simply an unavoidable consequence of an interest in hi-fi or AV - it's really only recently that wireless options have started to become viable and affordable, without the need for professional installation. Sure, many of us would love to have fully functioning multi-room systems, free of wires and complications, but most of us are put off by the price, others by the hassle and concerns about degradation in sound quality.

Most 'wireless' systems involve setting up a data network to which various devices connect. But did you know that there's a data network already set up in your home? It's called the mains electricity supply and it can be used to carry audio, and potentially video, as well as other data, in much the same way that a wired Ethernet or wireless Wi-Fi network would.

The concept has been around for some time - it's how baby monitors work, for example, though their sound quality is no more than telephone standard. Powerline Audio however is the first device we've come across which makes use of the copper wire mains supply to carry music-quality audio signals around the home, although there are others in development.

The Powerline Audio system consists of two identical boxes, one of which plugs into your sound source, be it CD player/mini system, PC or even direct internet link. The other plugs into a set of powered speakers or hi-fi system in another room in the house. Incidentally, the devices contain isolation transformers which prevent the mains current from travelling up the connecting wires and shorting out your mains supply (or damaging your equipment).

It's not particularly relevant for audio, but the device comes with 56-bit DES link encryption, which would protect your data being hacked into by someone sharing the same power ring.

As well as piping music from one system to another, the system can also be used to stream internet radio around the house. This can be done either by plugging into the sound card of your PC or by using the supplied Ethernet cable. You'll need to connect it to a PC to set up the channels (there are eight presets available) but once that's done, you'll only need one device (£89 each), together with an internet bridge (£40), which you then plug directly into your internet connection and a set of powered speakers or hi-fi.

Performance
Connection could hardly have been simpler. I plugged one of the devices into the sound card jack in the back of my PC (the one I usually run my PC speakers from) using the supplied RCA phono adaptor, which connects to a standard 2.5mm mini jack lead (which I had, but wasn't supplied). The other device plugged into the back of the amp in my hi-fi system using standard twin RCA phono jacks. I selected the same channel for both devices using the button on the front and the connection was pretty much instant.

There's a noticeable delay of around five seconds between switching on your music and hearing it through the Powerline-fed speakers, which is a bit disconcerting at first, but not a problem once you get used to it. Because the device automatically encodes audio to MP3 and transfers it at 192Kbps, you're not going to get hi-fi quality, or indeed anything like it. However, if you just want to make the already compressed music content on your computer available to other rooms in the house, or if you want to pipe background music into another room for a party, then this is perfectly adequate, though I found that I had to crank up the volume a few notches to get the same level as I would from my CD player.

At present, there's no option to use a remote control with the Powerline Audio. So you'll need to fix your volume settings from the source, and you can't fast forward or reverse tracks from the room you've piped your music into, which is a drag. Apparently, it would be possible to do this, but it would require a more sophisticated (and therefore more expensive) device than this one.

Verdict:

It's a shame there's no remote control option, and that the sound quality is limited to MP3. There is greater potential inherent in the system however, and future models with greater bit rates are planned, which will transmit video and high quality audio. In the meantime however, as a quick-fix 'wireless' connection for multi-room sound, it's extremely easy to set up and use and of course fully transferable to any room that has a power point.