Getting a multi-room sound system and an iPod to play nice isn't always easy. Despite the number of workarounds, the end result is almost always the same: a mess of wires and audio that goes from slightly askew to horridly unbalanced when you move from the living room to the kitchen. Believe it or not, the solution isn't that complex. All manufacturers need to do is ditch the wires without forsaking audio quality, and add a system for balancing volume between the speakers.
By the numbers, Eos' 100T1RB Wireless Audio System is what any wire entangled apartment needs. The relatively small system consists of a base station with an iPod/iPhone dock, an auxiliary out port, and satellite speakers capable of wirelessly syncing to the base. Although my "core" system came with four satellite speakers, the 100T1RB's audio driver is calibrated for 2.1 sound, so it didn't exactly mimic true surround sound like I had hoped for. But with its small satellites and low profile base, it proved to be one of the more discreet multi-room systems I've used.
Wireless setups like this often come with a host of connectivity headaches, but the 100T1RB was surprisingly simple. I literally plugged everything in, connected my iPod and cranked up my favorite playlist. (Ghostface Killah, what?!) That was it. No initialization, syncing, encryption or frustrated swearing necessary. The consumer in me attributed this to the magical audio elves, but the gadget hound in me had to do some investigating. It turns out that Eos has outfitted the unit with proprietary tech that allows it to hop frequencies within the 2.4GHz band. Without getting too complicated, the system works like a charm. Even in an apartment with a half dozen computers, a cordless phone, and bevy of other gadgets clogging the 2.4GHz band, the 100T1RB was able to stream audio smoothly at 48KHz to all the satellites.