WiSA Explained
WiSA Explained
Normally, you wouldn't really see the term WiSA in a discussion of 5.1 home theater. It stands for Wireless Speaker and Audio Association, and is not only an organisation, but also the name of a technology. Put simply, the technology allows different audio components to communicate with each other – similar to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Play-Fi. It's specifically designed to transmit audio with virtually no latency, which is super important if you're watching a movie or series. Why are we only mentioning it now? Because you're going to be hearing a lot more about it in the future. As smart TVs become more entrenched in our lives, they're going to need to send audio directly to speakers. That's where WiSA comes in. It's a proven, existing technology for transmitting audio wirelessly across short distances, and we think it's going to be everywhere this year.
Think about it like this: one of the most annoying things about traditional home theaters is wiring. Having to connect every speaker to a central point is a giant pain. Wireless home theater – and it's worth noting that there are a couple of excellent systems on our list already, like the Axiim 5.1 WM Series – is the next logical step. Sure, you have to plug each speaker into a power outlet, but it's not that big of a deal for most people. Currently, there aren't many existing wireless speaker packages for home theater, because transmitting audio seamlessly to five or more speakers at once is actually pretty tricky. WiSA simplifies the process and works with almost no setup required.
Right now, there are no systems on our list that use WiSA – but they're definitely on the way. The forthcoming Klipsch Reference Wireless system uses WiSA, and we will have many more thoughts on that in due course. In particular, we are looking forward to seeing how the sound quality holds up versus a traditional wired speaker systems.
Normally, you wouldn't really see the term WiSA in a discussion of 5.1 home theater. It stands for Wireless Speaker and Audio Association, and is not only an organisation, but also the name of a technology. Put simply, the technology allows different audio components to communicate with each other – similar to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or Play-Fi. It's specifically designed to transmit audio with virtually no latency, which is super important if you're watching a movie or series. Why are we only mentioning it now? Because you're going to be hearing a lot more about it in the future. As smart TVs become more entrenched in our lives, they're going to need to send audio directly to speakers. That's where WiSA comes in. It's a proven, existing technology for transmitting audio wirelessly across short distances, and we think it's going to be everywhere this year.
Think about it like this: one of the most annoying things about traditional home theaters is wiring. Having to connect every speaker to a central point is a giant pain. Wireless home theater – and it's worth noting that there are a couple of excellent systems on our list already, like the Axiim 5.1 WM Series – is the next logical step. Sure, you have to plug each speaker into a power outlet, but it's not that big of a deal for most people. Currently, there aren't many existing wireless speaker packages for home theater, because transmitting audio seamlessly to five or more speakers at once is actually pretty tricky. WiSA simplifies the process and works with almost no setup required.
Right now, there are no systems on our list that use WiSA – but they're definitely on the way. The forthcoming Klipsch Reference Wireless system uses WiSA, and we will have many more thoughts on that in due course. In particular, we are looking forward to seeing how the sound quality holds up versus a traditional wired speaker systems.
