Internet Radio throughout my home

[Jeffrey Noah]

Please Help,

I want to receive Internet radio in three locations:
B. In a bedroom (BR) mini audio system on the same floor as my computer, 20 feet away, around two corners;
K. Another mini in the first-floor kitchen (K), 10 directly feet below my office; and
S. The main audio system (S) in the room adjacent to the kitchen, ten feet below and 30 feet laterally from the kitchen.
TV. Maybe add the TV room in the basement.

Currently, I use an eMac (OSX 10.4.11).  For those who do not know, an eMac is a 62 pound, 17 x16 x16" monster, not including the keyboard. I expect to purchase an iMac (OSX 10.5+) for my office, on the upper floor.  I could retain the eMac behemoth, adjacent to the stereo system. 

I would prefer wired connections to wireless.  I once read about a multi-cable (coax +USB +Firewire +RCA +?) which could be inserted within walls to provide a networked home.  Would amplifiers be needed?  Where could I find the cable types and a competent electrician who could wire my home?

How may I connect the two computers, so I may listen to Internet radio throughout my home?  My Internet connection is cable, high-speed.  My 1994-built home contains 7 coax cable outlets, located where I want computer signal outlets.  Why can't I use that in-house cable system to distribute my computer signals?

Please offer wireless and wired connection suggestions.  I prefer to avoid wireless connections because of RFI and possible intrusion.
I am computer literate, but not computer enlightened, so simple terms, please.

Would a home-wide FM broadcast wireless network function as well, at lower cost?

Alternatively, do the new generation of Internet radios offer unlimited access to the Internet?  (E.g. Sanyo R227: http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=Sanyo+Internet+Radio+R227&btnG=Google+Search&meta= )

To date, Macintosh iTunes offers adequate classical music stations to amuse me, but I would like to add BBC, RDF (France), Deutsche Welle (Germany), Italian and NHK (Japanese) Internet broadcasters.

...
From the Apple Macintosh web site http://www.apple.com/ca/imac/features/

"Built-in freedom.
Turn your house into a wireless wonderland. High-speed 802.11n wireless technology is built into iMac. And with Time Capsule or the AirPort Express Base Station, every computer in every room can connect to iMac, the Internet, and each other. Over this network, everyone can print, surf the web, and even play music from the iTunes library through your home stereo — wirelessly."

Jeffrey Noah
jnasher@rogers.com

[Dan Millar]

Hi Jeffrey,

I'll start off by recommending the lo-tech, lo-cost solution - a standard wireless re-transmitter will probably be your best bet. I'm assuming you want the same tunes in all locations simultaneously - is that right? Put the base on your eMac, and the receivers wherever you need them. To get remote control of the tunes, you could use screen-sharing on another Mac to control the eMac. (VNC, Leopard, etc.)

I'm sure someone here has a better idea how to do this, but this is the solution I have been using for a while, after trying a lot of different technologies. The two problems i kept running into were synchronization and remote control - my lo-tech solution solves the sync problem, but the remote solution is not the best. iTunes Pro anyone?

Dan

[ben schmidt]

I want to receive Internet radio in three locations:
B. In a bedroom (BR) mini audio system on the same floor as my computer, 20 feet away, around two corners;
K. Another mini in the first-floor kitchen (K), 10 directly feet below my office; and
S. The main audio system (S) in the room adjacent to the kitchen, ten feet below and 30 feet laterally from the kitchen.
TV. Maybe add the TV room in the basement.
I expect to purchase an iMac (OSX 10.5+) for my office, on the upper floor.  I could retain the eMac behemoth, adjacent to the stereo system. 
How may I connect the two computers, so I may listen to Internet radio throughout my home?  My Internet connection is cable, high-speed. 
Please offer wireless and wired connection suggestions. 
To date, Macintosh iTunes offers adequate classical music stations to amuse me, but I would like to add BBC, RDF (France), Deutsche Welle (Germany), Italian and NHK (Japanese) Internet broadcasters.

Jeffrey,
There are many, many possible approaches. And while you prefer wired, your solicitation did include wireless suggestions, so here's one:

1) At each location where you want audio signals, plug in an Apple Airport Express basestation. Run a standard stereo patch cord from the AirPort Express' stereo mini-jack output to the AUX IN on your various stereo's.

2) Then use the built-in wireless of your new iMac and iTunes to route iTunes audio to these Airport Express basestations.

3) You can control iTunes from anywhere in your house using the Apple Remote app for the iPod Touch (or iPhone).

...b

PS. If there is any audio content you cannot play via iTunes, Rogue Amoeba's Airfoil can send the audio output of any software (browsers, etc.) on your new iMac to these Airport Express basestations.