The generally more expensive 7.1 surround sound systems add left back and right back speakers to the setup. There are various options when it comes to choosing a surround sound wireless speaker system. Completely wireless systems however, are all but impossible to find currently. At the moment, the best you can hope for is a unit with wireless rear speakers. While this obviously means that you have to use cable for the front speakers and subwoofer; it does mean that you won’t have any long leads trailing to the back of the room. This makes it a great option for most situations applications.
A good example of this type of surround sound system is the Sony DAV-IS50. This 450w, 5.1 unit comes with ultra-compact satellite speakers (the rear ones are wireless) about the same size a golf ball, which makes them unobtrusive and easy to site anywhere. Don’t be fooled by their size though, these speakers provide plenty of volume to fill a large room. The subwoofer is also compact but powerful.
A cheaper alternative is to buy a system such as the Rocketfish wireless rear speaker kit. You can pick one up for around $100, and they are really simple to set up. You just need to plug a transmitter into your home entertainment system and a receiver into your rear speakers (speakers are not included). The system gives you uncompressed CD quality (16 bit) sound using a 2.4 GHz signal with a claimed range of 100 feet.
Any audiophile will likely tell you that wired systems are superior to wireless ones, and they would almost certainly be right (at the moment anyway – the gap is narrowing all the time), but for most of us, surround sound wireless speakers are a convenient alternative.
Don’t forget you may need surround sound speaker stands for your system.