My very first apartment was a studio apartment. It was one large room in which I ate, slept, and entertained. I loved it. One of the things I loved most about it was that I could put on music and hear it from anyplace in the apartment.
As my life changed and I upgraded to a one-bedroom and subsequently a two-bedroom apartment, I missed being able to hear my music as I walked from one room to the next. I dreamed about setting up a system where I could hear my music in any room. But it seemed prohibitively expensive.
In the late 1990’s, I flirted with this idea by purchasing some speakers that worked on radio waves. I put a few speakers around the house and was able to hear my music — as long as I could get a clear signal. I packed them up when we moved into this apartment 14 years ago and for some reason never unpacked them. Eventually I got rid of them.
Over the years, my way of listening to music changed. Instead of playing a CD on the stereo, I was more likely to load it into iTunes and listen on my computer, which is in my home office in a corner of my living room. I also started listening to internet radio on Sirius XM. I started thinking in a new way about my music and how it could be consumed.
A few weeks ago I took another plunge into the world of wireless HiFi. With some advice from my tech guru David Saphier of Tech Concierge NYC, I purchased a pair of Sonos speakers for my living room. Now I could control my music from my computer, my iPhone, and my iPad. I could sit at the dining room table and change channels and adjust volume. I could also look at the display from any device and see what exactly Sirius XM was playing.
I packed up my mini-component stereo and donated it to a local thrift shop, making the living room look less cluttered. I was loving this new direction!
Last week I plunged even further into this new world. I purchased two smaller speakers — one for the kitchen, and another for my bedroom. Now I can play my music in all the rooms simultaneously, or I can play different things in different rooms. I can listen to music in just my bedroom before I go to sleep, without having it play in the other rooms.
I feel so young and hip.
My Spacious Night Table
I also feel richer. In my bedroom, I had a Bose Wave Radio, which I bought 13 years ago. At the time, I loved that I could play CDs in my bedroom and that I could set my alarm and wake up to high fidelity music. Lately, however, I was using it as an overpriced bedside clock. Plus it took up a lot of real estate on my night table.
In preparation for installing the Sonos speaker in my bedroom, I decided the Bose needed to go. I just sold it on eBay for approximately half of what I paid for it! The top of my night table is so spacious now. I have room for my reading material. I sleep with my iPhone charging on the night table, so it has become my clock.
Selling the Bose radio on eBay started a cascade of selling other pieces of technology that I wasn’t using anymore. More on that next time.
