August is the month that Best Buy celebrates all things audio with their AudioFest event which runs from 3-30 August at all Best Buy stores.
As part of the August AudioFest I was invited to take a look at the Samsung Shape M7 Multiroom speaker system which I received this week and I must say ever since they arrived music has filled our house for the first time in a long time.
A few years ago we digitized our entire collection of music CD’s and they are hosted on our Windows Home Server 2011 machine and we tend to listen to the music quietly at our desks. Sometimes I would crank up the volume on my Windows PC so that I could hear the music out in the house but it was not the best audio quality.
With the Samsung Shape M7 speaker the way we listen to music has already changed in the short time the system has been here and the quality of my listening has improved ten-fold thanks to the M7 system.
Let me give you some of the specs and details on the system:
- Samsung Shape Wireless Audio is an expandable system – now music can follow you anywhere in your house. Play one song in any or all rooms, or different songs in different room from any number of speakers. Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® connectivity lets you send music from your library or favorite App straight to your AC powered speaker.
- Control volume, streaming services and playlists, or switch to a speaker in a different room. However you enjoy your music, Samsung Shape™ Wireless Audio makes it happen.
- Enjoy music stored on your iOS or Android device, PC or Mac with this Samsung M7 WAM751/ZA speaker that features a Bluetooth interface and NFC (near-field communication) technology for easy wireless pairing with compatible devices.
- Compatible with select iOS and Android devices and select PC and Mac computers including devices with iOS 4.3 or later or Android 2.3.3 or later and computers with Windows XP or later and Mac OS X 10.0 or later operating systems.
- Built-in dual-band 2.4/5.0GHz wireless LAN allows easy connection to your home network, so you can enjoy Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, Rhapsody and other music services through the speaker. An Ethernet port permits wired connectivity.
- The WAM250ZA Hub connects to your existing home network and lets you connect to your Samsung Shape M7 speakers wirelessly.
Setup and install of the speakers and connecting them to the hub, pictured below, is as simple as plugging the hub into an AC outlet and your wireless router and then plugging in your M7 speakers. Pairing happens automatically.
You may have noticed in the description above that there is no Windows Phone version of the Samsung Multiroom app to access and manage the Samsung Shape audio system. I did contact Samsung tech support but unfortunately they could not reveal any information about future releases.
However, that will not stop anyone on Windows or with a Windows Phone from using the system because of the ability to connect to the speakers using other methods.
If your phone has NFC then pairing to the speaker via Bluetooth just takes tapping the phone to the left side of the Samsung M7 where the NFC chip is.
You will immediately be prompted on your phone to pair via Bluetooth with the speaker.
Once you are paired up you can now use the Xbox Music app or any other audio app you may have to stream music straight to the speaker. The range and quality of the sound using Bluetooth is very good.
I even used an inexpensive USB Bluetooth Transceiver that costs less than $10 on my Windows 8.1 Desktop machine to connect to the speakers and subsequently stream music to them. Of course my Microsoft Surface 2 and its built in Bluetooth abilities made it very easy to connect to the M7 and stream music.
If all else fails there is an Auxiliary Audio jack on the back of the speaker and you can plug your favorite MP3 player into that and listen to music directly. My brown Zune 30GB player has never sounded better.
So despite no direct app support for Windows devices there are ways to get your music out on these great speakers.
There is an Internet Radio button on the left side of the controls which will pull in stations over the network that you can listen to via several services but unfortunately they can not be changed without the Samsung Multiroom app.
From left to right – Internet Radio, Bluetooth, TV SoundConnect, Volume and Power buttons. These are all touch buttons and not mechanical in anyway.
The speakers are very nice looking devices and blend in well with most decors. The M7 comes in either black or white.
Keep an eye out for future posts from me to give you more details about using the Samsung Shape M7 audio system with alternate connection methods and I will have an iOS device at my disposal soon to try the actual Samsung Multiroom app and see how it works with the system. I will even have a review of the iOS Samsung Multiroom app in the near future.
Remember to Love the way you listen!
Samsung – Shape M7 Wireless Speaker for Most Apple® and Android Devices – White (Best Buy)
Samsung – Wireless Speaker Hub (Best Buy)
Check out the Best Buy Audiofest – Love How You Listen site.
Note: I have been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free. All opinions and viewpoints are mine. See my disclosure policy here.