There are some whole-house audio distribution systems that have wall control units that double as an amplifier and receive a signal wirelessly. I can't remember where I saw that.

In one of my earlier rants I said that what is really needed is a standard. Not just an ethernet plug or some other kind of plug, but a standard data interchange protocol.

For a while I have started to wonder if the video game industry has replaced the "adult entertainment" industry as the pioneers in home entertainment technology adoption. I believe the video game industry would be the first to drive some device-to-device communication revolution. After all, a successful video game makes a lot more money than a successful movie nowadays. If the video game designers want their games to be able to be played by a Nintendo DS user against a PSP user wirelessly, well... money talks... The game console is poised to become the center of every home entertainment system. As a Linux zealot, I am sad to say that Microsoft may have actually out-maneuvered everyone in that race with their Xbox, and who better than Microsoft to coerce the hardware manufacturers into building some inter-operability into their systems. Heck, Microsoft has been doing just that for about 30 years before they even had their own hardware. Which means that instead of an open standard, we will all be buying software licenses from Microsoft to install in our preamplifiers. For some interesting reading, check out Apple TV. This is starting to remind me of the Newton, an Apple PDA that came out about 5 years before anyone realized they needed one. Once again, Apple is limiting its potential in order to keep their customers as happy hostages.
...end of conspiracy theories...
I now return you to your previously scheduled program.