Before there were iPhones and iPods, we had the home sound system complete with turntables, tape decks and CD players. Nowadays, cloud based services and mobile devices have taken over the way we listen to our favourite music, but there is something to say in favour of those old systems: they look great in our interiors. A Kickstarter project launched in November 2013 and called Rocki encourages us not to throw out those vintage systems but to embrace them by making them wireless. That’s why they designed the Rocki Play, small dongle that can turn any speaker into a WiFi enabled sound system, allowing to stream music to any room in the house, directly from your PC or smartphone.

In order to incorporate all of the systems on the market, the Rocki Play connects via a 3.5mm jack or RCA system or speakers and streams music to make it wireless. However, both your speakers and the Rocki Play need to be plugged into your wall sockets – making it hard to hide all of the wires. There are Android apps and iOs apps to pair your smartphone to the Rocki Play, and you can stream through Apple’s AirPlay. Another possibility if you favour Android is the microUSB connection that enables control of the music selection played.

To use the Rocki Play, you have to set it up and connect it to the network. The process takes some time, but the company offers an extensive manual to guide you through. The device has a battery capacity of seven hours of non-stop music, so keep in mind to charge it once in a while. One drawback is that you can’t see how much battery life you have left.

The beauty of the Rocki Play is that your old sound system is back in use instead of sitting there idle and – dependable on your material – it will probably sound better than most smartphone speaker docks. If you have more than one Rocki Play (and they come in different colours), you can set them up to play different music in the rooms of your house, using different mobile devices. Alternatively, guests can set up the Rocki Play to stream from their own smartphone.

More information on the Rocki website, where you can order the Rocki Play from $49.

There is also a Rocki Play + that offers additional HDMI & Optical (TOSLink) connections (starting from $89)/

Tech Specs

• Wifi 802.11b/g/n (AP / Hotspot mode supported)
• Music Formats Supported : MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF
• Music Streaming Services Supported : TBC pending licensing request with the respective music streaming services
• ROCKI App versions : Android, iOS, HTML5 (for Windows Phone, PC & Mac)
• Connectors : 3.5mm Stereo (Audio) / MicroUSB (Power/Charging)
• Included : 3.5mm to 3.5mm Audio Cable, 3.5mm to RCA Audio Cable, USB Charging Cable, USB Charger
• Battery : 900mAH
• Dimensions: 92 x 54 x 17mm / 48g