Suppose you store music files on a computer in your study, but you'd like to have access to those sounds while you're in the kitchen, bedroom or any other room in the house (without spending silly money on a whole-house distributed audio installation).

The Logitech Squeezebox Duet provides a cost-effective solution: £279 buys a receiver and controller for the first room. That controller will also operate any other £99 Squeezebox Duet receivers — along with other models from the range including the audiophile-grade Transporter — that you may decide to add in other rooms.

There's no need to have a hi-fi in those secondary rooms: a pair of active speakers is all that you require.

Versatile music player

Setting up a Squeezebox Duet consists of installing two components: there's the receiver, which you connect to your system amplifier (or active speakers) and the wireless controller (along with its charging cradle) that acts as the user interface with the device.

The third component, which isn't included in the box, is a networked computer on which you run the free SqueezeCenter software that acts as the brains of this outfit. The Duet will connect wirelessly through Ethernet, or in a hybrid network, mixing wired and wireless connections. This is the arrangement we used, with control being wireless and music travelling through reliable Cat5e cabling.

While the Squeezebox Duet plays music files that you have stored on your computer it will also, provided you have a broadband internet connection, let you listen to internet radio. As far as stored music is concerned the Squeezebox Duet and SqueezeCenter support a wide variety of formats, both uncompressed and compressed.

Formats that the receiver hardware cannot support natively are converted to be playable through transcoding provided by SqueezeCenter. Transcoding is not an altogether good thing so stick to native formats whenever possible.

Easy to set up

Usefully, SqueezeCenter can also use the iTunes music library. However, it cannot play songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store if they are protected by Apple's FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM) software because Apple refuses to license that to other hardware manufacturers.

For what is an extremely high-tech piece of equipment, the set up procedure is a fairly straightforward affair, so long as you follow the instructions. If you don't, then it's a simple job to reset everything and go through the setup again... this time as instructed! And for what is not an especially expensive piece of equipment, it seems well thought-out and neatly put together.

The controller is the star of this show, with its configurable 2.4-inch colour LCD screen and its iPod-style scroll wheel and straightforward controls.

Connectivity options

We auditioned the Duet using an uncomplicated, but revealing system comprising a Naim SuperNait amplifier, Chord Company interconnects and loudspeaker cables and Neat Petite loudspeakers on Partington stands.

The Squeezebox receiver provides both analogue and digital outputs, with the latter being either coaxial or optical. We used the coaxial option and fed it through the SuperNait DAC, which offered improved performance over the integral DAC in the Squeezebox.

We set up networking using a Cat5e cable connection — which suffers none of the noise and hash that mars wireless transmission and delivers better dynamics and low-level detail — routed through a metal-cased Netgear Fast Ethernet switch to the PC.

Realistic tone

Feed the Duet a good signal and it delivers a highly respectable performance that will wipe all thoughts of how little it cost from your mind. Do as we did and play it through a decent DAC and we reckon you'll be absolutely delighted with this sub-£300 purchase.