paddydog

Thanks Melvin, that looks like the sort of thing I am after. Will have to wait for after Christmas now, but that's OK.

Audio_ELF> which rules out the Apple TV (it is also a lot more expensive than the Airport Express). I don't have an iPod (Nokia N97 does the job for me). Your comment about a separate DAC via optical connection interests me though. Is this much better than the mini-jack to RCA? How does it work with the Airport Express? If I just opted for a wired USB DAC to RCA what sort of products are available that won't break my budget? Is there any way to isolate the sound source doing this so I only get the sound from, say Spotify or Windows Media, rather than all the computer's noises for email arriving, etc? The Airfoil product seemed to solve this.

which sounds like it would do the job. Only question now is how do I cable an Airport Express to my hifi (which I think only has RCA connections)? Thank you both for your input!

I have a Vista (Windows 7 eventually) laptop.

Hello, I want to find a cheap and cheerful solution to be able to play music from various sources on my laptop (including Spotify) without a wired connection to my hifi. I'm not looking for top-end audiophile components. Maybe I have come to the worng place, but my hifi is a 20-odd year old collection of technics separates which still sounds fine. I just need something that works elegantly. I looked at something called the Chord Gem, but that is out of my price range. Can anyone suggest anythiing useful?