If you have a smart phone or tablet with Bluetooth, you can get Bluetooth speakers and then only have to worry about a power source for the speakerx. I love the Tune in Radio app.

We have a Sonos wi-fi system with the speaker on a small table in our sitting area beside the kitchen. This works well for us. You have me thinking about top of the cabinet speakers though. I'm interested in what others have to say.

I love the Sonos system and I'll bet you can work those in with the above-cabinet speakers some how. My husband mounted ours somewhere above our cabinet too at our last house.

My DH bought me the B&W sound system. It is awesome - you do stream from a computer, iphone, or other toy - but it is wireless streaming.
The sound is awesome.
The only caveat - it needs a plug (no batteries) so need to plan its location.
I store ours in my "cave" with a pull out drawer. The sound is so much better outside of the cabinet.
Here is a link to ours - http://www.crutchfield.com/p_749A7B/Bowers-Wilkins-A7.html?tp=61551&awkw=45997065265&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=17195352385&awdv=c
There is a slightly smaller version.

Thank you!
A plug isn't a problem for me as I have one for the OTR microwave (Horrors I know, but it works for me) and another one in my corner cabinet. It is actually a plus because I would prefer one that wasn't built to be portable. I am looking at another small one that is battery powered and portable but it wouldn't be enough for the kitchen while having company.

I have looked into Sonos but having wireless is not much of a problem with me but the more i look at the wireless options the more I am starting to like them. I do have a few questions though.

I've heard the sound quality is great but would one be enough to fill a room with sounds or do you need multiple ones? My kitchen is somewhere around 15X25 but is is very open to the rest of the house and at this point I can't justify over 1000 on a sound system for the kitchen.

Also, do you have to get more than just another speaker to be able to different music in different rooms?

Thanks again,
Stuart

I am trying to understand the difference between a sonos is system and an apple system. I hope Others can explain.

I have a Sonos play:5 on an open shelf with a plug in the wall.

Sonos is more flexible than an Apple system. You can stream iTunes through Sonos, but you can also stream other music services (Rhapsody, Spotify, Pandora, etc). You can stream through Sonos using their speakers, or you can buy a Sonos pre-amp and hook up your own speakers. You can combine multiple Sonos devices in your house and sync the audio signal to let you walk from room to room and hear the same stream. You can control all of your Sonos devices from your smartphone or a Sonos remote.

I recommend Sonos as well. Sonos is audio management distribution as well as speakers. You can get a portable Sonos zoneplayer+speaker box for the kitchen "zone" that will allow you to use iphone or ipad to direct music to the kitchen zone. If you have a separate speaker system, the sonos zone player can direct music to just those speakers. Our kitchen audio setup is a Sonos zone player which directs audio to a Bowers & Wilkins single unit Stereo unit in the kitchen banquette. We also have outdoor speakers hooked up to Sonos. I prefer sonos, as I can easily select itunes or pandora or our NAS server with music or even NPR.

We have in-ceiling speakers on the first floor, including the kitchen. They are all powered by the speaker system in the family room. Different rooms can have different music/radio/etc at the same time.

It's not a new build, so our system was installed after we moved in. It took only a few days for two skilled professionals to finish the entire install (all the equipment and supplies were ordered in advance). They drilled holes through joists and studs to get the speaker wires through the walls and ceilings. It runs from the family room to the kitchen, take a left-turn to the dining room, take another left turn, go across the foyer, then to the home office, etc.

After the install, we only had to patch a couple quarter-size holes in the ceiling drywall. The big holes are covered up by the in-ceiling speakers. It was surprisingly convenient for us.

In case anyone wants more info on apple audio setups, I had asked some questions on the apple forum and received some helpful (but still complicated) info that I'll link to for anyone interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apple Discussion