Hi. So I'm sound designing my grad school production of Shake's "Love's Labour's Lost". We've got a Victrola that Moth carries around stage following Don Armado and I would like to put a speaker in it and operate it wirelessly. However ... I've not the first clue how to get started or what to use; obviously an RF Transmitter/Receiver but how to kluge is tall together is another matter.
If you have access to a wireless in ear monitor (IEM) system, you could rig up the receiver inside the device as in input to an appropriate speaker / battery system. That way you can input any signal you want from your board to the unit.
Any big box store should have wireless computer speakers. Leave the base at the mix, take the speaker apart so you can put the receiver in the Victrola body with an antenna wire dangling out if needed and mount the cone in the horn with some foam padding. Voila! Having the cone out of the enclosure will make it sound worse which should be just what you're looking for. Having it in the horn of the Victrola will give you some natural amplification, a double bonus!
Why don't you just let it be a "real" prop, and put a small tape or digital recorder with a speaker in it? It can't be too hard to hide one of those handhelds inside a victrola case, have it turned on and ready to play, and let the actor push play when he/she "starts the record".
I'd +1 the IEM idea, but unfortunately its the most expensive if you don't already have/can borrow an IEM rig.
If you can't do the IEM:
If you went with wireless computer speakers, you'll need to be especially aware of transmit range as I imagine they're not that long range. One I just looked at said 30ft. Depending on the space you're in, you'll want to hard run to the transmitter on stage as close as possible to where the prop will be used, and even then it might be problematic if you have a large playing space.
As far as making it actor operated, this always creeps me out a bit as it adds a lot more opportunity for human error. As such, I personally avoid this whenever possible. On the plus side though, probably cheap to rig, and you wouldn't have to worry about transmission range like you might with the computer speakers. If you absolutely have to go this route, I'd say leave as little prep and fiddling as possible to the actor (including between cues if there are more than one for the rig?). Have crew do as much of this as possible.
