How shall i do it ? Complex question about how to use the airport express or time capsule ?

Question

Hello All,
Right now i have an access point:
1/ A mercury router (cheap and old)
2/ Airport Express
Do you advice me to use it to replace my cheap old router (mercury) or to pair it with this main old router ? (however i tried to without any success)
3/ Time Capsule
Can i use it to relay the signal from the Airport Express to extend the range  of the wifi?
Can i use it to stream music to my B/W M1 speakers directly ? (I will connect by USB the BW M1 to the time capsule) and would like to be able to play music this way. Is this in anyway possible ?
Many thanks for your reply !

Answer 1

ok, i might be wrong but here goes:
you should attach your modem to your time capsule: your time capsule will act as not only your time machine but also your main wireless transmitter.
you set it up using "Airport Utility" which is inside the "utilites" folder, which is inside your applications folder.
this connects your mac wirelessly to the internet.
to stream music to your speakers you then set up the airport plug to (a) join the existing network (which you set up on the time capsule) and then (b) set it up to stream music to your speakers. again, this is done using "airport utility". do it AFTER you have set up the time capsule.
you will then be able to use itunes to stream music to your speakers. from itunes on your computer you will be able to chose from the bottom right hand side of the window whether you play the music on your computer or wirelessly into your B+W speakers...
some notes:
1. you won't be able to connect the airport plug by USB to your speakers as the airport plug doesn't have a USB output. It has only analogue and optical.
2. although your time capsule has USB you cannot stream music into it or through it. there's some basic guidance here:
http://www.apple.com/wifi/
3. you may find that the sound quality [if you are playing apple lossless files or wav files) isn't as good as if the speakers were connected directly to your mac via USB.  this should be especially noticable because your speakers are so good!
if the music you play is only mp3 or the stuff purchased from itunes then it shouldn't make too much of a difference.
4. keep an eye out on the B+W website: there may come a time when you won't even have to use the airport plug, and you will be able to stream music straight to the speakers. i know that B+W have just done that with the new Zepellin speaker that they make.
hope this helps...