group test
aktiMate BlUesOUND Dali DeFiNitiVe teCHNOlOGY DYNaUDiO HeOs keF klipsCH rUark aUDiO sONOs sYsteM aUDiO triaNGle YaMaHa
Wireless speakers
Last issue we tested a group of soundbars, and finished up, on the whole, sadly unsatisfied. Might active wireless stereo speakers provide a better solution, delivering good music as well as improved TV audio? We’ve reviewed 13 models here, and the answer is a big YES.
I
t seemed like a simple task — assemble a collection of active hi-fi loudspeakers. Specifically stand-mount/bookshelf size — indeed one of our thoughts was to emphasise how a pair of speakers like these either side of your TV may be a much better solution than most soundbars. But also they’d be good for listening to music from various other sources — and in nearly all cases direct from your smart device of choice. Indeed if your preferred music is now all available to your smart device, either stored on it or as a streaming service, then some of these active speakers may be enough to form your entire hi-fi system, all on their own. We decided not to aim at a particular price point, but more broadly to give a sense for what might be available for different budgets. Our main aim was speakers with a nice bit of sound quality and, of course, built-in amplifiers, and we had in mind simple speaker boxes. But several of the 13 models we ended up with turned out not to be not a natural stereo pair, rather part of a multiroom system. In each case two of them can be joined together — connected via your home network — as a stereo pair. But that added a
layer of complexity, especially as some of them were fine doing stereo when fed music from the network using their app, but couldn’t deliver stereo audio from an external input; indeed, one set didn’t even have any physical input. Most models here have Bluetooth to stream from a smart device or laptop, and most with Bluetooth include the higher quality aptX codec which delivers better sound from those Android phones which support it. Only one had the AAC codec which allows Apple devices to deliver better than bog-standard Bluetooth. Most of the network-capable speakers supported Spotify and, in some cases, other streaming services. Most of them could not act as generic DLNA renderers, which would allow you a choice of DLNA player software to send tunes from any shared music on your network. Instead they lock you into their app. And an iOS or Android device was essential to the proper use of nearly all of them. If you’re considering a pair of speakers from this kind of space, read through and give consideration as to the kind of connectivity you want. While our bias is towards the more hifi-ish speakers, both in styling and layout, you might want to go multiroom so that you can
send music throughout your home when not sitting down to listen to a stereo pair. Throughout, as always, we gave the greatest weight to sound quality. And although bass is important to us, we excluded ‘2.1’ speakers (with separate subwoofers) since that goes against the simplicity we were hoping to show to be possible here. That said, we certainly considered bass enhancement capabilities — chiefly, is there a subwoofer output (and do they need one)? So in addition to standalone listening, we gave those with such an output a listen with a subwoofer as well, to see the improvement as well as in case there were any untoward interactions. I used the subwoofer that normally sits under my desk, the rather nice little Krix Seismix 1 Mk4 with a downwards-firing 200mm driver and a 200W amplifier. It’s a very good match for high-quality small speakers, though of course good subwoofers aren’t particularly cheap — the current Krix Seismix 1 is $895. So read on, and see what you like. As always, we suggest you take our judgements here as suggestions and that you audition the ones that interest you at a hi-fi shop before making a final decision. Stephen Dawson
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