XSA VANGUARD LOUDSPEAKERS

Ilove the name of this brand and I like that they have been bold enough to dare to do something different from the norm. For the record XSA stands for Extremely Sexy Audio that are US-based and says that their design and management team have over 110 years of combined experience in the audio, electrical, and aerospace engineering fields. They also say that they offer value via their direct selling model – there are no distributors or dealers.

So what you have here is a pretty normal and conventional-looking loudspeaker that has a 13cm paper cone woofer and a 2.8cm silkdome tweeter. There are a single pair of good-quality binding posts around the back and these will accept all the usual speaker cable terminations.

These are a compact two-way speaker measuring 7.5” x 12 x 8, which from the front has them about the same size as an A4 sheet of paper. This size should see the Vanguards acceptable in pretty much any space and mean that they can be mounted on shelves or on stands. However, once they are on stands they will, like any standmounter, take up a similar amount of real-estate as a floorstander.

The package felt lightweight (the speakers are a little over 11lb (5kg) each and I though thought these speakers were going to be a tad flimsy and, well, lightweight. I was wrong and once out of their box, they feel solid and well put together.

The speakers are 83dB sensitive and offer an 8ohm load. The former is pretty low but I had no trouble driving them with the Clones Audio’s 25W a channel.

In reality, there’s not much else to say about the way these speakers are put together, other than to add that they come with grilles that attach magnetically. The review pair came in “Satin Brown” but for the same price you can have them built in bamboo which is an eco-friendly product or for $100 more you can have them in Gloss Blonde. For European markets, I think the lighter colours are better and I particularly like the look of the bamboo, though I’ve only seen that online.

Costing $999 and sold direct, the Vanguard speakers from US brand XSA are a throwback to the classic British speaker Stuart recalls from his youth. How do they perform in the modern world?

Reviewed by Stuart Smith