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Hello, need some decent sounding (but definitely not audiophile) speakers that I can stream spotify to while working in my office at home. Would like to spend less than £100, but would stretch to £150 for something compelling.
In true STW style, please tell me what you got 🙂
I think Sonos have a deal with Ikea to produce some shelf speakers. I know some people struggle with Sonos but I have an old Sonos3 that I don't have any issues with. I'm not sure if they're Bluetooth; I think they're wifi, but either way they'd do the job.
I have the Edifier R1700BT and they're unnecessarily good for the money, which is about £120.
Edifier bluetooth. I threw out my Sonos and replaced them with Edifier last month - should have done it years ago.
Yeah, Edifier 1700 or 1800BTs are very good. Bit bassy but they work well and sound good.
I’ve also got the Edifier R1700bt (in white) and I’m really pleased with them. I started a thread on here and out of all that options they seemed to best blend of options / price.
They have plenty of bass for the music I like listening to whilst weight training but also sound crisp too.
The white ones look really smart too.
I'd recommend two Boom speakers from Ultimate Ears.
You can pair them up in mono/stereo and adjust the settings on your phone. They're well built, sound good and the battery lasts well.
Edifier R1280DB here, after a recommendation on here.
Another +1 for Edifier at that price point.
I have some of these: https://cpc.farnell.com/edifier/r1280db-maple/speaker-r1280db-maple/dp/CS32327?CMP=TREML007-005
Excellent and under 100 quid. If I were buying the same, i'd get the same thing.
I've got wired PreSonus E3.5 speakers in the lab at work and they're ace. They do a BT version that's round about £100
I like Anker /Soundcore stuff; it is often on offer plus cashback, and provides a decent ratio of quality vs cost.
I had a set of the wired Edifiers (R1280T) and I wasn't impressed. Maybe I had a duff set, but I wouldn't bother with them again.
I was using a UE Boom till the wife nabbed it. I was then using a spare soundbar (the sub went and kept the bar) for a little while but the sound was off due to the missing sub.
I have since picked up some Sonos Ones second hand and like them, if you keep an eye out they'll come up for £100ish on average. I actually managed to get one for £50 few weeks back!
I would have recommended the Audio Pro A10's because they were £90 on the direct site last week but the sale has finished now.
Still a strong recommend at a higher price though.
They have wide sound dispersal, amazing musical timing. They are wifi multi room, bluetooth multi room and you can plug devices in to the 3.5mm aux in and make that multi room as well. They can also make stereo pairs so they have all basis covered and you can expand the system over time
https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/audio-pro-a10
It’s hard to get past Edifier for value. Pairs for every budget
Has anyone said Edifier?
Bought mine at the start of lockdown when I realised how long I would be spending in the home office
They have … amazing musical timing
What does that sound like?
OP, looks like you might need some kind of sub for the Edifer R1700s: ‘ 60Hz - 20kHz’ response might miss those thundering mono bass beats from some music.
OP, looks like you might need some kind of sub for the Edifer R1700s: ‘ 60Hz – 20kHz’ response might miss those thundering mono bass beats from some music.
Not with that budget, cheap subs sound awfull and boomy, and are nigh on impossible to blend in with the stereo pair.
You're simply not going to get 'thundering bass beats' without a ten inch or twelve inch woofer, with its own dedicated amp.
If you were spending £500+ then maybe, but with a budget of £100-150 then a decent stereo pair of active speakers will give a far better overall sound.
What does that sound like?
sharp and clear where they need to be. Too many speakers at this price get muffled and miss the details, like asking Kathrine Jenkins to sing a tricky aria
My Edifier r1700bt have plenty of bass to annoy my wife through the wall between my garage gym and the lounge. I don’t even run them on full bass most of the time. I love a good subwoofer, but don’t feel I need one with those speakers in my gym. Maybe if I were running them with a tv for films a sub might be nice - I don’t know if there is a version of the 1700s with a sub out. But some of the Edifiers do have a sub out port.
Another happy edifier user here. R1850db.
Use in the lounge connected to the TV (optical) and for streaming music (wired and bluetooth). This model does have a sub out but really not felt the need. Bass and treble controls, and the bass is turned down a little for a nice balanced sound. Clear vocals and dialogue (which was crucial for my TV usage) and plenty of umph when playing music.
Ignoring the price, just for my own comparison before buying any, how do the Edifiers compare with a Sonos 1 sound quality wise?
how do the Edifiers compare with a Sonos 1 sound quality wise?
It depends which models you are comparing, for example with the edifiers you generally get incrementaly 'more', the higher the price.
For example it could be higher spec tweeters and/or larger mid/bass drivers, a slightly more powerfull onboard amp, more connectivity options, better remote, etc.
Also, some are front ported, some are rear ported, some have a line out for a sub, etc.
So it really depends!
https://www.edifier.online/collections/2-0-bookshelf?sort_by=price-ascending
Left field suggestion, if you want something realy small and compact for desktop/PC use, these little things really pump considering they only have 2.5 inch mid/bass drivers...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Gigaworks-Multimedia-Speaker-Black/dp/B001E5PJ5Q
But if you pump up the volume, they fall to pieces really fast, and totally lose control. Very good sound quality though if you want something in a small package/small footprint at a moderate volume.
Although these cheeky boys have an additional optical in, 2 x RCA line in, and a line level sub out, if that's your thing.
https://www.edifier.online/products/edifier-r1280dbs-active-2-0-bluetooth-bookshelf-speaker-set-black.. it looks like you sacrifice a bit though...
These might be a better choice if you don't intend adding a subwoffer: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/edifier-r1700bt-2.0-studio-speaker-system-maple-sp-04u-er.html
To mix up the above posts, I have the Creative T20s on my computer and plugged into the telly, and a set of Edifier R1700BTs in the garage for Zwift/pottering. They are both great sets of speakers for the money,
In the meantime, there's a guy on youtube that does comparison videos, swapping between various sets of speakers, playing various types of music. The link is one comparison for the R1700s; you can search his vids for more.