SPEAKERS
ISSUE 381|COMPUTER SHOPPER|NOVEMBER 2019 83
speakers –some speakers can sound distorted
or strained as theyget louder.It’s something
we look out forintesting, although the good
news is that none of the eight products we’ve
tested will struggle toomuch.OUTDOORVOICE
Back on the issue of portability,it’s not
enough to just be small. The two other
ingredients forasuccessful wireless speaker
are battery lifeand weatherproofing.
The former will, as always, vary according
to different factors such as battery size,how
loudly the speaker is playing and whether it’s
streaming music over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Generally,anything that can last foratleast
10-12 hours between recharges won’t feel as
if it drains tooquickly.Alonger battery lifeis
always better,and will make it easier to take
on holidays or to festivals without having to
worry about the charging cable.
Weatherproofing is also essential if you
want to take your speaker intothe great
outdoors, even if it’s just to your garden.
Waterand dust can kill aspeaker forgood,
so check whether aspeaker meets acertain
ingress protection (IP) rating. The higher
the rating, the better the protection: forinstance,anIP67-rated speaker will be
completely dust-proof, and can be fully
submerged in one metre of fresh water
forupto30minutes. At the very least,
considering British weather,don’t go
below the IPX2 rating, which lacks
dust-proofing but certifies forprotection
against water droplets.RIDINGTHEAIRWAVES
We’ve already mentioned afew different
ways of connecting asource device to a
speaker,but some methods enable
functionality that other connections can’t.
Get your speaker connected to Wi-Fi, for
example,and you can playmusic directly
from online streaming services, as well as via
asmartphone paired over Bluetooth.
Bluetooth support is much more common,
which means it’s worth knowing about
different codecs: how data is encoded and
decoded when transferred over Bluetooth.
SBC is effectively Bluetooth’s default codec,
but this has alower bandwidth than aptX.
Speakers that are aptX-compatible will
therefore sound better,asbeamed music
doesn’t have to be so aggressively
compressed in order to fit through the pipe.speakers, are the quintessential audiophile
speaker: theycome in pairs (at aminimum),
and are designed to sit permanently in your
living room. Theycan also be more expensive,
and generally must be connected to ahi-fi
amplifier or receiver rather than smartphones
or laptops, but you’ll be rewarded foryour
effort and investment with top-quality audio.
Sumptuous sound can also be attained
with asingle wired speaker,such as the Ikea
Symfonisk or Naim Mu-so 2. Because these
aren’t proper hi-fi speakers, theycan be
controlled by phones, tablets or PCs, or play
music from adevice connected via a3.5mm
jack or USB. These kinds of more mainstream
speakers are better forthose who don’t have
or don’t want adedicated hi-fi system, but are
still happytokeep the speaker within the
comfort of their own home.
Forsomething that can be moved room
to room or even taken outside,abattery-
powered wireless speaker is perfect.
These are –bynecessity –smaller than
most wired indoor speakers, which has the
benefit of making them portable but can
also limit their sound-outputting capabilities.
This is because their drivers –the round
components that vibratetocreatechanges
in air pressure,which is what you hear as
music –are smaller as well, which makes it
harder to re-createlower frequencies.
Nonetheless, it’s easy to find aportable
speaker that pumps out good-quality audio,
and often forlower prices, so it can
sometimes be worth buying one even if
you mainly want to listen indoors.
GOODVIBES
Sound quality itself comes in afew different
forms. Ideally you want abalance of low,mid
and high frequencies: astrong low end will
ensure deep,punchy bass tones, while clean
mids help keep instrumentals sounding their
best. Likewise forhigh frequencies, which
can cover anything from guitar solos to
falsettovocals.
When testing, we’ll also be listening for
awide soundstage.This refers to the
three-dimensional space that quality
speakers will be able to create: you should
be able to hear if,for instance,acertain
instrument is coming from the left, right or
centre of this ‘stage’. Vocals should, in most
cases, be brought to the front, not recessed
towards the back –unless this was part of
the artists’ intent, of course.
Effective instrument separation is also a
part of creating avivid soundstage: the better
aspeaker is at making it possible to pick out
individual instrument tracks in acomposition,
the more rich and detailed the music will seem.
Nobody wants to hear their favouritesongs
sound muddled and indistinct.
There’s also the matter of good old-
fashioned volume.Unless you’re hosting
raucous parties then you probably won’t
need to crank up the volume to very high
levels, but –asyou’ll understand if you’ve
ever used integrated laptop or phone
BOOKSHELF PAIR
QACOUSTICS3010i
Simply agreat-sounding set of hi-fi speakers at avery reasonable price.
Although they’re bigger than the 3010 speakers theyreplace,they’re still
nicely compact and easy to fit on atable or mantlepiece if you’re not
bothered about mounting them. The increased proportions also allow the
drivers to do more work, resulting in abigger sound.
We also like the Bowers &Wilkins 607,which pump out the most
exquisitely detailed audio you’ll hear from any of the speakers in this test.
The 3010i, however,still sound fantastic, and are alot more affordable.SINGLEWIRED
IKEASymfonisk
Fewwould have guessed that not one,but two of 2019’s best new speakers
would have an Ikea badge on them. That said, although the Swedish furniture
company can be credited with the Symfonisk family’s lovely designs, it’s audio
specialist Sonos that provides their rich sound and smarts.
Owning aSymfonisk is hardly different from owning any other Sonos
speaker,meaning you get some intelligent app support, multiroom
connectivity and, most importantly,anextremely capable set of drivers.
The ‘lamp’model sounds abit better,while the ‘bookshelf’model is cheaper,
but both are good buys.WIRELESS BLUETOOTH
UEBoom3
Better mid-frequency sound than the UE Wonderboom 2, cheaper than the
JBL Xtreme 2and more weatherproofthan the Marshall Kilburn II: the Boom
3isawireless speaker that has it all, or at least near enough to it.
Despitebeing portable enough to grasp in one hand, the Boom 3outputs
sound in afull 360°, so it’s perfect forfilling both large rooms and outdoor
spaces with tunes. Rain won’t bother it at all, and even if it takes aknock
intoabath or swimming pool, not only will it still work, but it will float to the
topfor easy recovery.