I'm looking for some active Bluetooth speakers with BT connectivity for my home office setup. Ideally sub 10" height and must have a sub out RCA. Can I do any better than Audio Engine A2+ for £186?
In true stw fashion I’d say spend an extra £70 for the Kanto Ora below - you won’t be disappointed I promise., I bought a pair along with the matching Kanto sub and Wiim ultra/A-T turntable for my mates kid Xmas last year and on their own they sound bloody fantastic, certainly much better than my 14yr old audioengine a2 I use in my kitchen, the A2’s are mid bass heavy/bloated and with little directivity due to non existent wave guide but acceptable enough for kitchen duties and for making noises, but the kanto’s sound much better with the measurements to back that up
https://www.richersounds.com/kanto-ora-black/
Cheers, I did look at those in initially but will dig a little deeper
Fwiw I spend most of my life (not through choice btw) sat on my arse in a room with £3k acoustic room treatment listening to £5k of active subs/monitors with dsp applied for room modes and I’m patiently waiting on my kitchen A2’s to blow up so I can replace them with the kanto’s
for my mates kid Xmas last year
That's a hell of a kit list for a mates kid, I hope they loved it and you are clearly a generous friend!
I am just here to chime in with the 'if you can use something like a wiim' so you don't have to bluetooth to them, you might want to, but I prefer not walking away and losing connection or having that compressed high hat noise you get with digital compression.
Personal solution is Ruark Mr1mk2's and an old Yamaha sub, optical out from a wiim pro, sounds good enough to me, but somafunk as a killer room setup.
A few months ago I replaced my broken desktop speakers with the Kanto Ora's. Nothing wrong with them but feel they're desperately in need of a sub.
That's a hell of a kit list for a mates kid, I hope they loved it and you are clearly a generous friend!
I
His mum/dad (was) are my best mates and I’m sorta his “godfather style without any religion”, his dad died horribly of throat cancer in early 2018, my dad died unexpectedly in late 2018 (hospital ignorance/not listening) and I was diagnosed with SPMS in 2018 so quite a traumatic year. Nico has helped me out for the last 6+ years in house n’ stuff and he’s also been a good teenager for his mum, was made head prefect this year (5th year). He loves listening to my audio setup and going to gigs so I thought he deserved something decent in his bedroom to annoy the **** out of his mum 😉
I've got these: https://www.edifier.com/global/p/bookshelf-speakers/r1280db For the price they're great.
I've got these: https://www.edifier.com/global/p/bookshelf-speakers/r1280db For the price they're great.
Ive got those as well and very happy given decent price
I'm looking for some active Bluetooth speakers with BT connectivity for my home office setup. Ideally sub 10" height and must have a sub out RCA. Can I do any better than Audio Engine A2+ for £186?
I would highly recommend Edifier or Majority bookshelf speakers or, as I did, get a good TV Soundbar ( I got a Majority Snowden model). sounds superb to me, linked easily via BT with Echo for my Amazon music + podcasts. My budget was lower, and I decided Bookshelf speakers would take up more space....
Have listened to the Kanto speakers a few times now (mostly at the Bristol Show). Yes, they are finely packaged and look great. Personally, though, I was not overly impressed with the sound quality for the money. I would be more inclined to go down the Edifier route - which is what I have for my office environment. I have the R1700BT and they are great. There are other options such as Adam Audio or even Ruark if you fancy going a tad more expensive - all will give you a better sonic experience than Kanto, IMHO.
Not bookshelf sized, but I have the Edifier S1000W's and they are excellent
I’d look at Edifier. Mine are 1280 so quite basic but still great. Reviews suggests that for the price Edifier models out perform brands like Audio Engine
Or 2 sonos sl 1 s, which i have in the kitchen. These are better but more expensive.
I am currently looking for some for our new house - a sound bar / lounge set up I can use with TV and for the kitchen / dining room.
Gumtree has many such speakers, and some seem really good for not a lot.
I'm looking for some decent PC speakers for work... something bigger than the crappy Logi ones i have, but maybe not as big as monitor speakers... suggestions?
DrP
I have the R1700BT and they are great. There are other options such as Adam Audio or even Ruark if you fancy going a tad more expensive - all will give you a better sonic experience than Kanto, IMHO.
The edifier are -4db down at 60hz and have a very bloated mid bass with treble lift of up 4db at 10,000khz+, great if you are a fan of such boom...tizz sounds but rather shite and fatiguing, I've heard them whilst auditioning kantos at Peter Tyson.
Unless you can show that the edifiers have better CEA2034 measured response than the very competent kanto's then I have to consider your hearing may have issues, 😉 , or you just like the boom...tizz sound quality, but to say they have a better sonic experience than the kantos is measurably false
I too am running Ruark MR1-mk2s (no sub) as my home office speakers. Driving them direct with output from an IFI DAC. Sound w TIdal or qubuz is great.
Get that listening is subjective as well as objective, but this set-up works well for me. The new Mk3s are on the What Hifi list for 2025 (but a bit rich perhaps)
I'm looking for some decent PC speakers for work... something bigger than the crappy Logi ones i have, but maybe not as big as monitor speakers... suggestions?
DrP
Edifier 1280s are the way to go IMHO
Cheers for the help, finally settled on the slightly bigger Kanto Ora 4 that sit nicely under my monitors. Same price as the Oras at Peter Tyson and can be used in conjunction with my sub as a loudish party system. If anyone fancies the Oras in white, electric shop are doing them for just over the 200 mark with codes.
I have the R1700BT and they are great. There are other options such as Adam Audio or even Ruark if you fancy going a tad more expensive - all will give you a better sonic experience than Kanto, IMHO.
The edifier are -4db down at 60hz and have a very bloated mid bass with treble lift of up 4db at 10,000khz+, great if you are a fan of such boom...tizz sounds but rather shite and fatiguing, I've heard them whilst auditioning kantos at Peter Tyson.
Unless you can show that the edifiers have better CEA2034 measured response than the very competent kanto's then I have to consider your hearing may have issues, 😉 , or you just like the boom...tizz sound quality, but to say they have a better sonic experience than the kantos is measurably false
Yes, my hearing is defective but then that applies across the board. I can only presume the Edifiers you heard were broken in some way as mine are absolutely the opposite of boom-tizz. So, no, my experience is not measurably false. I too have listened to both - possibly one of the points I made that you must have missed, and my comments were based on my personal experience. If I thought the speakers I've got were boom-tizz, I would have sent them back. Sure, they are my office speakers and I pretty much only use them while I am working, so no need for top level hifi. But for the money, they are excellent. And my listening experience with the Kantos was not.
Errrr ok…..cool 😎
If you want really dinky, I picked up some Edifier M60 the other day... liking them so far.
They stand a tad under 7" tall without the included stands that angle them up slightly.
Pictured here next to a 'normal' size bookshelf speaker.
Only thing is, no pre-out for a sub, but for PC speakers that are decent quality, you just don't need one, and your looking at £200+ for a half decent active sub anyway unless you go second hand.
I agree with @somafunk I was completely underwhelmed with the Edifiers I had.
I chose the edifier M60 as I wanted small, and they have a pretty good onboard amp -
Total Output Power (RMS):
Treble 15W x 2
Mid-low 18W x 2
The needed a bit of EQ to be fair as the presets all seemed to have scooped mids, especially upper mids, but there's a basic EQ on the app that you can change and set on the speakers:
I think my Edifiers sound sublime, they blow away the much acclaimed Audio Pro T20's that the replaced.
But then they are sat in a glorified shed and I'm not and audiophile sat in an acoustically sound isolated room.
That said, why are we arguing the toss about bookshelf speakers for a home office?
I'm sure any of the suggestions posted will sound great for the brief submitted by the OP