Fluance’s $200 stereo Bluetooth speakers sound is almost too good to be true

Fluance’s $200 stereo Bluetooth speakers sound is almost too good to be true

6 years ago
Anonymous $cyhBy-qkd5

https://www.cnet.com/news/fluances-200-stereo-bluetooth-speakers-sound-is-almost-too-good-to-be-true/

As regular Audiophiliac readers know, I haven't covered too many wireless products, mostly because they usually cost more and sound worse then similarly priced wired products. Paying more for inferior sound doesn't make sense to me, but I've now found a couple of Bluetooth speakers that rise enough above the norm to deserve positive reviews here. Last week it was the Kanto YU6, and now it's the Fluance Ai40's turn (the Adam T5V doesn't have Bluetooth).

The Ai40 is a sealed (acoustic suspension), not ported design, and the sound was free of bass boom and thickening I hear from a lot of small speakers trying to sound bigger than they are. The Ai40 has a 1-inch (25mm) silk dome tweeter and a 5-inch (127mm) woven glass fiber composite woofer. Power is rated at 35 watts per channel. Connectivity is limited to two sources: analog stereo RCA inputs and aptX Bluetooth, that's it. Audiophiles take note, the Ai40 sounds clearer with the stereo RCA wired inputs, no surprise there. The included remote control toggles between the RCA and Bluetooth inputs, bass and treble controls, mute and volume buttons.