R1280DBs

Really pleased with these - I have them set-up in our kitchen on top of the fridge connected via optical to an Apple Airport Express and wired to an Amazon Echo Dot. They have replaced an Amazon Echo Plus that I never got on with, the sound quality although loud, was really harsh. They were well packed and come with a decent length cable for between the two speakers, an RCA cable, an optical and a headphone socket to RCA cable. The small remote is also included, along with a battery. The speakers are a good weight, feel well made and I really like the wood finish. We leave them powered on all the time which means that they work well with Alexa and the sound quality from the Alexa dot is good. Streaming iTunes from the Airport with Apple’s higher quality stream the sound quality is really very good, excellent for the price in my opinion. Good stereo separation and sound field and really good dynamic width with decent low level bass without being boomy. I don’t have a subwoofer connected, but to be honest I don’t feel the need for one. Given that the speakers are sitting on top of a huge steel fridge freezer that may well be helping with the solid sound, either way sounds pretty good to me. In terms of volume, our kitchen is medium size, and they are more than loud enough and have not experienced any distortion at the levels we’re listening too. Some reviews have mentioned background hiss, but so far in my experience there is no detectable background hiss, noise or other interference. The remote is small and lightweight but does the job, it’s a bit confusing that the remote has buttons labelled ‘on’ & ‘off’ where these are in fact not power buttons, but instead are for turning on a truly terrible ‘sound field extension mode’; this just surrounds horrendous, is totally unnecessary and my advice is ignore it and never go there! Bluetooth seems to work well, only used it to test pair to my phone which was fine. I like the fact that the power supply is integrated (so no annoying brick), it would be nice if the power lead could be disconnected, but a minor gripe really. Overall, an excellent pair of ‘bookshelf’ speakers, really good sound for the size, well constructed and very flexible in terms of input source options. For what we’re using them for I don’t think I could have found anything better for even a substantially higher price, very pleased and would recommend them.

I'm really pleased with these, they look and sound great. I bought them to upgrade a single box bluetooth speaker in our large kitchen/family room (400 sq ft). It had served us very well for many years but had become our main "stereo" and it had both poor bass and treble response. Having researched broadly, these seemed the perfect replacement: A stereo pair, adequate amplification, small enough to get my wife's approval, additional inputs if required in future (e.g. chromecast audio and sub). They have a very crisp and clear sound and bass is good for their size and price (they are not floorstanders). They are definitely loud enough - to get high volime on bluetooth you obviously need to set the speaker volume to max and then control final volume on your source device. Note that compared to the R1280DB model, these don't just add a subwoofer socket: They have a nicer remote, better technical spec and bluetooth 5.0.

Bought this set to replace an old and mostly broken DAB/CD micro system, realising that streaming etc are far more significant ways of listening in this day and age. Rigged it to an old tablet for streaming (e.g. TuneIn, Spotify, BBC Sounds) and stored mp3 playback via line in, optical digital input from TV and leaving the Bluetooth channel open for ad-hoc casting from phones etc. Having posted a query on here about the dubious sizes quoted in the specs, I am happy to report that the measured dimensions of each speaker are W = 5.75in/14.5cm, H = 9.5in/24cm and D (with grilles) = 7in/18cm. The dimensions quoted "per speaker" were actually for the retail packaging. Width and height turned out to be identical to our old speakers, so a physical drop-in replacement. Note that the "brains" are in the right hand speaker, and the tone controls on the right hand side of it. Power cable (hard wired) is 5ft, and the speaker connection cable (which could do with clearer polarity marking) is 8ft. Power consumption on standby is less than a watt (does not even register on my meter) and idle (powered but no sound) is 2 watts. There is no hum or hiss at idle that I can discern. Initial impression is very positive, though only had a couple of days. The sound is decent enough for the size of the units, with plenty enough bass for an old fogey in training. Everything I wanted to connect worked first time - analogue, digital and Bluetooth, with cables supplied for all wired inputs other than digital coaxial. The tone controls do not have as much effect as one might hope but can compensate for the acoustics of different shelves/cabinets etc these might be accommodated in. Input selection is straightforward especially via the remote, with a second tap on the relevant button for the secondary function (e.g. line-in #2, or coaxial rather than optical digital) acknowledged with an extra flash of the different colour LED behind the grille on the right hand speaker for each input type. The input selection and standby status appears to be memorised between physical powerings. A little surprisingly, the volume control on the side of the right hand speaker duplicates that on the remote; I had imagined it might be a physical limiter, but this is not a problem. In terms of any negatives at this early point: It's a shame the system does not memorise per-input volume settings, which would be easy to do with a fully electronic system such as this. It would be useful to have a left/right switch function, to allow the "brains" unit to be the left-hand speaker if that made the controls more accessible, though to be honest they are not generally needed when the remote covers day to day functionality. There's a reasonable lag on the digital input - thankfully approximately corresponding to the maximum compensation available on our TV (250ms) but not all TVs might allow this level of adjustment, so be aware if buying specifically for soundbar-type duties. I doubt there is any scope for end-user firmware update given the lack of any kind of accessible service port, so any improvements to these issues would have to wait for a later revision. It's a bit excessive taking up two buttons on the remote for the sound enhancement function that most people would probably not use at all. The remote itself is extremely directional and very clicky, though nicely finished and smart looking. Overall though, an amazing product that I can thoroughly recommend. If you think these are the kind of active speakers you're after, you're unlikely to be disappointed.

Arrived Saturday10th promptly. Initially though, only the secondary speaker worked, as both green & a red light were showing on the main speaker. Once the hand controller button (Line1/2) was pressed, I assume that factory pre-set mode kicked in and established itself properly. These speakers are reasonably good value for money, whilst supported admirably, by their UK distributer! Only fault being: The quick-start guide is rather ambiguous. Therefore, the product depends on a customer that tries out all control settings/adjustment, to establish full functionality at the outset! Worth the money! Sounds good! Finally, product recommended.

Ich habe die Boxen jetzt seit einem Monat im täglichen gebrauch. Habe sie an mein desktop-setup angeschlossen und lasse jeden Tag Musik, podcasts und Höhrbücher laufen. Alles klingt glasklar und zu keinem Zeitpunkt über- oder untersteuert. Habe zwischendurch auch mal mein Smartphone über Bluetooth gekoppelt, super Funktion btw! Alles easy und schnell. Auch das umschalten klappt wieder zackig. Für diesen Preis kriegt man wirklich eine astreine Anlage! Würde ich jederzeit wieder kaufen

Ottimo prodotto, esattamente quello che mi aspettavo come rapporto qualità prezzo, estremamente ben rifinite e con un suono ben definito e sufficientemente potente per riempire una stanza di 60mq.