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Forbes

Technology

Mark Sparrow, Contributor

Are Active Bluetooth Speakers Space Savers Or A Disappointment?

Active speakers are increasingly popular these days, especially with younger consumers or anyone short on space or cash. They’re ideal for people who simply want a pair of speakers with a built-in amplifier and so do away with the hassle of setting up a separate amplifier and streaming unit. With a pair of active Bluetooth speakers and a smartphone, you can get many of the benefits of a traditional hi-fi set-up and only need to find enough space to house a pair of bookshelf speakers. What’s not to like?

The latest pair of active Bluetooth speakers to turn up on my desk for review comes from Germany, and it’s a brand I’ve not heard of before. However, anything made in Germany is usually pretty good so I agreed to take a look at these solid speakers designed to fit into a student’s bedroom or maybe used as a pair of external speakers for a home computer.

The Thonet & Vander Kürbis BT Studio Monitors are designed and manufactured by a German company that was founded in Berlin, way back in 1949. The company’s founder, Hannes Josef Einrich, established his electronics business using his experience gained in telecommunications during the Second World War, Thonet & Vander was reformed in the early 1990s by a team of German engineers so they could manufacture speakers for the mass market.

With an integrated digital amplifier and a Bluetooth receiver, the Kurbis BT claims to deliver “exquisitely balanced frequencies from extreme bass lows to crystal clear treble tones”. The amplification is rated at 68W, according to a sticker on the speaker. That’s 34W per channel, while on the box the speakers arrived in, there’s the claim that these speakers deliver 340W peak power. That’s a bit of a fantasy number as it’s the maximum amount of power that cane delivered for incredibly short periods, quick transient peaks in the signal and bears no relation to the constant power output. It’s a misleading figure and anyone seeing such a high number on the box might be seduced into thinking they were getting some sort of monster 340W sound system.

The PR blurb that came with the speakers claims there’s no distortion, even at 100% volume. Something called ‘Hammer Bass’ technology claims to magnify the impact of bass frequencies, while “Drone FX enhances the detail in the entire frequency range”.

The speaker cabinets are made from HDAA wood, a material that uses a high-density polymer with rigid and dense properties that are supposed to be better than conventional MDF. The material’s properties should prevent vibration and enable a more accurate, efficient and sustainable performance.

Behind each speaker’s smart black fabric grille lurks a 5.25-inch woofer constructed from aramid fiber which is claimed to “enhance the bass”. Above the woofer, there’s a one-inch silk-dome tweeter for “sweeter high tones”. The tweeter is surrounded by a suspension ring made from highly elastic rubber, which it’s claimed offers greater displacement and also decouples the driver from vibrations coming out of the woofer beneath it. The cabinets are covered in vinyl with a black wood effect, at this price level you’re not going to get real wood.

Active wireless speakers come in two basic varieties. There’s the wireless or Wi-Fi type where each speaker in a stereo pair comes with a power lead and the speakers are not connected so they both receive their signal independently without the need to be tethered together in a master and slave arrangement. The Kürbis BT are the master and slave variety and they therefore need a speaker cable to connect the slave speaker to the master speaker.

At the rear of the master speaker is a bass reflex port for enabling the lower bass tones to escape, while beneath it there’s a pair of RCA Phono inputs marked “PC” and a regular TRS 3.5mm stereo analog input for connecting up devices like a home computer or a tape play. Beneath them there’s a rocker switch for turning the speakers on and off, plus a socket for the mains lead to power the master speaker. There’s also a pair of spring-loaded speaker clips for connecting the master speaker to the slave unit. There’s no marking on the master speaker to indicate that it should be placed on the right, so it’s possible that, if you didn’t know, you could get left and right channels connected the wrong way round.

On the right side of the master speaker there’s an indent with three rotary knobs for controlling volume, treble, and bass. And here comes my first criticism: these speakers don’t come with a remote control, so the volume and tone levels must be adjusted manually. Of course, it’s always possible to control the Bluetooth volume level using the smartphone that’s streaming the music, but for me it makes better sense to have some sort of remote for adjusting volume levels when non-Bluetooth sources are connected without the need to get out of your armchair or bed. When they aren’t receiving a signal, the speakers power down into sleep mode. I also couldn’t see a physical way of switching between the analog inputs but I assume plugging in a 3.5mm jack physically switches off Bluetooth reception.

Next, we come to the sound quality. At this point I was hoping to hear some of the “exquisitely balanced frequencies from extreme bass lows to crystal clear treble tones” the bluer had promised, but what I got instead was a very thin sound that’s rather heavy on the treble and far too light on the bass. I did turn the bass knob up to the maximum but it still sounded shrill and brittle, without much warmth. That’s strange because these are nicely built speakers and they’re quite heavy. They sounded nothing like I expected from their weight and build-quality. The midrange was also way too dominant and swamped the bass. However, when I tweaked the EQ from my source, I found it was possible to make these speakers sound a lot better, so my money is on the Class D amplification not being up to the job. The amplifier simply doesn’t do the speaker driver justice.

Verdict: I don’t enjoy giving something a poor review because most products usually have enough good points to make them worth reviewing. I can usually find enough positive and negative points to balance out a product review. With the Thonet & Vander Kürbis BT Studio Monitors, I’m struggling. They’re ok and as passive speakers they could be okay, but the lack of bass and the absence of a remote make them less than ideal. I’d also have liked to have seen an optical input for connecting a TV. Perhaps, with some modification to the design, these speakers could be better as both the woofer and the tweeter seem to be good quality drivers, but as they are I can’t recommend them. Active speakers are a great idea but they need to be carefully designed and have amplifiers that can produce a sound that’s as good as a traditional Class A/B amplifier. It’s worth spending a bit more to get something that sounds more solid and there are plenty of other active speakers out there that could offer you more for your money.

Pricing: $179.99 / £179.99 / €204

More info: www.thonet-vander.com

Specifications: