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Thread: Edifier R1700BT Active Bluetooth Speakers - Review

  1. #1
    Alex_UK's Avatar
    Alex_UK is offline Spotify + Facebook Moderator / Chilled-Out Wino and only here for the shilling
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    Default Edifier R1700BT Active Bluetooth Speakers - Review

    After a week in lock down and having lost my work spot on the sofa in the dining room where my day to day system is located, I decided I needed a set of desktop speakers for the study which is now my semi-permanent work space. The prerequisite was that they must be active and have Bluetooth, so that I can connect with any of my devices and so can anyone else using the room. Oh, and I clearly wanted them to sound good!


    I have become a bit of a Wharfedale Diamond fanboy since purchasing a pair of the originals second-hand for the Scalford Hall "Cheap as Chips" challenge several years ago and have several pairs of various vintage including my last speaker purchase for the kitchen, a pair of Wharfedale DS2. I was tempted to just buy another pair of those (c. £170) but then I thought I’d have a look and see what else was available, especially as the DS2’s don’t have a remote.


    After a bit of armchair shopping I settled upon a pair from a brand I had hardly ever heard of, and certainly never heard – Edifier. Originating in Canada but now in China Edifier produce speakers, music systems, and headphones. (In 2011 they bought STAX.) Reviews seem mainly favourable across their range which goes from around £60 to £600. I decided on the R1700BT in maple. (Also available in white/silver or black.) Although they are being used as desktop speakers, I still wanted a remote control so that I could quickly mute the sound if a phone call came in. The speaker’s geometry are also slightly tilted back, so the baffle and drivers are firing towards the ears in a near-field scenario which I liked the idea of. They also have 2 RCA inputs, should you want to hard-wire any other devices into them. They are from the lower to middle range of their offerings, at £129.99 from Amazon.


    First impressions when they arrived are that they are very well made for the very modest cost, and reasonably stylish with their wood “cheeks”. The right-hand speaker contains the class D amplification (15W RMS per channel for the treble + 18W RMS for the bass) with a 2m cable to connect the left speaker. Drive units are 4-inch bass and 19mm tweeter, with a front facing bass reflex port. They have removable grilles, should you wish. The master right speaker has a combined volume/power/source rotary/push control, plus rotary treble and bass controls. On the rear is the power switch, the 2 sets of RCA connections and left speaker connection, plus a hard-wired power cord. I’ve only used them with Bluetooth so far, mainly from a laptop running Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) with external hard drive and FLAC files (using the excellent Quod Libet player, but also Spotify (Linux app) and Tidal (browser version)). Pairing is easy from iPhone and iPad too, just locate the name in the Bluetooth menu and connect.


    (Stock Picture of the RHS speaker.)

    My desk is about 120cm wide, so a speaker at each side, toed in slightly towards me they are very near-field, but this gives a very immersive experience at low volumes, and a good stereo image. Overall, I am very impressed with the sound. Some reviews on Amazon criticise the bass as being “boomy” or bloated, but leaving the tone controls alone I haven’t noticed it being especially bad – and what do you expect from a 4-inch driver and with speakers this cheap? As I’ve been “locked down” since they arrived with wife and two kids I haven’t had the chance to turn them up really loud, but they are capable of going higher than I would normally listen in any case.


    What has really stood out is what always attracts me so a speaker’s sound and that’s the mid-range. It’s what I like about the “BBC sound” of my Spendor SP1’s and what Wharfedale Diamonds do so well. But equally I have been very surprised how good the treble is – in fact, it was listening to the Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane that prompted me to write this review, as the treble of the cymbals sounded so good! I’ve often been listening most of the working day, and not once have they sounded harsh or fatiguing. I’m currently listening to Craig Armstrong’s 1997 masterpiece “The Space Between Us” which is slightly apt, as the separation between the instruments and sounds on Weather Storm is far better than it should be on a system this cheap! The strings sound fantastic! So, if you’re on the lookout for some very reasonably priced desktop speakers that do a great job for what they are, I would highly recommend them. If anyone else has experience of the Edifier range I’d be interested in hearing your views, too.

    Here are some pics of mine in-situ:






    Alex

    Main System: Digital: HP Laptop/M2Tech Hiface/Logitech Media Server/FLAC; Marantz SA7001 KI Signature SACD Player and other digital stuff into Gatorised Beresford Caiman DAC Vinyl: Garrard 401/SME 3009 SII Improved/Sumiko HS/Nagaoka MP-30
    Amplifier: Rega Brio R. Speakers: Spendor SP1. Cables: Various, mainly Mark Grant.
    Please see "about me" for the rest of my cr@p! Gallery


    A.o.S. on Facebook - A.o.S. on Spotify - A.o.S. on Twitter

    There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing Aristotle

  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

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    Hey Alex,
    Happy to see another Edifier fan in the house!

    I bought a set for the bedroom, a pair of S2000 Pro actives, with built in Dac.
    Build quality is 2nd to none and you can just tell they bat way above their pay grade.
    Sonus Faber anyone?



    Room filling bass tight n’ deep and well crisped sound, from low bass to (as you say) cymbal highs.

    My boxes have an inbuilt 24/192 Dac and analogue inputs and it’s better than the Squeezebox Touch’s internal Dac.
    In fact, the speakers inbuilt Dac was even better than my Logitech Transporter’s, fantastic back in the day, but ultimately led me to sell it given the quality of the Edifier speakers’ inbuilt dac.

    Quality Company, great products.
    Last edited by Gazjam; 13-05-2020 at 19:49. Reason: il
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  3. #3
    Alex_UK's Avatar
    Alex_UK is offline Spotify + Facebook Moderator / Chilled-Out Wino and only here for the shilling
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Sunny Suffolk, UK

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    I'm WrappingALilacCurtainAroundMyBobby.

    Default

    Those look seriously good Gaz, I'm very tempted to try a pair higher up the range based on the R1700BT's. And yes, there is definitely more than a Sonus Faber resemblance!
    Alex

    Main System: Digital: HP Laptop/M2Tech Hiface/Logitech Media Server/FLAC; Marantz SA7001 KI Signature SACD Player and other digital stuff into Gatorised Beresford Caiman DAC Vinyl: Garrard 401/SME 3009 SII Improved/Sumiko HS/Nagaoka MP-30
    Amplifier: Rega Brio R. Speakers: Spendor SP1. Cables: Various, mainly Mark Grant.
    Please see "about me" for the rest of my cr@p! Gallery


    A.o.S. on Facebook - A.o.S. on Spotify - A.o.S. on Twitter

    There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing and be nothing Aristotle

  4. #4
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

    Default

    Sure what you have is already ticking the boxes Alex.
    All that matters man...

    Bought these on a punt when I was fortunately able to, so appreciate how good they are.
    3 Class D amps inside feeding a 24/192 Dac that (Godnammit it) beat my Transporter.

    This Company and their Product is the real deal.
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

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