Trying to find the perfect speakers to fill your home with music can often be a daunting task, especially if your living space is limited. Ideally, you’ll want a small speaker that doesn’t take up a lot of room but at the same time will offer a robust sound that’s pleasurable to your ears. The Edifier S880DB is a full range speaker that can be the next solution to fill your audiophile needs. We spent the last month testing out the S880DB to see if these small bookshelf speakers can deliver the audio power we crave without taking up any space.
DESIGN
Out of the box, the S880DB is easy on the eyes. The white colorway makes the speaker pop and is complemented with a wooden panel trim on both sides. It’s a minimalist design that can easily blend into your home without making itself the center of attention. In the front, you’ll notice the two speaker units, and on the right channel, you’ll see a small LCD display that will let you know what connection input you’re using.
The speakers themselves are light with each channel weighing just under five pounds or so. Size wise, they measure around 9″ x 5″ x 6.5″. Behind the right channel is where you’ll find all your inputs which include RCA, auxiliary, USB, optical, coaxial, and Bluetooth. There are also three knobs provided which will let you adjust the treble, bass, and volume, and on the bottom is where you’ll find your 18V power connector and the DIN port to connect the left and right channels together.
Accompanying the speakers is a small, puck-shaped remote control. It’s an odd shape for a remote, but it does fit nicely in the palm of your hands. Though it’s constructed from plastic, the remote has a decent weight to it that makes it feel sturdy. The buttons have a responsive and clicky feel to them, which doesn’t produce an annoyingly loud “click” noise when used. With the remote, you’ll be able to change your desired speaker input, control the volume, and navigate through music tracks, as well as switch between four pre-loaded sound profiles, which include Monitor, Dynamic, Classic, and Vocal.
Inside the speakers, the S880DB features a 3.75-inch metal diaphragm for the mid-range bass unit. It has an aluminum frame which will provide more power with less vibration. The treble unit is a 19mm dome tweeter driver that is made from a polished titanium-laminate. To allow for a USB input, the speakers feature an XMOS digital audio processor, and there is a built-in amplifier which eliminates the need for an external amplifier or receiver.
PERFORMANCE
The speakers are easy to set up once they’re taken out of the box. Depending on what your preferred input is, you won’t spend a lot of time connecting cables. For our review, we opted to go for the Bluetooth connection for the ease of use. The speakers use Bluetooth v4.1, though I would have liked to see it utilize v5.0, the speakers still had support for aptX, which gave us a clean connection for HD music.
To test what the speakers were capable of, we wanted to play a wide range of music to see how the S880DB handled the range of tones. Firstly, we wanted a song that used a wide range of instruments, so for that, we played Weather Report’s “Birdland”. We didn’t adjust any of the bass or treble knobs on the back, as we didn’t want to drown out any of the mids or highs with the lows. Listening to the song, everything sounded sharp and very clear. The lows provided a soothing pulse which complemented the highs and lows very well. Each instrument that was presented in the song, from the synths to the bass, down to the saxophone, came in with rich clarity that it made it easy to differentiate as to what you’re listening to.
Next, we wanted to see how the 3.75-inch metal diaphragm for the bass unit would fair, so we wanted to use a song that was extensive on the low end. We kept the treble setting at the middle and cranked to the bass level to its maximum setting. We chose to play the song “Alone” by Marshmello, as the song is filled with numerous bass hits. Now you’re not going to get the deep driving bass that rumbles your home, something that you would typically get from a system that had a subwoofer. But for the S880DB, it handled the lows with exceptional accuracy that you can feel every pulsation from the bass, but at the same time elevated the mids and highs so you can still hear them. Nothing seemed distorted even when the volume was taken to a fairly loud level.
FINAL REACTION
If you’re looking for a pair of speakers that can bless you with crystal clear music, then the S880DB is something that should be considered. It’s a clean, minimalist look, that makes it an attractive pair of speakers that can easily fold into your home or apartments furniture. The wood panel on the sides gives it a touch of elegance, while at the same time can be the centerpiece of your living room decor. The number of inputs available gives the speakers a wide range of use. Whether that is to entertain guests or to be used as a pair of computer speakers, perfect for editing video or music or playing video games. The S880DB is sure to give you a pleasurable sound experience whichever way you want to use them. The treble and bass knobs on the back offer little change to your music, and that goes the same for the four-preloaded sound profiles that you’ll find on the remote. We also found, that at times the IR sensor on the remote wouldn’t work as well from certain angles, but for the $299.99 price tag, Edifier delivers another quality product that’s perfect for your moderate or avid music listener.
4.5/5 Atoms
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