Edifier's S2000Pro power Bluetooth bookshelf speakers have a premium look (Photo by Brad Moon).
Edifier is an audio brand that offers a wide range of speakers and headphones. It’s become especially well known for its powered bookshelf speakers. They are a favorite for use with multimedia PC setups, and they also make a great choice for assembling a compact stereo system—one that offers true, two-channel audio—without the need for a standalone amplifier or receiver. GeekMom reviewed Edifier’s R1010BT speakers a few years back, and the company recently sent me a pair of S2000Pro powered Bluetooth bookshelf speakers to try out. These are larger and more powerful speakers than the R1010BTs, and at $399.99 they’re more in the upper range of the company’s offerings.
Are these the powered speakers that could form the heart of your next home stereo system?
When the Edifier speakers arrived, I was caught off guard by their weight and size. At 8 x 13.5 x 10.5-inches each, these are larger than my current bookshelf speakers, and at nearly 20 pounds apiece, they are significantly heavier as well.
That weight includes integrated power supplies and amplifiers, but the construction is also very solid. The speakers feature black painted cases with substantial birch-veneer sideboards. They’re tilted up slightly for better sound dispersion and include stylish speaker grills. Each is mounted on four gold-colored feet for stability. They definitely have a premium, stylish look.
The back of the primary speaker offers an impressive assortment of physical inputs, along with knobs to adjust volume, treble, and bass. Edifier includes a 16.4-foot proprietary 5-pin speaker connection cable that provides a generous length for separating the speakers to get stereo audio (those cables can be purchased separately). Also in the box was a generous assortment of accessories: a remote control (with batteries), RCA cables, an RCA to 3.5mm cable, and an optical cable.
Setup is a matter of connecting the two speakers with the cable, plugging the primary speaker into power, then connecting your audio source.
The Edifier S2000Pro speakers have a luxurious and high-performance look, but the quality is more than skin deep.
The company is using some premium components including a flat diaphragm tweeter (low distortion, high-frequency sound), aluminum cone woofers (precision low-frequency audio), Dual DSP electronic crossovers (precision frequency allocation between woofer and tweeter), a Burr-Brown DAC and ADC (high-quality analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion), and three digital amplifiers (one for the woofers, one for the tweeters, and a third that can power both drivers). The dual XLR inputs support connecting the speakers to a mixer for studio use as monitors. The included speaker connection cables are heavy gauge with separate bass and treble signal transmission.
Good looks and a case packed with premium components are great, but none of that matters if the speakers don’t perform up to expectations.
I have to say, I was quite pleased with what the Edifier S2000Pros were able to do. I love the idea of a compact stereo system with a turntable, so that’s how I tested these speakers. I plugged in a Pro-Ject turntable (it has an integrated pre-amp so it connects directly to the speakers using the RCA inputs) and started spinning vinyl.
The sound produced by the Edifier S2000Pro speakers was on par with a good pair of traditional bookshelf speakers connected to an amplifier. The mid-range and vocals are solid, with crisp highs and surprisingly robust bass performance. The low end doesn’t have the rumble and punch you’d get with a subwoofer, but for bookshelf speakers, these do very well and deliver audio on the warm side—that independently amplified aluminum cone woofer clearly pays off. With up to 16-feet between the speakers, you get true left and right channel stereo sound with real depth to it.
In my office, I can’t come anywhere near to cranking up the volume on these speakers, and the total 62W per channel is enough power to get quite loud in a good-sized room.
There is absolutely no way you are going to get this audio quality from a single wireless speaker, no matter how good it is and what wizardry it uses to simulate a multi-speaker setup. The 2000Pros make for an affordable and high-quality compact stereo system.
You can reach around back and adjust the bass treble and volume directly on the S2000Pros. The remote control Edifier includes makes it easy to control volume without walking across the room, and it also offers instant access to four built-in EQ modes to tailor audio: Classic, Dynamic, Vocal, and Monitor.
I’m in the iPhone camp, and that means I can’t get the best out of Bluetooth streaming audio with these speakers. The S2000Pros support aptX, but not the AAC codec that Apple uses. Mind you, I didn’t have much to complain about when streaming music from my iPhone—the stereo sound and high-performance audio combine to beat the socks off pretty much any portable Bluetooth speaker. That being said, Bluetooth wasn’t on par with the audio quality these speakers put out when physically connected to an audio source.
I was impressed with what I was hearing from the Edifier S2000Pros, but what if you want more? The company has several models that are a notch up, including the S3000Pro speakers that get an upgrade to fully wireless connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, USB input, a larger 6.5-inch woofer for better low-end performance, and a big amplification boost for a total output of 128W per channel.
There are a lot of situations where you don’t have the space—or possibly the budget—for a full blown component stereo system. But the desire is still there for high quality, stereo audio.
The Edifier S2000Pro speakers offer a great sounding alternative. You can connect any turntable with a built-in pre amplifier directly to these powered speakers, stream wirelessly from your smartphone, and directly connect other audio sources including a CD player, PC, or TV. Audio is high quality stereo, and with 62.5-watts per channel on tap, there is plenty of volume for larger rooms. With the stained birch on black design, these speakers are stylish looking as well. At $399.99 the Edifier S2000Pro speakers are more affordable than most comparable amplifier + bookshelf speaker combos, and also cost less than a single premium smart speaker like a Sonos Play:5.
If your audio is overdue for an upgrade, the Edifier S2000Pro powered Bluetooth bookshelf speakers should make even demanding listeners very happy.
Disclosure: Edifier provided speakers for evaluation but had no input into this review. As an Amazon Associate I earn affiliate fees from qualifying purchases.
This post was last modified on January 23, 2020 4:25 pm
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