Studio 19 Solo E500X-EQ
The tower of portable power
Around $535 From Studio 19, studio19.london Features HDMI-ARC, Bluetooth, 3.5mm jack, 8,800mAh battery, active 3-band EQ The most important aspect of any speaker is the way it sounds, and Studio 19 leaves that up to you, in a sense — active, tactile EQ sliders are given as much prominence as the volume control on the top of this 22-inch tower. However you tweak them, the Solo’s output is quite remarkable.
Forget room-filling, this is a home-filling speaker, which throws out DSP-modeled directional audio on a vertical and, subtly, horizontal plane. It’s bouncy and crisp in equal measure, as adept at separating out the subtleties of sound as it is at blasting out the big guns. The air compression-based bass tech inside delivers seriously low frequencies — there’s no need for a separate subwoofer.
HDMI-ARC input makes the E500X-EQ entirely viable to use as a soundbar, as long as you have the TV tech to support it, or you can pair it up with another Solo to get proper stereo separation. There’s also a 3.5mm jack input and Bluetooth connectivity, so you can use it with your Mac or iOS devices. Cool white LEDs display the input you’re using, the broader EQ modes, and highlight the base with a switchable light.
The E500X-EQ is impeccably presented, sounds amazing, and is very versatile. Especially when you pull out the USB-C power connector and it keeps going: with an 8,800mAh battery inside, you’ll get 6-8 hours of AC power-free tunes.
the bottom line. Not cheap, but the E500X-EQ packs a whole lot of fine audio tech into a compact, portable package. Alex Cox