Dynaudio Xeo 2
FOR Taut low-end; timing; transparency; 192khz support AGAINST Price and size don’t initially seem to go together
If Dynaudio ran a TV commercial for the Xeo 2s, we imagine ‘more than just speakers’ would be somewhere in the tagline. And, unlike many products that ride such slogans, there’d be some truth behind the marketing hyperbole.
With digital amplifiers, DACS and Bluetooth receivers built in, these two-way active stand-mounts should be seen as more of a system – as four (possibly five) hi-fi boxes in two. When you look at it that way, £995 doesn’t seem so much now, does it?
Keep it simple
The idea is simple: just plug both speakers into the mains and add a source – whether that’s a smartphone or laptop connected via Bluetooth, or a TV or hi-fi component plugged into one of the Xeo 2s 3.5mm, RCA or optical inputs.
The latter supports files up to 24-bit/192khz, so hi-res and network playback from a connected streamer is possible. Alternatively, the optional £295 Dynaudio Connect can bring wi-fi onboard the Xeo 2s for DLNA and Spotify Connect compatibility, as well as USB (with support up to 96khz) and coaxial (to 192khz) inputs.
An all-new 28mm soft-dome tweeter and 14cm magnesium silicate polymer cone driver are each driven by 130W of digital Class D amplification.
At just 25cm tall and no deeper than the width of an outstretched hand, each of these desktop-friendly speakers can be carried comfortably under an arm. That means they don’t require a large desk – or a desk at all if you buy the dedicated foot-stand or wall bracket.
The choice of colour is still between black and white and, although the look isn’t exactly premium, the satin finish and aluminium baffle are smart and immaculately applied.
Discreet controls
We like the control integration: flush touch buttons on the top, with the baffle sporting two small LED indicators, along with a well-marked remote.
You can tweak the EQ settings to suit the speakers’ position in the room, but we always find they hit the best balance with at least 10cm of space behind them. There, tonality occupies neutral territory
“Like the shortest player on a basketball court, these modest boxes go out with something to prove, affording scale and authority in abundance”
and detail spreads evenly in a soundstage you’d think would belong to speakers twice the size. Like the shortest player on a basketball court, these modest boxes go out with something to prove, and afford scale and authority in abundance.
No compromise
Is wireless sound a compromise? Usually yes, but the Xeo 2s sound anything but compromised. The Bluetooth presentation enjoys an uncharacteristic clarity and sophistication.
Bass power and depth also belie physical proportions – and do so with agility. The drubbing drums introducing Anohni’s Crisis are full (but never tubby) and controlled, bouncing along in step with the scything synths.
That precision and rhythmic agility is sustained as jubilant synth lines twist around one another and lace over the top of her vocals, which sound as cavernous and impassioned as the song’s theme implies. Those expressive mids meet an articulate treble where the twinkling electronica chimes sweetly in the open headroom. There’s a level of transparency you’d be hard-pressed to find from a similarly priced system of hi-fi separates.
Timeliness and musicality both seem to come naturally to the Dynaudios, and nothing feels like hard labour for them – even the demanding task of handling a lo-res Spotify stream.
Sound quality compromised for the sake of convenience? Not here. Versatile, easy to house and packing a hugely accomplished sound worthy of their asking price, the Dynaudio Xeo 2s are a near-complete system in a speaker’s clothing – and a great one at that, whatever your source.