FROM FUDGE TO QUALITY STREET

Once upon a time, even premium wireless speakers were a compromise of convenience. Now, they’re challenging ‘proper’ hi-fi systems

There was a time not so long ago when, while testing one-box wireless speakers, we would be itching to rush back into the arms of our reference hi-fi system. The chances of us finding such a product to replace our traditional set-up are pretty slim within this lifetime or the next, but audio quality has certainly caught up with convenience to the point that there are speakers we’re loathe to turn off rather than turn on.

This is especially the case when we get to the premium market, and this septet of wireless speakers costing between £500 and a grand are a marvelous example of just what a little investment can return.

It features two What Hi-fi? Award winners, for a start. The Audio Pro Drumfire handed its crown to the Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation in 2019, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s been usurped in a general sense. Like all of the speakers you’re about to see, it offers a sonic signature all of its own, and a set of skills that will appeal to some more than the unit we’ve named our wireless speaker Product of the Year.

You won’t be short of household names, either, in terms of the world of hi-fi and those who have been making wireless boxes for a good while.

We’re casting a keen eye on the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Wedge, which is a highlight in the company’s new multi-room family, and comparing that with the equally high-end Devialet Phantom Reactor. Don’t baulk at their price tags before you’ve given them a try, though: both offer a lot of punch that they hope will leave you floored.

For tighter budgets, there’s also the eagerly anticipated Dynaudio Music 5, Triangle’s IO 3 and the SC-30 from Technics. Big names all, with big characters to match.

Of course, the beauty of wireless speakers remains the marriage of convenience and fun, but this round up does much to prove that they’re getting closer to hi-fi than ever before.