Bluesound Powernode 2i
While Sonos remains the dominant force in multiroom audio, it continues to face some formidable competition. Bluesound is one of the companies that form the chasing pack, and has spent years developing compact, classy electronics that sound good too. While multiroom ability is one of the company’s core strengths, many of these products can be used separately, in a conventional hi-fi set-up.
The Powernode 2i is chief among them. It marks quite a significant jump up from the previous non-‘i’ version – certainly more than the simple addition of a letter suggests. The Powernode 2i is a deceptively capable device. This compact unit is barely bigger than a stacked pair of paperbacks yet packs in all the facilities to replace a complete set of hi-fi electronics. Just add speakers and off you go.
A surprising difference
It is outwardly identical to the last generation Powernode 2, and it still uses the same 32-bit/192khz DAC and 60W Hybriddigital amplification – so it is difficult to understand how the sonic differences between the two can be quite so pronounced.
In fact, the gains appear to be based around trickle-down high-end circuit board design from the NAD Masters M50.2 BLUOS network streamer and a smaller wi-fi chipset, with Bluesound’s engineers optimising the layout and isolation from there. The Powernode 2i also adds a second optical/3.5mm analogue input to its USB, stereo speaker and subwoofer outs.
What looking at its chassis doesn’t reveal is the inclusion of Apple Airplay 2 and Alexa Voice Control support, as well as two-way aptx HD Bluetooth for streaming and facilitating the 2i’s use with a pair of wireless headphones.
Take your partners
Having connected to our network via ethernet, we plug the Powernode 2i into our reference ATC SCM50 speakers, as well as something more pricecompatible in the form of Mission’s QX-2S and the Monitor Audio Bronze 2s.
When discussing the sonic merits of this Bluesound suite, we often begin our reviews by talking about the open soundstage and full-bodied presentation. So, while it no longer comes as a surprise to us to be bathed in such warmth, it remains a consistently impressive performance nonetheless.
The Powernode 2i combines those familiar qualities with the added detail we heard in the Node 2i to offer a bold yet insightful presentation without you even going to the bother of system matching. The sound is ripe for analysis but is also willing just to be enjoyed as a cohesive package.
What impresses us most in both these units, though, is their tight grasp of timing and dynamics. The Powernode 2i is tight and rhythmic, meticulously picking out patterns and using the space in its presentation to let them breathe without becoming untethered in the overall composition.
There is added punch and authority too, tempered well when extra subtlety is required, which makes for an even more confident and entertaining performance. Kicks aren’t merely forceful, but struck through with the laces, making the most of Bluesound’s trademark low-end generosity to drive a track and set an unwavering tempo.
Dynamics are equally bold, contouring swells and stabbing at more immediate shifts for degrees of expression we didn’t think were possible from a system at this level. Handling of vocals often highlights that kind of dynamic aptitude, so the personality present in the Powernode 2i is hugely to its credit.
Regardless of its setting within the context of Bluesound’s multi-room family, you’d need a four-figure budget for a streamer and amp combination before it could significantly better the performance of the Powernode 2i.
All-round excellence
If the Award-winning Naim Uniti Atom is out of reach, Bluesound has come to the rescue with another one-box product that refuses to compromise in any single area, representing another superb all-rounder on a smaller budget.
Often a little tinkering pays greater dividends than a whole raft of changes, but we doubt even Bluesound could have foreseen just how successful its comparably minor alterations to the Powernode 2i would be. It is easily a five-star product, and with quite a bit of room to spare.