Smart Speakers of the Year over $1000
Find the right home for the Naim Qb and you won’t be disappointed in its sound, while the app, remote and useful inputs all score points towards this award.
This category has two winners — the judges felt both needed recognising, for reasons we’ll explain. First, then, the $1499 Formation Wedge with its stunning diamond-sectioned front cloth cover and interesting 120-degree wedge design which sits well in a corner (though we preferred its sound in free space), the rear panel having a real feel of craftsmanship. It’s larger than you might imagine from pictures (23cm tall), and on top is a small display for basic volume and play/pause functions.
Under that silky diamond cover there’s a three-way driver configuration, with two 2.5cm double-dome decoupled aluminium tweeters (from B&W’s 600 series) sitting top right and top left, with 40W of amplification apiece. Underneath each of those is a 9cm midrange driver similarly amplified by 40W, and in the middle a single mono 15cm 80W bass driver, bringing the total driver count to five — and the total quoted amplification for this true stereo system to 240W.
It doesn’t have any audio inputs at all. Streaming is the only way the Wedge plays. There’s an RJ45 Ethernet socket underneath to connect to your network, in addition to the Wi-Fi option — as with all the Bowers & Wilkins Formation series there’s Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, and Bluetooth including aptX HD. Playing from a network share requires Roon or, more messily, a third-party DLNA app. B&W is promising an update to make this easier (see News p7-8).
The sound is wide, expansive, underpinned but not swamped with bass, and that bass is punchy and tight. And what a level it can push out! The sound just gets bigger, not thicker, not compressed. The quality and the openness of the sound thrive with proximity.
Sonically a hit, then. Visually it’s a stunner. Operationally, if you’re investing in multiple rooms of B&W Formation gear, the whole thing makes sense. Used alone it’s a lovelysounding premium wireless speaker — if you’re sure that all you want to do is stream.
More info: www.bowerswilkins.com/en-au
With Naim’s full-sized Mu-so Gen 2 recognised in last year’s awards, it was inevitable that the smaller and roughly cubic ‘Qb’ version should also get a Gen 2 upgrade. The result is a bulging box of abilities — roughly a 21cm cube — still offering exactly the same streaming abilities, so loaded with Chromecast inside, AirPlay 2, network streaming, an excellent app bringing together Tidal, Spotify Connect and many more services — plus one minijack input, one optical and a USB slot for sticks and drives. Note, however, there’s no HDMI input on the Qb, as appears on the larger Mu-so.
There are new colours for the optional grilles you can order should black not be to your liking: Olive, Terracotta and Peacock (pictured above). You now also get a remote control included, which we reckon to be a major benefit for when the app isn’t to hand, though of course there’s also that magnificent knob on the top, upgraded to the Gen 2’s 15 different touch zones, offered contextually depending on what’s happening.
Sonically it’s obviously smaller in size of sound than the Mu-so, but still a wonder for its dimensions, though we’d strongly recommend having it near a wall or corner for sonic support. And it scores over the Wedge opposite in terms of app control and access to music. Find the right home for the Naim Qb, and you won’t be disappointed in its sound, while the app, the remote and its useful inputs all score points towards this joint award.
More info: www.focalnaim.com.au