WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING POWERED WIRELESS SPEAKERS

BLUETOOTH OR NETWORKED?

Some wireless speakers, usually the less expensive models, use only Bluetooth for their wireless streaming. Others use Wi-Fi or Ethernet to connect to your home network and out to the internet. Bluetooth transmission limits you to point-to-point streaming, from a portable device or computer to the speakers. A network connection enables the speakers themselves to stream directly from the internet, so that while you may control playback with your smart device, the system still works when your device isn’t present. Bluetooth is also limited in quality, even if you’re able to take advantage of the higher-level Bluetooth codecs. A network connection can deliver music losslessly, either directly from the internet or using Wi-Fi-based streaming systems like Chromecast and Apple’s AirPlay.

BLUETOOTH CODECS

If Bluetooth is going to be an important method of streaming for you, then check which codecs are available — both on the speakers, and on the device you’ll be using to send the music. The base level of Bluetooth music transmission uses the SBC codec. Apple devices can use the AAC codec to send better quality, so it’s useful to have speakers which support AAC. Some Android devices (but by no means all) can use aptX or aptX HD to raise the quality still higher; Sony has LDAC, but it’s not widely supported. However, it’s no use the speakers having aptX if your device doesn’t, or vice versa — you’ll end up back on the base-level SBC codec. Note also that no Bluetooth codec is lossless; they all use compression which removes some music data.

INPUTS & HUBS

How many inputs do you need, and what kind? One downside of having the amplifiers inside your speakers is that the inputs for external kit are often limited compared with using a hi-fi amplifier, so you may get only one or two analogue inputs and very limited digital connectivity on a pair of powered speakers. How would you plug in a turntable, for example? To overcome this limitation, some powered speakers can connect wirelessly to a ‘hub’ which can offer more inputs, and potentially be positioned away from the speakers, more conveniently near other sources; indeed a hub can allow a radical redesign of where you have other hi-fi sources. However, a wireless hub may be an optional extra, increasing the purchase price, and the hubs can themselves bring complications (anything wireless often does) and potentially limits the quality of transmission to the speakers at a fixed sampling rate. We note these things in our reviews.

TV SOUND

Playing TV sound through your powered stereo speakers is a solution we heartily recommend as an alternative to a soundbar. A number of the speakers in our group test now have an HDMI socket with ARC which can connect to your TV and play audio back down that cable — though this does then hog one of the HDMI inputs on your TV. Optical is another possible connection; analogue is the final fallback for TV sound (and not all TVs provide it). We have also experienced unpredictable incompatibilities between certain TV models and the inputs of certain powered speakers and DACs. If there’s any way you can test this before you buy, perhaps with a loaner from a friendly dealer, we’d highly recommend it.

IS THERE AN APP FOR THAT?

The quality of an app greatly affects the quality of your user experience, though in many cases you can simply use the streaming app you already prefer — Spotify, Tidal etc — and just select your speakers as the output. It’s also worth considering how/if your speakers would work if the control app ever disappeared. All the companies in this round-up are long-timers with track records, but nothing is forever. Products that live entirely by their app can also die by their app, and system changes by Apple and Android can render older non-updated apps redundant or reduced in their abilities.

REMOTE CONTROL

A physical remote control is a near-essential for powered speakers. You don’t want to be calling up an app to pause or make volume changes.

POWER RATINGS

Our usual warning on amplification power ratings apply here. There are so many variables when quoting power than comparison between brands is often meaningless. Look particular for a quoted distortion figure (usually THD) — if it’s 10% or even 1%, the power rating can be hugely overstated compared with amplification quoting hi-fi levels of distortion down at 0.0 something. Do you want 10% distortion in your sound. No you don’t — yet that’s the basis on which most soundbars, for example, list their surprisingly high power ratings.