Dynaudio makes a wide variety of home theater to professional studio audio equipment. The Xeo speakers are a lineup of powered wireless speakers that aim to provide, according to them, a true HiFi experience without the hassle of traditional equipment. Basically that means you can just plug them in and stream directly to them, which is something that a lot of different speakers can do these days in various capacities. The Xeo 2 is the smallest bookshelf speaker in the lineup, though it interestingly has some superior specs to the succeeding, larger, and more expensive Xeo 4.
A powered speaker has an amplifier built in, so you don’t need to buy or worry about setting up a separate amp or receiver. They’re also Bluetooth compatible, so you can plug them right into the wall, sync a device (or just plug that in too), and you’re ready to go. Dynaudio also sells a Connect device that all Xeo speakers are compatible with that basically serves as a router if you want to do a larger multiroom set up.
Cabinet material isn’t specified but looks like fairly sturdy MDF with a dull finish. Top has a slight curvature which we think is mostly for aesthetics. They’re elevated on a built in stand that offers some default separation which is nice. The baffle is a separate piece that’s actually aluminum, with pretty basic baskets that are flush to it. They come with detachable covers which have their own little LED power light in the same spot as the uncovered baffle which is pretty neat. Definitely a minimalist modern style, but they look nice.
The tweeter is a very nice looking textile soft dome, a little larger than an inch (28mm) that’s embedded in an ever so slight waveguide. The woofer is a 5.5 in plastic polymer (MSP), a material that they’ve been exclusively using on their woofers since pretty much the beginning. Shallow dust cap in the middle, protruding surround that remains below the baffle surface since its also slightly embedded. Fairly standard looking drivers, nothing too unique here.
In addition to the the wireless the Xeo 2 has a Toslink and RCA input for wired digital/analog. Also a standard 3.5mm jack, which unfortunately is kind of annoying when it’s in the back and all the connectors face downward. We assume this is to make it easier to flush them right against the wall, but the problem with that is the rear-facing port needs to breathe anyway. Maybe some people really like non-visible cabling. The manual does say it has a USB connection but it’s labeled “for service only” and isn’t visible, so we assume that’s for them to manually fix/update firmware if needed.
So lets talk about specs and performance now. Each unit is bi-amped and has an individual 65 W power supply for the tweeter and the woofer. Dynaudio quotes the peak power handling to be 100 W though. In any case, this is plenty enough power for these speakers to get quite loud and fill just about any room. The quoted response range of 40 – 24k Hz, within a 3 dB differential, is excellent for a powered two way speaker. The only speakers we’ve seen that get lower are some studio grade monitors that we’ve reviewed, but even then its not by much. Most 2-way bookshelf speakers will always have limited bass by design and need a subwoofer, and you could add one to these, but the Xeo 2 is also good enough to potentially sound good on its own if you’re not pining for truly full bass.
The Xeo 2 manages to remain impressively small and light for a bi-amped powered speaker. The bottom stand is a mere ~ 6 x 6 inches and they’re less than ten pounds each. This is about as small and easy to deal with as it gets for a speaker of this caliber, and definitely make sense as high performing desktop speakers.
Dynaudio is now apparently offering an extended, transferable eight year warranty on all its home theater speakers, including powered* units. This is by far the best coverage we’ve seen for powered speakers. The slight catch is that you’ll need to register it within three months of purchase or acquisition with a valid serial number. *Update: apparently electronics only get 3 years of coverage, so it’s a joint 8/3 year warranty, but that’s still very good overall.
Our Overall Take, As Compared To The Competition
Reviewing higher end speakers is always tough because differentiating factors become less obvious and subjective. There are similar powered speakers that, though they may be bigger and not look as slick, have comparable materials and specs for a fraction of the price. Even if the Xeo 2s do sound marginally better, is it worth the premium? No objective answer there. We’ll also say that the wireless might not be necessary if you merely plan to use a pair of these for desktop speakers, which they seem to be more geared to be. The extended warranty is fantastic though, hard to believe. We noticed they have a firmware update on these which you might need to apply yourself, but should be pretty easy to do wirelessly
Get the Dynaudio Xeo 2 powered speakers on Amazon (affiliate link)
