Important Specs Overview
Speaker type: powered, 2-way, sealed
Continuous power output: 60 W
Frequency response range: 48 – 20k Hz (+/- 4dB)
Unit weight: 18 lbs
Unit dimensions: 8 x 14 x 11 inches (width x depth x height)
Wireless: Bluetooth 4.0
Warranty: 2 years
Review And Discussion
Edifier is a newer and lesser known audio company, but they produce a wide variety of excellent bookshelf speakers that are highly popular and often come with great unique features. The S1000DB is one of their higher end pair of active bookshelf speakers, boasting more power and a higher caliber design than their less expensive counterparts.
The main benefit of a powered speaker is that you don’t need a receiver – these can just plug right into the wall and they’re ready to go. You don’t even have to connect your source if it has Bluetooth, but the S1000DB has all the standard wired connections anyhow. It also has two EQ knobs to adjust the balance the tweeter and woofer. Also great is that all essential connection cables come included with Edifier bookshelf speakers.
The specs are quite impressive for a powered 2-way bookshelf speaker – 60 W per of continuous power handling can definitely get loud enough to fill just about any non-large room, and equally impressive is the 48 Hz response floor that stays within a 4 dB differential. While a lack of bass is usually a limitation with 2 way bookshelf speakers, the S1000DBs specs are unusually good in regards to that, and may very well sound great as standalone speakers.
Edifier makes good looking speakers, and these are no exception. While most speakers use a removable foam-grill cover, which almost always looks plain, the S1000DBs have a partial cover that contours with both drivers, and looks great in contrast to the black vinyl front and washed-wood MDF cabinet. Another great feature that’s seemingly unique to Edifier bookshelf speakers is the upward angle – this puts the sweet spot right where the head of a listener will theoretically be, at least in a computer/desktop set up. Edifier offers 2 years of warranty coverage on its powered speakers, which is actually quite good comparatively.
Our Overall Take, As Compared To The Competition
Edifier makes a lot of good bookshelf speakers, and the S1000DBs will do just fine as standalone speakers, especially if you’re merely looking for near/midfield speakers. They also look really cool, if that’s a factor for you.
But that said, the higher end S1000DBs, we feel, are kind of pricey and suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. If you’re looking for near-field computer speakers, the volume on these is just going to be overkill, and its hard to thus recommend them when the same company makes great alternatives for less than half the price. One of our favorites is the 1280T (reviewed here).
But if you do want loud home theater speakers, the limitation these then have is no subwoofer output. While the bass on these is actually decent for the kind of product it is, there’s just no way a pair of standalone 2 way bookshelf speakers can compete with a dedicated subwoofer. You might consider just going for traditional passive speakers with a receiver and subwoofer that’s truly designed for a home theater set up, and will almost always give you the most value for your dollar. If you really don’t want to deal with a receiver, we’d recommend Klipsch’s powered bookshelf speakers (reviewed here) – these have a subwoofer input, and Klipsch specializes in loud speakers that are really designed to fill a room, in a traditional sense.
See our current picks for the overall best budget bookshelf speakers
