Edifier S2000 Pro Bluetooth Powered Speaker Review

As we learned at the 2018 CES Expo show earlier this year, powered speakers are popping up in droves and seriously threatening the comfort zone that passive speakers have enjoyed with most audiophiles and consumers alike. Although Edifier is a relative unknown in the USA marketplace, they've been around since 1996 originating in Beijing China as the brainchild of a small group of enterprising music lovers. Today they have 3,000 employees and produce 8 million units for consumer electronics and multimedia PC applications every year in their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility distributed in over 70 countries worldwide.

When I received a press release from Edifier about them giving everyone the opportunity to be an audiophile with the launch of its new S2000 Pro, it piqued my interest.  The S2000 Pro speakers feature a new electro-acoustic technology that is coupled with a low-distortion flat diaphragm tweeter and an aluminum cone woofer that takes full advantage of its miniDSP function to reach what they claim to be a culmination of incredibly loud and heavy bass.  

Edifier touts the thoughtfulness of construction of the S2000 Pro speakers as evident with the thick wood side panels designed to highlight the aspects of the audio design.  Edifier included four On-Board EQ settings to provide listeners with what they feel to be a truly professional-grade listening experience whether you are hooking them up via their unbalanced or balanced analog inputs, Bluetooth, optical or coaxial connections.

Cosmetically these speakers look spectacular. But, how do they sound? Let's take a closer look and find out.

Edifier S2000 Pro Wireless Powered Speaker YouTube Review

Design Overview

On the surface, one wouldn't recognize that the Edifier S2000 Pro speaker is packed with the latest technology.  To start with, they employ a planar type tweeter that they refer to as a low-distortion flat diaphragm. The 5.5" black anodized aluminum cone woofer is said to take advantage of the DSP digital electronic crossover thanks to the help of German engineering from the KLIPPEL precise analysis system.  Pressing on the cone at any point reveals it's extremely rigid with no deformation when pushed towards the edge where the butyl rubber surround takes over.  The suspension is stiff and well damped.  You can tell a lot of engineering went into this driver. The tweeter is an interesting design.  It's basically a ribbon with waveguide to control directivity with a phase plug to reduce high frequency resonances.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it had quite a robust ferrite motor structure instead of a puny neodymium typically found in budget speaker designs like these.  Both drivers are magnetically shielded which I argue is a waste of resources this day in age where CRT TV's are virtually wiped off the face of the Earth. In addition, most people don't place speakers in close proximity to a hard drive and now that solid state drives have virtually taken over, it's even more of a moot point. Note to manufacturers, please STOP magnetically shielding your speaker drivers.  Thank you.  That said, these speakers have seriously good driver components not typically found at this price point.  Color me impressed.

 

Edifier S2000 Pro Woofer (left pic), Tweeter (right pic)

The Edifier S2000 Pro is a fully active design (no passive crossover networks) employing two Texas Instruments digital processing DSP chips, TLV320AIC3254 to optimize signal spectrum assignment and speaker driver compensation.  The S2000 Pro uses three Texas Instruments Class D amplifier chips, TAS5754, which supports up to 192KHz input signal sample rate and 768KHz output PWM carrier frequency for lower distortion. The first amplifier chip drives both tweeters at 12 watts/ch while the other two chips drive the L/R woofers independently  in a PBTL (parallel bridge) connection which helps boost the power to 50 watts/ch. For line input the onboard ADC (analog-to-digital converter) of the S2000Pro  is the Burr-Brown PCM1802 from Texas Instrument which features an impressive 105dB signal to noise ratio (SNR). And for Balanced input the ADC is Burr Brown PCM1804 which features an even higher 112dB SNR. The coupling components of analog input paths  are WIMA capacitors which ensures very low signal loss. As for optical and coaxial inputs, the interface chip, PCM9211 also from Burr-Brown, supports digital input signal with 24-bit resolution and up to 216-kHz  sample rate.  The S2000 Pro uses a state-of-the-art CSR8645 chipset for Bluetooth 4.1 connection. With the built-in aptX decoder, S2000Pro generates lossless Bluetooth playback. The dual-core DSP structure, full digital signal process and amplification and high quality components are very impressive technology for a pair of speakers costing under $400.

All of the guts inside the cabinet of the Edifier S2000 Pro are top notch, but what about the actual construction of this product?  I am again impressed not just by the rigid enclosure that sports 18mm (0.7" thick baffles) but by the real wood genuine birch side panels that really give a touch of class to these speakers.  These are also probably one of the first speakers I've seen that look better with the grille covers on than off.  This is partly due to the standoffs remaining on the front baffle instead of being part of the grille frame like we see in most grille designs.  Personally, I would have preferred to see Edifier use neodymium slugs to make them magnetic grilles.  I found taking the grilles on and off to be a bit of a chore on these speakers.  The mesh is tightly wrapped on the plastic frame of the grille and once placed on the speaker, the design just looks very elegant and fluid. Although all of the electronics are in one speaker, both have nearly the same heft which I'd guesstimate to be roughly 20lbs each.

 

Edifier S2000 Pro No Grille (left pic); with Grille (right pic)

The back panel of the master speaker reveals a lot of useful connection options while the slave speaker just has a 5-pin connector input.  The master speaker has left/right unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR analog inputs as well as coax and Toslink digital inputs.  When I saw the Toslink input, it immediately occurred to me that these speakers would be a cinch to connect to an HDTV display rendering them a great alternative to the typical underperforming soundbar "solution" to improving the sound of your display.  Of course, they also come armed with Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX for a near-CD quality wireless connection and easy convenience for streaming your music from your phone.  There are three analog rotary dials on the back panel to control bass, treble and volume level which are actually digitally controlled and directly connected to the system DSP.  There is a master on/off toggle power which must remain on if you want to be able to turn the speaker on/off via the remote control.  I like the fact that the bass and treble controls have a lock at the flat position.  The speaker has a flared 2" diameter port thus making it a bass reflex design (4th order enclosure).

Edifier S2000 Pro Brass Rubber Feet

The brass feet with rubber padding is a nice touch, especially when installing these speakers on a desktop.  It keeps them sturdy and minimizes resonance transfer to the surface they reside upon. 

 

Edifier S2000 Backview

The power cord on the back is not detachable which is a bit of an annoyance to me but not as annoying as the excessively long 5 pin proprietary cable that connects to its mating speaker.  It appears to be about 16ft in length which is a bit long even if you’re placing these speakers in a living room and painfully too long if installing them in a nearfield environment closely spaced together on a desktop.  Edifier should either shorten the length to something more reasonable, say 10ft, or offer an additional 5ft cable option for desktop applications.

 

Edifier S2000 Pro 15ft connection cable is too long! 

The Remote Control Weapon

About the most bizarre thing about the Edifier S2000 speakers other than the overly long connection cable previously mentioned is their hulking remote control that is unnecessarily big, almost the size of my Yamaha CX-A5100 11.2CH preamp/processor remote.  With all of its sharp edges, it's also about as safe as Kylo Ren's Lightsaber.  Seriously if anyone ever broke into my home, I'd probably reach for this remote before my handy baseball bat and just use it as a stealthy projectile weapon.  I'm a bit perplexed why Edifier thought they needed to design a remote control so large and elaborate like this just to control source and EQ selection, power and volume and playback control. 

Incidentally the bass and treble controls are not replicated on the remote (not for there being lack of space mind you) making it rather inconvenient to have to go behind the master speaker anytime you wish to make adjustments.  The 4 EQ positions affect all but the balanced inputs which is NOT mentioned in the rather sparse user manual.

Edifier S2000 Pro Sound Quality Tests and Measurements

I tested the Edifier S2000 Pro speakers in the following three scenarios:

• Theater room - placed on stands for music listening
• Office- placed on desktop as nearfield monitors
• Theater room - placed on floor used with Roland drum kit 

 

Edifier S2000 Pro in Audioholics Showcase Theater Room

Listening Scenario #1: Theater Room placed on stands

I placed the S2000s on my 30" plateau stands towards the front of my room 8 feet apart while sitting 10 feet away. I feed them a direct unbalanced RCA level connection from my Marantz PM-11S3 integrated amplifier and also connected to my LG G6 phone via Bluetooth to compare audio fidelity using the same source material.

Edifier S2000 Pro in Audioholics Office Room 

Listening Scenario #2 Office Desktop Nearfield

I connected the S2000s to my Headroom preamp to bypass the soundcard in my desktop PC. The speakers were placed on my desktop 4ft apart in a nearfield environment with me sitting about 5 ft from them.  Most of my listening was done utilizing a combination of lossless FLAC files from my network HDD and streaming from Pandora and Spotify. I also tested a direct bluetooth connection from my LG S6 phone which has aptX capability.

 Edifier S2000 Pro with Roland Drum Kit

Listening Scenario #3: Theater Room on Floor with Roland Drum Kit

Although the S2000's weren't specifically designed to be used with musical instruments, I wanted to test Edifier's claim of low distortion and incredibly loud and heavy bass. The speakers were placed on the floor on each side of my drum kit.  What better way to test this claim with some kick drums and good ole fashion drumming?

Listening Tests

After I settled on placement of the Edifier S2000s in my theater room, I cued up  Kurt Elling - Nightmoves.  I was immediately impressed by the respectable bass extension I was hearing from such a small set of speakers. The top end was incredibly airy and detailed, more so than I'm accustomed to from similarly- priced conventional dome designs. Kurt Elling’s voice wasn't bloated sounding and for the most part the overall sound was balanced. I switched between streaming this song on my LG G6 phone vs. streaming it from my network HDD to my Oppo UDP-205 fed to the Marantz PM-11S3.  The Bluetooth connection sounded excellent and very close in fidelity to the analog connection from my preamp. I was able to play the speakers much louder via the analog connection than streaming from my phone. However, if driven too hard by my preamp, I did detect clipping from the Edifier preamp section.

 

I fired up Muse 2nd law - Madness to test how these speakers could handle it at loud volume levels.  Via the Bluetooth connection, I heard a decent approximation of the deep bass this song belts out. While a subwoofer would be needed to really reproduce the bass in this song, the Edifiers didn't distort or bottom out at full volume even with the bass cranked up. I've had similar sized, though much pricier, speakers that would completely crap out on this song at these SPL levels. Rather than distortion, I just couldn't get them to play any louder until I ran analog connection to my Marantz preamp. Only then was I able to get these speakers to misbehave but it was more a preamp overload issue than a driver going into gross distortion.  The S2000 Pros showed off the uncanny ability of the tweeter at conveying every little detail of sound, most notably in Bob Marley Is This Love.  The percussive instruments just popped out more pronounced than I've typically heard in conventional dome tweeters. If I had to characterize the sound quality I was hearing from these speakers, I'd say, detailed, satisfying, but a bit forward sounding. The soundstage didn't seem to extend as deeply as I've heard on other speakers but if you favor a bolder, in your face sound, then you likely won't mind.

Listening to Chlara - In a Different Light SACD on the S2000 Pro speakers was a true delight.  Her voice was portrayed majestically, and the stringed instruments were vibrant.  The reverb of Chlara's voice in Track #2 "Hotel California" was intoxicating while the guitar strumming between the speakers was mesmerizing.  Bass was again taut with good depth that was nicely satisfying but had you wanting just a little more. That was easily remedied with the rear panel bass control.  I did feel her vocals were a bit forward or more aggressive in track #3 "Stuck on You" than I was used to when listening to my desktop reference speakers. One thing about the Edifiers is their sound is detailed and BOLD. Ok, that's two things and a combo that I'm sure many audiophiles will appreciate.  I don't know where I got this SACD but it's an absolute treasure both in musical content and fidelity.  Chlara does some of the best covers of popular songs I've heard and it's a great disc to showcase the fidelity of your system.  The Edifier speakers did NOT disappoint here one bit!    

Listening to these speakers in my office space provided similar results though perhaps a bit more satisfying since they were playing in a smaller space in a nearfield environment. Pop music, particularly Bruno Mars, proved quite satisfying on these speakers. The tweeter again showed off its delicacy and attention to detail. Stereo separation was very good and expansive in "That's What I Like." Bass wasn't lacking per se but these speakers could really benefit from the supplementation of a subwoofer, perhaps a small compact like a Velodyne MiniVee.  The S2000 Pros played louder than I could ever handle at sustained levels in my office. "Uptown Funk" thumped pretty good with very tightly controlled bass while these speakers again just imaged like bastards. The sound was very blunt and in your face, especially when switching to dynamic EQ mode. Now I felt like I was in a nightclub, but without the annoying smell of smoke infused with body odor. Compared to my RBH 41-SE/R office reference speakers, I'd say the Edifiers sounded larger and more detailed though bolder and more forward, while the RBH's played more delicately and needed the assistance of my Velodyne MiniVee sub to produce the bass that was missing from their anemic response. Size matters in this case and the Edifiers have the advantage with a bigger woofer (4" for the 41-SE/Rs vs 5.5" of the S2000 Pro).

Edifier S2000 Pro Speakers with Roland TD-6V Drum Kit

I wanted to gauge how well the Edifier S2000 Pros would handle a studio environment, so I connected them up to my Roland TD-6V drum kit. In fact, this is where my first listening experience began with these speakers. Over time, my beloved Swan T200C speakers have developed a power supply problem that gave them an annoying hum, rendering them useless for this duty. I was hoping the Edifiers could provide a similarly satisfying experience for my drumming needs. Initially I felt the Edifiers lacked the depth in bass that I loved so much about the Swans.  Over the course of a few days of playing drums, I felt the drivers did break in a bit and this helped.  I also boosted the bass a tad to compensate.  The depth of the bass was closer to the Swans, but the Edifiers had the upper hand in clarity and detail in the upper registers. This was most notable with hits from the high hat and digitized sound effects.  The S2000's played plenty loud for my needs and never bottomed out or produced audible distortion.

Measurements & Analysis

 

 

Edifier S2000 Pro In-room 1/2 meter Listening Window Response Spliced 1 Meter GP at 160Hz

I took a total of seven measurements (on-axis +-15 & +-30 deg horizontal and +-15 deg vertical) at ½ meter on the tweeter axis and averaged the response to more accurately represent what the listener will actually hear. I then spliced this data with a 1-meter indoor groundplane measurement for 160Hz and below with the mic placed between the woofer and rear port as equidistant as possible.  The combined response gives a reasonable anechoic approximation and identifies any potential acoustical problems with the speaker.  As you can see, the frequency response is fairly linear with a slight bump at the crossover region (2kHz) which looks slightly better below the tweeter axis.  The -3dB point appears to be around 50Hz with a 4th order (24 dB/oct) HPF response below the tuning frequency.  As a side note, the slight upward tilt in high frequency response can easily be tamed to taste by slightly reducing the treble control 1-2dB if you feel the speakers are a bit too forward sounding. Make sure the speaker is set to "monitor" flat position before adjusting down the treble else you will be boosting and cutting needlessly.

 

Edifier S2000 Pro  EQ Settings      

The Edifier S2000 Pro offers 4 EQ settings accessible only via the remote control. I measured the 4 positions (monitor, classic, dynamic and vocal) as shown above. Monitor position is the flat (No EQ), while dynamic elevates both bass (below 100Hz) and treble (above 2kHz) and classic elevates mostly the treble response while vocal elevates mids and highs starting at around 500Hz.  My personal preference was to use the speaker in the default monitor position for all of my listening tests.

The Downside

Let's face it, this review can't be all roses and virtually all products at this price point have shortcomings.  I have a hard time faulting the sound of these speakers.  While I did find the depth of the soundstage a bit lacking and the tonal balance a bit forward, the clarity and detail in the high end response was nothing short of amazing.  The bass won't shake your room, but the S2000 Pros do provide a full satisfying sound that won't require a subwoofer for most listening scenarios.  However, the lack of a subwoofer output was a real oversight, one I hope Edifier remedies in future iterations of this product.  While they are at it, a redesign of the remote so it can fit in your pocket or at least easily in the palm of your hand would be nice and please contour the edges.  A shorter connection cable would also be a welcomed change.     

Conclusion

Edifier proved their mettle as a serious speaker designer with the S2000 Pro active speakers.  They offer an incredibly attractive, great sounding product with plenty of connection options, including Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX for near CD quality streaming.  I had a satisfying listening experience in virtually every scenario I listened to them in.  For $400/pair, these speakers would absolutely obliterate ANY soundbar on the market in terms of both fidelity and aesthetics.  I mention this because the Toslink input makes them really easy to connect to an HDTV display and anyone serious about sound will thank me for this recommendation over a cheesy little soundbar that barely improves upon the sound of the internal speakers of their HDTV.  Imagine having an attractive, compact, affordable speaker package that works with your TV, streams from your Smartphone and sounds great in all scenarios?  Edifier has made me a believer with their S2000 Pro speakers, and I suspect they will do the same for you.

 

Edifier S2000 Pro Wireless Powered Speaker YouTube Review

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Performance
Value