Meet our no-muss, no-fuss music systems
'Tis the season of houseguests...
...notably young ones with jammy fingers and the advanced ability to trip over cables and dimple tweeters. 'Tis also the season of music playing morning to night, so what do you do? It is time to consider the all-in-one. Products for which we add the shorthand of "Just add music!" so you know that the only accessory you need is a power cord to get you crooning.
With prices ranging from the $40,000 Focal Utopia Diva to the $249 Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i, with a notable stop at the now $18,000 Cabasse The Pearl Pelegrina, there is a music player for every holiday budget.
Hark! The French Diva Sings
Last month, we introduced you to the new Focal Utopia Diva three-way active loudspeaker system, and this week, we finally got to see and hear it. The black and grey speaker pair is truly elegant in person, and that felt finish really works. If a woven speaker finish is not for you, conventional glosses and paints are coming soon.
The Diva's room calibration is interesting in that it uses what Chris Shaw of Focal Naim America described as "the best microphone in the world, your ears." Through a process of asking you to volume match and balance test tones, it takes the room into account, as well as the hearing of whoever will hog the sweet spot. The M-dome beryllium tweeter ensures everyone else in the room is also in on the party, and as expected for a fully active 400 W Focal-Naim system, it is detailed and airy with effortless bass.
Pick the Diva if you want to bring the entire Messiah choir into your living room, but don't want to take up space with racks, boxes, and cables. This is the all-in-one that can happily also be your primary audio system.
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Focal Diva Utopia Active Wireless Loudspeakers (pair) $39,999 |
Ding Dong! Marantz on a High
Freshly heaving into view from Marantz are the Horizon and Grand Horizon wireless-powered loudspeakers featuring multiple drivers and amps, various Dolby formats and DSP, as well as a dedicated app. The 370 W, 20" diameter Grand Horizon uses an 8" woofer, four 3" mids, and three 1" tweeters. The 340 W, 15" diameter Horizon uses a 6.5" woofer, three 2" mids, and two 1" tweeters. Marantz also offers a beautiful American walnut and cast-iron tripod stand.
Pick Marantz if you like a warmer sound that's all about chestnuts roasting by an open fire.
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Marantz Grand Horizon Wireless Loudspeaker $5,500 |
Marantz Horizon Wireless Loudspeaker $3,500 |
Marantz Tripod Stand for Horizon $700 |
Merry Cabasse, Baby
This French speaker and electronics designer offers several "just add music" products at a deep discount. One of our favorites is the Cabasse Rialto, which is especially good for those who don't want spherical speakers. With an amazing 1,050 W output across three drivers, including a coaxial tweeter and mid, the Rialto also offers room correction and a powerful app.
Another of our favorites is The Pearl Akoya, an 8.6" sphere that contains a 7" woofer in a patented tri-coaxial driver also with 1,050 W of amplification. Both the Rialto and the Akoya have matching stands available.
If you want to go right to the top with Cabasse, we are offering huge savings on the mighty The Pearl Pelegrina with its 12" woofer, four amplifiers, and 3,700 W of power. Normally $36,000, it's now just $18,000 and available in black or white.
Pick Cabasse if you like an incisive, dynamic sound that's alive with silver bells and twelve drummers drumming.
O Holy Naim
Both the Mu-so and Qb are stereo three-way systems that produce a startlingly large and coherent sound for their size. Naim is known as an electronics manufacturer, but had its own speaker lines for a long time. Naim's Bentley partnership made the company expert at squeezing out hi-fi performance from tight spaces, and the Mu-so series is the direct result of this experience.
With its characteristic energy and rhythm, pick Naim if you're prone to pulling people off the sofa to dance with you to Mariah Carey's holiday chart-topper.
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Naim Mu-so 2ND Generation All-In-One Music System $1,299 |
Naim Mu-so Qb 2ND Generation All-In-One Music System $999 |
Bluesound All the Way
Bluesound is our go-to budget hi-fi brand, the entry-level contender that never disappoints. With a solid app and Roon Readiness, the highly portable Pulse series sets up quickly and plays with quality that will not embarrass even the most fastidious audiophile.
Pick the capable and fuss-free Bluesound if, like us in Southern California, you're celebrating where it's sunny and relatively warm, and you're going from indoor to outdoor activities and back again.
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Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i Music System $249 |
Bluesound Pulse Mini 2i Music System $549 |
Bluesound Pulse 2i Music System $699 |
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The Sevens Day of Christmas
With its titanium horn-loaded tweeter and high-excursion fiber-composite woofer, this Klipsch can do dynamics like no other. Snares hit hard and fast enough to make you blink, just like in real life.There's even a phonostage, letting you throw on a turntable. Apart from optical and USB, there's also an HDMI eARC input and sub out, letting the Sevens become an entertainment hub, while also offering Bluetooth for your guests to share their playlists.
Pick the Klipsch if you like to engage with the energy and "liveness" of music and really feel that Jingle Bell Rock.
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Klipsch The Sevens Powered Bookshelf Loudspeakers with Bluetooth (pair) $1,299 |
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Technics the Snowman
Technics is just cool, inside and out—from its stainless steel finishes and VU meters to its effortlessly capable sound backed by high technology. It offers two "just add music" options. The CX700 is a 100 W active two-way system with Technics' well-known coaxial design and the digital optimizations that make it perform at its very best. The 30 W Ottava is well suited to unobtrusively entertain during after-drinks when the lights are low.
Pick the Technics for clean, clean sound with a silent, black background, where all is calm, and the music truly shines.
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Technics CX700 Wireless Speaker System (pair) $2,999.95 |
Technics SC-C70 Mk2 Premium Class Ottava All-In-One Music System $1,099.95 |
Away in a Studio
The JBL 4329P was one of our favorite products of the day during our tour of the Harman facility. Although they are called "studio" monitors, these punchy, engaging speakers with tremendous bass belong in any hi-fi enthusiast's home. If the 4329P's 8" woofer might overwhelm a small space, the 4305P comes with the same power and similar compression tweeter, but a 5.56" woofer.
Pick JBL for powered speakers that really mean business, offering accurate, powerful sound for those of you who don't do "holiday music," and just continue the attentive listening for the rest of the year.
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JBL 4305P Powered Bookshelf Loudspeaker (pair) $1,500 |
JBL 4329P Studio Monitor Powered Loudspeaker System (pair) $3,500 |