Edifier are back with the S2000 MkIII speakers, but are they worth the investment of cash and space?
I’ve reviewed a lot of Edifier equipment so when they got in touch to request a review of the S2000 MkIII I was curious to check out what the latest set of speakers could do.
They arrived in a large box with a power cable, 3.5mm – RCA cable, RCA – RCA audio cable, fibre optic cable, speaker connection cable, a remote and user manual, these are very easy to set up so I didn’t refer to this manual.
The speakers are 34.2cm (13.5″) tall and 19.8cm (7.8″) wide. The casing is made out of a dark wood veneer and the front has a mat black finish. They look fantastic!
One speaker is the active speaker, the other is the passive speaker. The active speaker powers the passive speaker and has all the inputs on it so that’s the one to place near a power outlet and any devices you want to wire up.
I was pleased to find multiple devices can be hooked up at the same time with 2 line-in inputs, optical in and coax in for wired connections and Bluetooth V5.0 with Qualcomm aptX HD decoding for mobiles/tablets.
You’ll also find the on/off power switch, bass, treble and volume button around the back of the active speaker. The volume control doubles up as the input selector, pressing it in to change between the various inputs.
You can easily check which input is selected via a small LCD screen on the bottom of the main speaker, the display is subtly lit so is clear enough to see without being annoyingly bright.
For those who prefer remote control there is a IR remote included that allows you to select input, volume level, skip tracks (when using a Bluetooth device) and select from a range of sound profiles.
Setup is very simple, position the left and right speaker, connect them via the included cable (which is approximately 5m long), hook up your inputs, power on and start listening.
The connecting cable is plenty long enough for most rooms although I’m sure some of you would prefer the speakers to wireless connect to each other, although that has the downside of requiring two power outlets.
The front grille looks good to me, but you do have the option to remove it if it’s not your thing. Keep in mind this will leave the cone exposed to curious creatures and little hands.
Keep in mind the form and weight when positioning. Yes they could be placed on a bookshelf but it needs to be a very strong bookshelf! Similarly, I placed these on a sit/stand desk, they took up a lot of room and I’d need to check the weight restrictions before using them full time.
I tried the S2000 MKIIIs with a range of source items, and they impressed every time. Music from my mobile sounded well-balanced with a solid bass that didn’t drown out the vocals and is powerful enough not to need an additional subwoofer.
I also hooked them up to my computer to try out video and gaming and again they gave a quality performance, giving me punchy booms on explosions whilst background music and sound effects were all clear.
They also work well as monitor speakers, although very powerful they work just as well at lower volume when close up to them. I currently have a small set of Edifier E10BT speakers hooked up to my computer, and they’re fine but lack the detail and quality of the MkIIIs, which sound more accurate to my hearing. I’m going to have to consider an upgrade!
The volume control being on the rear is award for desk use, I resorted to adjusting the volume on my PC rather than the speakers. Of course, you can use the included remote to adjust the volume, source and sound profile without doing near the speakers.
I didn’t get a chance to try this at full volume, they’re so loud I couldn’t get them up to full power! They easily filled my room, and also my house, with distortion free music, great for parties, not so good for your neighbours.
The Edifier S2000MkIII speakers are a solid investment if you want a pair of great looking and sounding speakers without the need for an additional subwoofer.
