Dynaudio is a Danish speaker company and their latest product is the bookshelf speakers are the Xeo 10. Personally I live my life digitally, so I don’t actually have any bookshelves to locate these speakers on, instead they’re much more at home on my office desk, but could equally integrate well into a living room. This pair of wireless speakers is the successor to the award-winning Xeo 2 wireless active bookshelf speaker.
While the company may not be one youre immediately familiar with, it certainly will be a name you remember after you hear the sound that comes from these speakers. The audio produced from these is quite simply stunning. It is a serious technical acheivement to not only produce this much volume, but great sounding audio at almost any decibels.
For the size of the speaker, you’d never know what they’re capable of and while you won’t have these turned up to 11 everyday, those times where you want to make the neighbours jealous, you certainy can let them know how good your speakers are.
So after spending some time with the speakers, it’s time to break down what’s on offer and if they represent good value for money.
DESIGN
Subtle and professional
The XEO10’s come in two colour options, Black Satin and White Satin. The version we review was the black edition and personally that’d be my pick. While my office has a monocrome colour scheme, I think the white version misses the opportunity for a clean look, keeping black speakers in a white housing. Let’s face it, most electronics in our homes are black for a reason, it looks professional and can be used to fade into the environment or stand out.
Something I love about the design is the magnetic mesh covers on the face of the speakers. This provides the ability to select the asthetic you want and switch between the two easily, whenever you like. If you cover up the speaker, you have a clean look that also protects them. Take the covers off and you have an authentic studio look to your desk.
In this version, the driver is now mounted to the baffle from behind, meaning there’s no visible screws, and the solid aluminium front baffle gets a new brushed finish.
PERFORMANCE
How do it perform ?
The Xeo 10’s use a 14cm MSP woofer system has been reworked to enhance bass and lower-midrange performance. There’s also a 28mm soft-dome tweeter at the top of the speaker, the same found on the Xeo 2. Each driver is powered by its own dedicated 65W digital amplifier. This combination offers a powerful audio experience that feels like it comes from a system many times the size of the speaker’s dimensions.
With the Xeo 10, Dynaudio improved their limiter algorithms to produce better high-volume performance, which I can attest is an absolutely triumph. The speakers do a great job at producing both bass and treble in music, movie soundtracks and more. From the bass-heavy electronic music, to the crystal clear reproduction of voice tracks, the Xeo 10’s are undoubtedly some of the best audio I’ve heard.
FEATURES
Stand out features of this display.
Simple setup is probably on of the best features of this speaker set. Find a powerpoint for each speaker, then pair the speakers with a bluetooth device (you PC or mobile device), then start playing music, it really is that simple. Often when you buy premium products, they make you jump through lots of hoops to get up and running, well not with the XEO10s, I had music playing in about 60 seconds after unboxing them.
The back of the speakers reveal an opening that houses the connectivity options. This includes optical, RCA plugs, the traditional 3.5mm audio jack or line-in and of course the most convenient option, Bluetooth.
Along with the direct inputs, the speakers also feature touch-sensitive volume controls. When connected to a PC, I often just use the keyboard controls, but the touch controls come in particularly handy when using these around the home. Just walk up and touch the speakers to change the volume, rather than search for that remote. Speaking of where you choose to locate the speakers, there’s an optional Dynaudio desk stand and dedicated wall-mount, as well as Vesa 100 mountings, for massive flexibility in placement.
In that reveal, you’ll also find the ability to switch the speaker between left or right position. There’s also a switch to tell the sytem how you’ve positioned the speaker – Neutral, Wall or Corner. These settings allow the two speakers to reconfigure the sound the produce to optimise the sound into your eardrums.
The included remote control is small and compact, but features all the regular controls you’d expect. Switching the speakers on or off, setting the volume, or switching input (you can connect multiple) are all avaialble. There’s also a handy mute button in the top left, should you need to pause in a hurray, like if the doorbell rings.
ISSUES
Not everything’s perfect
Normally this is the place where we highlight issues with the product, but I really have no complaints in terms of the product and its features. The only complaint would be the price. Audio seems one industry where a premium label comes with almost a blank cheque to name your price. The audio is fantastic and powerful, far more than you’d expect from speakers of this size. Despite all that, I’d find it hard to justify the price tag personally, but those audiofiles with deep pockets will dissagree with me.
If you’re someone who works in the audio industry and wants some reference speakers on your desk, then these are a fantastic options, just get the boss to pay for them.
PRICE & AVAILABILITY
How much and when can you get one ?
Premium audio solutions start at a few hundred dollars and range well into the tens of thousands of dollars. While many premium audio features quality that I can’t hear, that’s not the case with the XEO10s. These speakers are amazing in the sound they can reproduce and for that quality, you’d expect to pay a premium price.
The Dynalink XEO10 speakers are available now from audio specialists in major cities in Australia. The speakers cost a premium RRP of A$2,299.
OVERALL
Final thoughts
These speakers are such a surprise. The sound quality that comes from them, and the volume, could easily be confused as coming from much larger speakers and to be able to comfortable fit that on your office desk, is fantastic. If you’re someone who works on video projects and need to accurately reproduce audio, then these would absolutely be a great fit for you.
Even if you’re just someone who loves to listen to geat music while you work, then forget about the headphones that came with your mobile and consider investing in a great set of speakers, speakers like these and you won’t be sorry. Of course I wish they were less expensive so that more people could experience them, but if you can stomach the price of admission, then watching Netflix just became a whole lot more enjoyable.
If you need more information on the Dynaudio XEO 10 speakers, check out the owner’s manual here.