Review Details

Ai41 Powered 5" Stereo Bookshelf Speakers

Product Rating:

Product Review (submitted on July 14, 2021):

SET-UPBe aware that the right speaker gets plugged into the wall via a power cable, and you must run a speaker wire to the left speaker, which is a passive speaker. For first use, I plugged a CD player into the powered speaker via the RCA cables. Using the remote, I pressed the Source button until I heard the CD playing. I hadn't yet cracked the manual, so I'd say set-up is pretty intuitive. Be careful unboxing them, as they have no speaker grilles, and you could accidentally grab the tweeter pulling them out of the box. They have four rubber feet on the base to protect surfaces.IN USE, SOUNDSince they're rear ported, I placed them on stands about 18" from the rear wall. In this position, I found they sounded best with the bass set to +2 on the remote (bass & treble are adjustable to +5/-5; the LED flashes twice when you return them to zero). After a little break-in, I hooked them to my main turntable/preamp and put on a 45RPM audiophile record. The bass was impressive, especially considering their size, and the overall sound was quite good, though a tad "forward." There's just a hint of harshness in the treble compared to my KEF Q100s. Speakers often mellow out a bit, however, with more break-in. Connecting them via bluetooth to my iPhone was quick & easy. The LED on the right speaker turns blue/green/white depending on your input source.LOOKS, BUILD QUALITYThey look terrific in Walnut. The build quality seems very good, but only time will tell how they hold up. I'll update this review if I have any problems with them by leaving a comment in the comments section. The tweeter is unprotected, which worries me a bit, though they are silk, so they should bounce back from most bumps. CONCLUSIONThis is a lot of product at the current price ($249). You get a pair of speakers, a 45w/ch amp, and bluetooth connectivity. The warranty, from the Fluance website: "Powered Speakers: Two Year Warranty"