Fluance Ai60 Bluetooth speaker: Large and in charge!
Since 1999, Canadian audio company Fluance has built a reputation for high-performance, high-value passive speakers, turntables, and what it calls “music systems”—self-powered Bluetooth speakers. Last year, I reviewed the Fluance Fi20, a small, portable Bluetooth speaker with 360-degree sound radiation and unique styling, but its rich sound was marred by overblown and bloated bass.
When the Fluance Ai60 appeared at my door, I was pleased to see that the package includes a pair of bookshelf speakers with a more conventional 2-way design while retaining the self-contained nature of a so-called music system. It’s not portable like the Fi20, but it sounds orders of magnitude better.
FEATURES
Each Ai60 speaker measures 13.1 x 7.8 x 9.2 inches (HxWxD), and the pair weighs a total of 29.3 pounds. The right speaker houses all the electronics—power supply, power amp, DAC, Bluetooth transceiver, etc.—while the left speaker is entirely passive. You connect the two speakers’ binding posts with the included 8-foot, 18-gauge cable, or you can use another speaker cable if you prefer.
Each speaker is a 2-way design with a 1-inch silk-dome, has a 5-inch woofer.) The frequency response is specified from 35Hz to 20kHz (±3 dB) with useful output below 35Hz (see Figure 1 overleaf) and a THD (total harmonic distortion) of <0.3%, though no frequency or range is noted.
