hi-fi streaming zone player
Let's get the definition of this clear first, with streamers and multiroom boxes coming in so many guises, as we've seen already this issue in our streaming feature. Firstly, then, this product is part of the Bluesound range, all of which shares the BluOS streaming and multiroom platform, together with its app. So it can stream wirelessly or via Ethernet from the internet, or from your device, or from files stored around your home.
Secondly it is an amplifier, so it directly drives (via speaker cables) a pair of speakers. In Bluesoundspeak, that makes it a Powernode, in an ecosystem where the Node is simply a streamer, while the Powernode is a streamer plus amplifier.
But there is already a Bluesound Powernode available, priced at $1649. This is the new Bluesound Powernode ‘Edge’, and it costs only $1199. So what, as they say, is the diff?
Facilities & build
Power mainly. The full Powernode offers 80 watts per channel of HybridDigital power. The Edge brings only 2 × 40 watts, and the amplification type is DirectDigital (see panel); in this regard it might be considered a Powernode Lite. The two units do seem to be differentiated by quality: you might use a full Powernode for a critical zone, whereas the Edge is perfect for smaller rooms, background music, and particularly whole-house music in the style of custom installation. When we got an EISA briefing on this product direct from the Canadian Lenbrook team, they described it as “pushing the limits of thesweet spot”, which we took to mean that it's pitched just a little above the Sonos Amp, which does much the same thing within the Sonos eco-system. The proper Powernode looks pricey in this context: $1649 against the Sonos Amp's $1099, while remembering Bluesound has always been pitched as a higher-quality system, high-res from the start, more discerning about its power amps, and other stuff.
