IKEA’s Symfonisk WiFi audio system—a current collaboration between the Swedish residence furnishings retailer and U.S.-based wi-fi multi-room audio producer Sonos—are coming to IKEA’s on-line and brick-and-mortar shops on August 1. The Symfonisk (pronounced sim-fawn-isk) bookshelf speaker is a implausible worth. The Symfonisk speaker lamp sounds nice, too, however I’m not a fan of its industrial design—and that’s placing it mildly (solely the bookshelf speaker scored a TechHive Editors’ Choice award). You, in fact, may need a really totally different opinion about its seems.
Both audio system are co-branded with the Sonos and IKEA labels, two of both will be configured as a left/proper stereo pair or as left/proper rear channels with a Sonos soundbar, and each can function along with different Sonos audio system on the identical community. Pairing can solely be completed with like audio system, however you possibly can hyperlink both speaker to the Sonos Sub (nonetheless unlikely that may ever be given the disparity within the value tags of those audio system and the Sub).
Symfonisk audio system incorporate the whole Sonos characteristic set, together with assist for Apple’s AirPlay 2 protocol, Sonos’ Trueplay speaker-tuning software program (which requires an iOS machine), and the flexibility to stream music from the unparalleled assortment of music-streaming providers that Sonos helps (Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, Qobuz, and on and on).
The Symfonisk bookshelf audio system can function both vertically or, as proven right here, horizontally.
Neither of those fashions is a great speaker, however they are often managed with voice instructions you probably have an Amazon Alexa- or Google Assistant-compatible machine. IKEA says it can introduce a suitable distant management and incorporate assist for each audio system into its IKEA Home good app (at present branded TRÅDFRI and obtainable for Android and iOS) this fall.
Symfonisk WiFi bookshelf speaker
The bookshelf model of the Symfonisk speaker will be oriented both vertically or horizontally. In the latter situation, it may be held on a wall (with an non-obligatory rail equipment) and function an precise bookshelf. It measures 12 x 6 x 4 inches (LxWxH) and weighs 4 kilos 12 ounces. The speaker’s front-ported enclosure is fabricated from ABS plastic with silicone rubber toes, and it’s obtainable in both white with a white cloth grill, or black with a black cloth grill (the grills aren’t detachable). If you may have the community infrastructure to reap the benefits of it, you’ll discover an RJ45 ethernet port on the again of the speaker (the speaker lamp can also be outfitted with an ethernet port).
You’ll discover the same old Sonos management buttons close to the bottom of the speaker, from left to proper: Volume down, play/pause, and quantity up. A double-press on the play/pause button skips to the following monitor, whereas a triple-press strikes to the earlier monitor in your queue. When the speaker is laid down, these controls are stacked, backside to high, on the right-hand facet.
Both the Symfonisk bookshelf audio system the speaker lamp will be paired for stereo replica.
One Class-D amplifier powers the Symfonisk WiFi bookshelf’s tweeter, and a separate Class-D amp drives a mid-woofer (amplifier energy and driver dimension and materials aren’t disclosed). Sonos offered two of the bookshelf audio system, so I used to be in a position to consider its efficiency as a single speaker, as a stereo pair, and as a rear {surround} pair with a Sonos Beam soundbar. I didn’t strive the audio system with the Sonos Sub, as I don’t think about anybody goes to pair a $99 speaker with a $699 subwoofer (not that you just couldn’t).
So how do they sound? The Symfonisk WiFi bookshelf speaker is essentially the most spectacular speaker I’ve ever reviewed at this value. Its efficiency comes very near matching that of the $199 Sonos One good speaker; in reality, I needed to take heed to the 2 audio system facet by facet to discern the distinction. It’s not an audiophile product by any stretch—solely the Sonos Play:5 comes near that mark, and nothing within the Sonos canon helps high-resolution audio—however the Symfonisk bookshelf speaker is a really robust performer.
Listening to the late Walter Becker’s guitar solo on Steely Dan’s “Jack of Speed,” from the band’s album Two Against Nature, the Sonos One delivered a extra energetic rendering, with higher definition within the midrange and crisper highs, but it surely’s not one thing you’ll discover should you’re not doing an A/B listening check. The bookshelf speaker’s bass response, in the meantime, is implausible for its dimension and price ticket. In phrases of quantity (i.e. loudness), the Symfonisk bookshelf was simply in a position to fill my 247-square-foot residence theater with sound, with me sitting on a sofa 11 toes from the sound stage, however a single speaker in all probability wouldn’t have the ability to sustain with a raucous celebration.
Binding two audio system as a left/proper pair, nonetheless, was a revelation. You’re doubling the amplifier energy, in fact, however there’s nothing like experiencing true stereo, particularly when listening to well-mastered recordings. The music opens up and turns into extra pure, bringing you a lot nearer to the expertise of a reside efficiency. That was actually the case once I performed Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble’s reside album Live Alive. Vaughn’s raging guitar work on his cowl of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile (Slight Reprise)” almost despatched chills down my backbone.
If you’ve ever remotely thought of shopping for into the Sonos ecosystem, however hesitated as a result of the value was a barrier to entry, the Symfonisk bookshelf speaker will blow that obstacle away. At $99, they’re virtually an impulse purchase. At $198 for a pair, Sonos soundbar house owners can be loopy to not choose them up as {surround} channels.
The audio half of my residence theater system has been in a state of disarray recently, as I’ve been testing new parts. It’s been months since I’ve been in a position to get pleasure from my Onkyo A/V receiver and 5.1 speaker system (early Klipsch Reference sequence audio system, with a Boston Acoustics PV800 subwoofer dealing with low-frequency results).
Configuring the bookshelf audio system as rear surrounds and watching the Ultra HD Blu-ray model of Mad Max: Fury Road on a Cambridge Audio CXUHD 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player and a 55-inch Samsung Q7FN 4K QLED TV jogged my memory what I’ve been lacking. A soundbar is not any substitute for a real 5.1 system, even with rear surrounds within the combine, but it surely does immerse you within the motion much better than any TV speaker can. And that Sonos speaker configuration (a Sonos Beam up entrance and a pair of Symfonisk bookshelf audio system in again) will set you again lower than $600.
Add a cheap mount, and the Symfonisk bookshelf speaker can be a bookshelf.
Symfonisk desk lamp with WiFi speaker
As I mentioned up high, I’m not precisely smitten with IKEA’s notion of a desk lamp (any greater than I used to be enthused concerning the weird-in-a-very-different-way C by GE Sol good lamp). But my disdain is restricted to the look of this machine. It’s a high-quality product, with a mouth-blown glass shade, an aluminum on/off change, and a base that’s wrapped in a sublime woven cloth (your selection of white or charcoal).
The lamp measures 9 x 9 x 16 inches (WxDxH) and weighs a hefty 7 kilos 4 ounces, with the glass shade accounting for about 2 kilos 4 ounces of that bulk. The speaker enclosure emerges from a saucer-like platform that renders the whole lamp very secure, however that additionally hosts the identical transport controls you’ll discover on the bookshelf audio system. When the lamp is oriented so these buttons are in entrance of you, it appears odd that the rotary knob for turning the sunshine bulb on and off finally ends up being on the right-hand facet of the bottom, however you’ll recover from it rapidly sufficient.
IKEA’s documentation says the lamp is restricted to utilizing a 7-watt LED bulb with an E14 base, which you’ll want to supply, however the firm despatched me a 7-watt LED bulb with an E12 base to make use of throughout my evaluate. There’s a very slight distinction in dimension: E12 bulbs have a 11.5mm base to suit a 12mm socket, whereas E14 bulbs have a 13.5mm base to suit a 14mm socket. Since the E12 base is smaller, it can slot in an E14 socket; however a bulb with an E14 base will not match within the smaller E12 socket.
If you and/or your important different hate the concept of audio system littering your residing house—particularly if that’s the barrier to having a surround-sound system in your TV-viewing house—and also you do like IKEA’s industrial design, the $179 Symfonisk lamp speaker is an efficient deal. The $5 LED bulb despatched together with the lamp produced 600 lumens of brightness, which isn’t fairly the identical because the 800 lumens a 60-watt incandescent would put out, but it surely was adequate for environment. A pair of lamps behind your room will present loads of illumination with out taking away from the display on the entrance of it.
I’ve no complaints concerning the IKEA Symfonisk desk lamp speaker’s audio efficiency. I simply don’t look after its design aesthetic.
Here, nonetheless, Amazon Alexa/Google Assistant compatibility is restricted to the Sonos element of the lamp. If you need to use voice instructions to manage the sunshine, you’ll have to spring for a sensible LED bulb. IKEA’s Tradfri line is comparatively cheap, with a wi-fi distant management that prices $16 and a 600-lumen, tunable-white E12 bulb going for $10. Philips Hue bulbs price fairly a bit extra: The dimmable White prices about $15, the Hue White Ambiance (tunable white) goes for $25, and the Hue White and Color Ambiance is priced at $50.
Like the bookshelf speaker, the Symfonisk desk lamp options two amplifiers, a mid-woofer, and a tweeter, however the parts and tuning are very totally different; in reality, the speaker lamp’s sound profile is even nearer to that of the Sonos One. I had just one lamp speaker, so I wasn’t in a position to check two in stereo or in a {surround} configuration with the Sonos Beam, however the speaker sounds nice solo, delivering much more bass response than the bookshelf speaker—regardless of the lamp being a sealed enclosure—and higher separation throughout the frequency spectrum.
The speaker reproduced the rim pictures that open Steely Dan’s “Babylon Sisters,” from the band’s album Gaucho, with crisp authority. And the bass participant’s laconic strains sounded wealthy and full popping out of the speaker’s mid-woofer. It’s an excellent speaker—I simply can’t recover from how ugly it’s. But like I mentioned, that’s my subjective opinion. Yours is likely to be very totally different.
A real partnership
These two audio system are the results of a superb collaborative effort between two very totally different corporations. IKEA has been increasing past residence furnishings and dabbling within the good residence for some time now. Sonos has been specializing in increasing its multi-room audio choices at each ends of the spectrum, enabling extra shoppers to dip their toes into the Sonos ecosystem by reducing the price of entry-level parts whereas concurrently introducing higher-end merchandise—together with the Sonos Amp and the architectural speakers it developed in live performance with Sonance.
You’ll want to go to an IKEA retailer or go to their web site (beginning on August 1) if you wish to purchase both of those audio system, as a result of they gained’t be obtainable via some other retailer. Sonos gained’t be promoting them direct, both. The Symfonisk WiFi bookshelf speaker is virtually an impulse purchase, whether or not you’ve all the time needed to get into the world of Sonos, you need to add {surround} audio system to a Sonos soundbar you have already got, otherwise you simply need to take heed to music in a brand new room in your house.
I just like the audio efficiency of the Symfonisk desk lamp with WiFi speaker much more than the bookshelf speaker, and it’s simply versatile—it could function solo, as a stereo pair with one other speaker lamp, or because the surrounds complementing a Sonos soundbar. But the $80 distinction in value—and for some, that design aesthetic—prompts a extra thought of buy resolution, particularly should you’re contemplating a pair.