Edifier e255 Surround Sound Speaker Review

Rating: 8.0.

You have to say that Edifier’s design is amazing. The streamlined Ferrari-looks make many traditional speakers seem like boxy Volvos from the seventies. However, speakers are not about looks, they are about audio, so we’re encouraged to make this kind of buying decision based on sound quality alone. That said, design has become a significant factor in so many buying decisions in recent years, so the question we have to ask ourselves is: While beautiful to behold, is the Edifier e255 speaker set really worth £600?

When trying to create a cinema in your living room, there is no real limit on how much you can spend or how many holes you can make in the wall. There is some anecdotal evidence of enthusiasts trying to build the perfect system with 48 or more speakers. Your home cinema experience will only be as good as the weakest link between your source and your speakers.

Audiophiles say that it’s better to save for a few more months and buy the right thing, than to compromise and get whatever you can afford today. We all know that eBay is littered with other people’s mistakes.

While the best 3D sound experience available for your living room may well comes from Dolby Atmos, the majority of people won’t go to the effort of installing speakers above their heads or buying 100% Atmos-enabled content. Generally, most of your surround sound experience will come from Dolby Pro Logic/Pro Logic II.

Dolby Pro Logic II uses hidden audio cues that already exist in stereo content to create realistic surround sound with five full-range channels: Left, Right, Centre, Left Surround, and Right Surround. You won’t get the full dome of Dolby Atmos audio from this kind of faux-surround, but it will give you some kind of 360 degree experience (in a single, lateral plane) on most stereo content.

Edifier says you can be ‘part of the movie with 385-watts of surround sound’ and it allows for wireless connection of the sub-woofer and rear speakers. In practice, the bass was amazing but the rear surround speakers would need some adaptation to be really effective. The surround was there, but without true immersion – more about that later.

Features

• Wireless 5.1 Surround Sound home theatre system
• Dolby/DTS & Dolby Pro Logic II
• Dolby/DTS certified
• OLED display system & current stream
• Independent amps in every speaker calibrated for electronic crossovers
• Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Dynamic Range Control (DRC)
• High efficiency switch power source
• Touch sensitive controls
• Remote control included

Specifications

• Power output: RMS 16W × 5 (treble) + 20W × 5 (mid-range)
• SW: RMS 220W
• Signal to noise ratio: =95dBA
• Input sensitivity: AUX: Satellite: 600mV±50mV
• Subwoofer: 750mV±50mV
• Optical: Satellite: 300±50mFFS
• Subwoofer: 550±50mFFS
• Input type: Optical x 3 /AUX
• Bass unit: 8 inch (210mm)
• Mid-range unit: FL/FR/C/SL/SR: 3 inch (82mm)
• Treble unit: F19mm silk dome

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