Wavemaster Stax Second Generation Speakers Review

Rating: 9.0.

Wavemaster designs speakers in Germany and then manufactures in the Far East. It's a clever partnership that allows them to get the best of both worlds: Teutonic desire for engineering perfection with a Chinese love of cost control and affordability. In 2013, that resulted in the most impressive set of speakers we saw all year – the Stax. The product has evolved and today we listen out for improvements in the Second Generation model.

The most impressive thing about the original Stax is the audio quality offered at the price. The launch price was £59. Right now, the Second Generation Stax speaker set is available for just £44.99 on Amazon.

On that basis, if the audio quality is anywhere near as good as the original, Wavemaster has a serious proposition on its hand. Styling is slightly different from the original – the contrasting silver satellites have been replaced by all black units and everything has a slightly soft touch to it.

Naturally, it is 100% compatible with anything that has a 3.5mm jack. On paper, the only feature ‘missing' is Bluetooth. This is how Wavemaster lays out the full set of what Stax V2 does have:-

• Sound
  Powerful, dynamic stereo sound powered by 3 separate amplifier modules (incl. bass and treble control)
• Satellites
  Slim and elegant shape with integrated driver protection and wall mountable metal stand. High value wide range drivers with mylar membrane
• Sub-Woofer
  High performance long stroke bass driver in wooden cabinet with bass reflex technology
• Control
  Integrated within the remote control unit are ON/OFF (standby), volume control, line-in (optimized for mobile sound sources) and headphone-out (amplified)
• Line-In x2
  Connect an additional mobile stereo source (e.g. smartphone) to the dedicated socket on the control unit, without disconnecting your main source
• Headphone Jack
  Stax offers an integrated headphone amplifier. Simply connect your headphones directly to the control unit and the speakers will mute automatically
• Eco-Standby
  Stax consumes less than 0.5 Watt during standby. Moreover there is a mains power switch located on the subwoofer.

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