However, it blends these seamlessly with its more modern wireless and Bluetooth streaming features and is delightfully designed, borrowing heavily from the radiograms that were popular with affluent families in post-War Britain. That said, the Soundbar+ has depth and openness with vocals that is a real rarity for a soundbar. Whether it’s Perry Farrell's demented wailing on Ted..., or when swapping to the more sparse Tom’s Diner by Suzanne Vega, the Pulse Soundbar+ projects voices nicely and without any harshness. There's nice overall tonal balance, too, with well-judged, never-brash treble and naturally deep bass blending seamlessly with that textured midrange. There are no physical ports on the MS50A but you do get both wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as support for Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. That ensures it’s very well-equipped for streaming and you can even integrate it into a multi-room system using the Alexa app should you wish.

Effects loop to use your pedals and processors to apply reverb, delay or echo to your vocals and instruments, effects control dials to select which channel uses the effects In terms of build, though, you’d be hard pushed to spot the difference between the Bluesound Pulse Soundbar+ and its forebear, the Soundbar 2i. There is now a new centre strip on the front face with touch controls for volume and power, though, and either side of this sits a pair of 25mm tweeters, 5cm midrange drivers and 10cm woofers, with a matching passive radiator behind a tight aluminium grille. All the drivers are front-facing and, being larger in diameter than those in most competing models, give the Pulse Soundbar+ its distinctive slim, tapered-but-tall build.

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Wiring it into our reference system, it is clear that this is a different animal altogether to its predecessor. While its richness across the frequencies is retained, the soundstage appears more open, with even more granular detail fed in.

The best wireless speakers range considerably in size, from compact, desktop speakers to large systems that will take up a significant proportion of your living room. As alluring as a beefy setup may be, sometimes less is more. Smart features and voice assistants In terms of the sheer spread of product though, BluOS is more like the MusicCast system. As well as the Bluesound range of products - itself considerable - it is fitted to a very wide spread of NAD products including the AV receivers and the Masters Series high end models. This means that you can technically start with an all in one speaker like this and end up with a whole house of heavy duty NAD goodness. It might even include other brands too going forward as the software is now being licensed out. With Bluesound, set-up is simple and you’re presented with more streaming services and internet radio sources than you’re ever likely to use. Even the seemingly less important features, such as alarms, will help better integrate multi-room audio into your home life.

The best wireless speakers you can buy in 2023

Though it will divide opinion aesthetically, there’s no questioning the Symfonisk picture frame speaker’s merit as a wireless streaming device. Digital amplifier and custom-tuned drivers energize your music with deep, detailed bass and no distortion.

Audio Pro’s emergencein the multi-room market is a part of why Bluesound has lost a star overall. There are still reasons why you might be prepared to spend a good deal more to buy Bluesound, though. Below it, however, the Pulse Flex 2i (above) and Pulse Mini 2i have undergone tweaks rather than a full makeover. Bluesound’s focus here has been on upgrading connectivity, with otherwise comparatively minimal tweaks to performance, to maintain its original character. Another usability gripe is that the soundbar doesn’t automatically detect an eARC signal – you have to manually switch inputs within the BluOS app. Once configured, you can enable auto-detect on one source, but this only seems to function immediately after power-up, and not when switching from, for example, streaming to eARC. The best wireless speakers can transform how you enjoy music, podcasts, audiobooks and live radio at home but don’t cost as much as you might think.

Three main listening modes can be engaged – music, movie and late-night – and there are two upmixing options that can be toggled on and off. Bluesound says that the Surround Upmixer takes any channel-based audio and synthesises it to a multi-channel Dolby surround configuration intended to make use of a set-up that includes the optional surrounds and sub. Arcam’s rPlaystreamer, in particular, offered improved sound in a compact unit at a substantially lower price. Consequently, the Node 2 dropped from five stars to three. The new, smaller wi-fi chipset has granted Bluesound the freedom to play with the circuit layout –though the company has admitted to being surprised by how much this has affected the Node 2i’s audio performance.

The 2021 Zeppelin propels its way onto this list with streaming options aplenty, exceptional sound quality and Alexa built-in. Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect are both supported, while the easy-to-use B&W Music app allows you to integrate subscriptions to Qobuz, Tidal and more. It’s a design that benefits the speaker’s audio too, with tweeters positioned at either end of the enclosure helping deliver a wide soundstage characterised by crisp mid-range and treble and tight, controlled bass. Stereo imaging isn’t as effective as it is on stereo pairs like the KEF LSX but for a single unit, the Zeppelin is as good as you’ll get for the money. Its hi-res music support will be a big draw for some, and Bluesound’s app is a significant step up over the rather rudimentary Audio Pro offering. READ NEXT: The best Bluetooth speakers to buy this year Bluesound Pulse M review: What could be improved? The best wireless speakers deliver exceptional audio quality in your lounge, kitchen or bedroom, and while playing music remains their primary function, the more advanced among them deliver an array of useful features.The 32-bit/192kHz DAC remains, as does its long list of connections, including RCA, coaxial, optical and subwoofer outputs, with physical inputs for optical, analogue and USB-A alongside wi-fi, Bluetooth aptX 4.1 and AirPlay 2. Getting digital audio information on board in the first place is most easily done wirelessly, of course. Dual-band Wi-Fi is available, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX HD codec compatibility - and in addition there’s Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect. The Pulse M is Roon Ready, and as well as acting as a Bluetooth receiver it can be a transmitter and so can be used with wireless headphones. The extra engineering requirements of making a decent wireless speaker mean that we shouldn’t simply assume though. It sounds counter intuitive but the number of different directions that the designers of a product like this are pulled means that this is arguably more challenging than making a high end device. A Pulse 2i could just as easily have YouTube as its primary content source as Tidal. It might be listened to on axis, it might be asked to sit in a corner and fill an unconventional space instead. All this needs to be factored into the design. Swapping to The Social Network in 5.1, we try out the upmixing modes and find that they have little effect individually. Engage them both together, though, and a degree of extra spaciousness and atmosphere is added to the opening bar scene without the rapid-fire dialogue between the actors losing much in the way of clarity. Supplied with two passive speakers that need to be connected to the amplifier’s output terminals, this vocalist PA system delivers high-powered sound with wide frequency response. These 200W speakers feature a 10-inch woofer driver that perfectly reproduces vocals and music for high-quality, enjoyable performances. The overall sound can be adjusted with the available 3-band EQ controls, allowing you to increase or decrease the bass levels.