Wireless audio has a marmite appeal to many of the public. Some of us use wireless headphones, earphones and speakers for all our audio. Personally, being able to listen to music around the office without yanking a cable out of the front of my PC when I spin my chair to talk to a colleague is invaluable!
But others have concerns over things like bitrate loss and input lag, as well as disconnects and sound quality. It’s a fair point to bring up, but what if we told you that Bluetooth speakers can be hi-fi too?
Bluetooth 5.0 + Speeds
First of all, though, let’s dispel this idea that Bluetooth lowers audio quality itself. The thing is, as we have seen with physical CD players, by the time you’re not listening to an original recording of uncompressed music or a CD version, you’ve already lowered the quality!
Any audio that is from apps like Spotify (Streamed) or played as downloaded MP3’s or WAV are all already compressed and lowered in quality compared to a CD. It’s ridiculous to claim that Bluetooth is as high-fidelity as a CD, but it isn’t so ridiculous to claim that it’s on par with *other* alternative listening methods.
Bluetooth Can Only Be as High Quality as Your Audio
Basically, playing audio from your phone or the internet is the thing bottlenecking the quality; it isn’t your cable or wireless connection.
Bluetooth 5.0+ versions are double the speed of any 4.0+ version, and the capacity is increased too so that more data can be carried at once. This increases breadth and depth of sound with no latency added. Combine that with a special codec like Qualcom aptX and you’re able to listen at identical quality to a wired pair of headphones or a wired speaker.
Stereo Driver Units with Bluetooth
The next misconception is that Bluetooth devices themselves sacrifice sound quality and engineering in favour of incorporating this wireless tech. Of course, development time and engineering real-estate is used for those wireless components, but the speaker units themselves that are in wireless headphones / speakers are not inherently different to an analogue pair.
The MB420 is one of the prime examples of high-fidelity audio combined with Bluetooth. What the best hi fi portable speakers do is combine quality driver units with fast wireless codec and a frame large enough to house a proper bass solution…
Often when speaker units are made portable, they lose the capacity for true bass. The MB420 Bluetooth Stereo Speaker Unit uses a bass tube design in the rear to bring an authentic and complete audio experience even wirelessly, anywhere.
The specifications show separate speaker units for true stereo alongside the bass tune on the back. This proves that the addition of Bluetooth isn’t necessarily a sign that a speaker is cheapening the speaker quality.
Input Options
The MB420 goes further and adds multiple ways to listen, all built in to a hi-fi speaker. You can insert a USB stick in FAT32 format to play your own local files. Incidentally, these can therefore be a higher fidelity than streamed music depending on your audio format!
On top of that, the speaker has an aerial and FM / DAB radio access. You can save pre-sets and listen to local or national radio seamlessly before switching mode and listening to Bluetooth connected devices with streamed music. The versatility is there, and it gives so much freedom to listen to the music you really want in each situation.
Browse Stereo Bluetooth Speaker Units
The MB420 is just one example of a hi-fi speaker with Bluetooth. The range below features mains-powered speakers, individual paired handheld speakers and even a waterproof speaker which are all built with multiple driver units for full stereo, and feature Bluetooth!
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