Saturday, October 1, 2022

IKEA HiFi

It is obvious, not only did I not post a lot lately, I am also very late in the game what IKEA electronics is concerned. After having talked about HiFi gear made from PVC-tubing, there was not much left to degrade my standards in high fidelity audio, I figure. And here I am, talking about IKEA as the next audiophile (maybe not) source of gear.

A while ago, I contemplated using JBL Flip4 speakers as improvised stereo setup. This worked all fine, one the app recognized the speakers and finally configured those into a stereo pair. Maybe that was the tech of that time, I don't know, but, it (finally) turned out that an easier way is possible.

Coming onto the scene, the IKEA Eneby gen 2 BT speakers. Not only those speakers are 60% of the price I paid for the JBLs, they also remember the (stereo) configuration they were set up in.
While the original Eneby speakers might sound equally good as the 2nd generation, stereo pairing of those was not an option. Solely for that reason, I could not be bothered with the Enebys. 
However, this has all changed now. One can configure two identical Eneby gen 2 speakers to act as a stereo pair and the speakers will keep this setup, unless reset to factory settings.

What the sound is concerned, I think they sound very nice. Initially my impression was that they are a bit bass heavy, however, this might have been due to the music I tested them with in the first attempt. Listening to "Sweet Smoke" now, the speakers seem well balanced and the stereo image is very pleasing, just like I remember the record when played on vinyl on a big rig years ago.

The speakers can get surprisingly loud. 

Even as a stereo pair, one can control the balance by individually adjusting the volume of the respective speaker. While this makes sense with balance, this also can be done to the bass and treble response of the individual speaker... I am not sure if that makes any sense.

The Eneby gen 2 speakers do have an analog jack input. I have not yet tested if one can run a stereo paired setup with analog input. That's a test for a future post.