Fluance has been creating audio products out of Canada for twenty years. Their products include turntables, Hi-Fi floor-standing speakers and bookshelf speakers like today’s topic, the $200 Ai40. While hitting an incredible price point, these powered bookshelf speakers provide an easy, standalone way to get your system up and running with some unbelievably good sound. Check out the video below.
Design
The Ai40 comes in three different color options. This Lucky Bamboo paint scheme features a white face with a lighter wood finish. They also come in a darker walnut color and blacked out black ash. They’re all pretty classic color combos that should fit in with most entertainment systems.
Remote
For added control, the Fluance Ai40 comes with a remote with some nice features built in. With the remote you can control all of the Bluetooth playback, source toggling, bass and treble control and even adjust the brightness of the LED light on the front – which is a surprisingly convenient feature.
Quick Specs:
- 1-inch silk soft dome tweeter
- 5-inch woofer
- Class D 70-Watt integrated amplifier (2×35 watts)
- 40Hz – 20KHz frequency response
- 10.9 x 6.5 x 7.6 inches.
- 15.1-lbs.
Fluance Ai40: Video
Sound design
Constructed of MDF, the Ai40 is a solid set of bookshelf speakers. They feature a sealed design to help produce a tight sound without being too boomy. A 1-inch silk soft dome tweeter sits near the top of the speakers with a large 5.5-inch woofer at the bottom.
At its heart, the Ai40 feature pretty simple operation. The only connections are the RCA cables and bluetooth aptX. Getting both set up is very simple and I had no trouble connecting via Bluetooth to my iPhone 8.
Sound
All of these design choices and simplicity come together into a great sounding set of speakers. On paper, Fluance says the speakers will reach from 40Hz to 20KHz. But translated into real world sound, the Ai40 sound incredibly powerful. They hit down low without being too muddy thanks to their sealed design.
They reproduce vocals clearly and give great stereo imaging. Listening to Hotel California from Hell Freezes over had great imaging with resonate lows on the intro and clear vocals harmonies in the chorus.
Being able to control treble and bass from the remote makes the Ai40 even better for most listening experiences. With Bluetooth and RCA you might not be getting audio from a source with any sort of control, so having the option to boost or cut based on what kind of media you’re listening to.
Usability
With its easy setup and bluetooth pairing and intuitive remote control, the Ai40 is extremely easy to use. RCA is pretty universal at this point and can connect to most analog systems, and Bluetooth aptX provides connection to modern wireless devices.
Conclusion
It’s pretty hard to believe these are only $200. For reference, the Audioengine A2+ Wireless desktop speakers that I reviewed a little while back are $270. Granted, those are geared for completely different uses with the small form-factor and variety of inputs, but it gives an idea of the impressive price point on the Fluance Ai40s. If you have the room for the Fluance Ai40, you will not be disappointed by their performance for the price.
Buy the Fluance Ai40 Bookshelf Speakers on Amazon
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