Edifier can certainly do a lot, from cheap to expensive, but the Airpulse A200 are so special that I just did not want to deprive myself (and thus you) a test. These active speakers are anything but riot or party speakers, but still have enough low end and level to be able to do that if need be. Only they don’t want to, because there is also a life outside of Aunt Helga’s party cellar with the obligatory dance music. It’s a music-trash-free zone here now, and that’s a good thing.
The price is set quite high with 830 to 850 Euros as an entry and street price, which also drove my eavesdroppers into the high air of the measuring rod mountain. Because exactly such a price also demands a particularly conscientious evaluation, where you not only listen closely, but also completely disassemble the test subjects once. That is simply part of a review, because you also want to get to know the inner values. Anyone can polish, the rest then always disappears into the depths of the Asian insulation wool. No chance, the tool is already waiting!
But before the covers finally come off, you first have to unpack the actual package, of course. And that’s exactly where I’ll start, because before the pleasure there is, as always, a lot of work. Whereby: the attentive reader will have noticed or still notice that the boxes are not brand new, because my smaller traces of use can be seen on the high-resolution photos then already. But I’m just going to pretend that the DHL guy has just given me a brand new box and I’m going to unpack everything with great anticipation.
Scope of delivery and accessories
And what do you get (or did you get) now as a paying customer? Besides the active box (right) and the passive box (left), there are also extra accessories in the extra box. Inside we find an RCA-to-RCA cable (RCA) with a length of 1.5 meters including a plug adapter from RCA to 3.5 mm jack, an optical TOSLINK cable (SPDIF) of the same length, the connection cable to the left speaker with a full 5 meters and two proprietary plugs, as well as a power cord for the mains connection. Although the speakers also have a balanced input, this special cable is not included, which is a pity.
Look, feel and functionality
The pair weighs a whopping 19 kilos together and that’s exactly what I meant by work too. With 203 x 355 x 295 mm (width x height x depth), the speakers are rather medium-sized for shelf speakers, so you can locate the weight mainly in the body. I’ll show it later in the teardown, but I can already spoil that Edifier uses high-density MDF with 25 mm thickness here. In addition, there is a cleanly laminated cherry veneer (real wood) and the front set off with matte black sanding varnish. I also hoisted the active box into the photo studio and had it pose for you at what felt like 30 degrees in the shade in 45-degree increments:
Visually, the whole thing makes a solid, rather classic impression. Experiments? Just don’t. When you run your fingers over the surfaces, corners and edges, you are almost captivated by the high-quality workmanship. No heels at all, neat transitions and gap dimensions like an absolute top class car. The look and feel are without a doubt in exactly the same league as the price. This fits in any case. The front is characterized by a 5.5-inch mid-woofer with quite a long stroke as well as a special metal cone made of aluminum and a very short voice coil design. In addition, there is the really good ribbon tweeter, i.e. a kind of flat diaphragm speaker with aluminum strips. I’ll go into more detail about the two chassis later in the teardown, including how they work.
The available output power per speaker is about 65 watts RMS, with 55 watts split between the mid-woofer and about 10 watts between the ribbon tweeter. Per channel, of course. A total of around 130 watts RMS is available, and the switching power supply is quite efficient. Peaks of up to about 150 watts do pass through the power cord at full volume, but in normal use it’s usually less than 20 watts at moderate volume. In standby, you stay under 0.5 watts.
Connectivity
The inputs are self-explanatory, although a balanced input is not a given. But there is, beautiful. Besides the two usual RCA jacks (RCA), we find an optical input (SPDIF) and the digital coax. However, there are no other outputs besides the connection for the left speaker and thus none for an optional subwoofer. It can be assumed that you simply don’t want any alienation in terms of sound, only I feel that this is almost paternalism. Technically speaking, the inner workings would easily do the job.
The three knobs do not give up any mystery. The volume control (digital) is coupled with a push button for input selection (source). The two tone controls for bass and treble have a very small control range of +/- 3 dB, but this is due to the deliberately neutral alignment. You can find that good, or not. But it is also something like a state-imposed hearing control, so that no mistakes are made. You can read the reasons at the end of this page.
The power socket with ground potential (protective earth) connects the boxes to the normal ground circuit, which with a little bad luck can also lead to the so-called ground hum, depending on the player and its supply. Speaking of connecting cables: the included 5-meter cable has sufficient conductor cross-sections inside for a largely loss-free connection. Since the power amplifiers work separately and there are no passive speaker crossovers in the boxes, both signals have to be brought to the left box. This then leads into a multi-pin connector (2x signal and 2x ground or shield). Those who feel reminded of diode plugs here are not that wrong. However, these plugs could have been angled by 90° to better lead the rather stiff cable downwards. Thus, however, it spikes quite visibly far to the rear. The boxes stand on neat and soft rubber feet and that would almost bring us back to the end of the superficialities.
Of course, I also want to say a word about the recurring “designed by Phil Jones”. Phil Jones (or Phil Jones Bass PJB as a company) has certainly set milestones in audio history. The year 1998, for example, marked the design and manufacture of the first Air Pulse loudspeaker system, which sold for a tidy $275,000 per pair and was awarded the Golden Sound Award by the Japan Audio Society as the best loudspeaker designed in the 100-year history of loudspeakers. Despite the similar spelling, the “Airpulse” is miles away from that, but it is also clear why certain restrictions against the user’s excessive playfulness are in place. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. Item.
A200 Sell Sheet
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