The Best Speakers for All Types of Listeners
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From listening in the backyard or in the Great Outdoors, to keeping you company while you work from home, to letting your music follow you from room to room, or for those times when you just want to sit and listen, there’s a speaker that’s right for you. It doesn’t matter what you want it for or where you want to use it, and it doesn’t really matter how much or how little you expect to pay. Your perfect speaker is in here somewhere.
For more audio recommendations, check out our guides on the Best Gear for Audiophiles, the Best Bluetooth Speakers, the Best Smart Speakers, the Best Turntables, and the Best Earplugs.
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Photograph: Federico Rostagno/Getty ImagesSpeakers 101
Passive speakers are the easiest to understand—they’re the speakers we all grew up with, and they’re the speakers you need to complete a traditional audio system. They have no power supply of their own and need to receive an amplified electrical signal in order to function. So you don’t plug them into the mains—instead, you wire them to an amplifier that provides the electrical impetus they need to create sound.
There’s a fair bit more crossover with the other categories we’re dealing with. Bluetooth, as you know, is a method of wirelessly streaming audio information—so a Bluetooth speaker has its own power supply (from the mains or batteries) and amplification, and once it receives a Bluetooth signal it can decode it and turn it into sound. A wireless speaker has its own source of power and its own amplification—and there’s every chance it will be able to deal with a Bluetooth signal. But in addition, it can deal with audio information using a Wi-Fi network or cloud storage—so if you subscribe to a streaming service, its cloud-based service (such as Spotify Connect) is available without the need for a Bluetooth connection. Some wireless speakers consist of a stereo pair, with inputs for physical sources such as turntables or CD players—they are, effectively, a traditional hi-fi system contained in a pair of wireless speakers.
In addition to the clever stuff your wireless speaker can handle, a smart speaker adds compatibility with a voice assistant such as Alexa or Google Assistant (as well as brand-specific alternatives like Apple’s Siri and Sonos Voice Control). And then all your wireless/smart speaker requires to become a “multiroom” speaker is the ability to communicate with other wireless or smart speakers in your home. Network stability is essential here, of course, as is the stability of the control app you use to group your speakers together—and that’s why brands like Sonos have built bombproof reputations where multiroom ecosystems are concerned.
- Photograph: Ultimate Ears
Best Bluetooth for Every Eventuality
UE Boom 3Bluetooth speakers can be bigger than this, have greater battery life than this, and sound a little better balanced than this. Nothing is more engaging or energetic to listen to at this sort of money, though, and nothing has greater Bluetooth range than the Boom 3 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) delivers, at 100 meters. This fully waterproof cylinder of audio fun is available in multiple vibrant colors, can go a full 15 hours between charges, and, to top it off, is complete with a two-year warranty.
- Photograph: TriBit
A Bargain Bluetooth Speaker
Tribit StormBox Micro 2How do you improve the best little Bluetooth speaker going, especially one that comes with a simple silicone strap for keeping it secure against your bicycle handlebars? Easy: Switch up to Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity for improved range and better battery life (it now lasts for 12 hours between charges). Maintain the rugged IP67 rating against moisture and dust, and then—sort of as an encore—make it sound even bassier than before.
- Photograph: Bang & Olufsen
Best for Glamping
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 (2nd Gen)Small can still be luxurious—even if, as in the case of the IP67-rated Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 G2, it comes at a price. Upmarket materials (that leather strap is a tactile and visual treat), excellent control options, convenient dimensions, and, best of all, sound that’s way bigger and more convincing than its appearance lets on make this the tiny premium Bluetooth speaker to beat. Want to completely own that outdoor party? Here’s how.
- Photograph: Sonos
Portable Smarts
Sonos RoamIt sure took its time getting there, but when Sonos finally got around to delivering a compact, durable, Bluetooth-equipped portable speaker, the Roam (9/10, WIRED Recommends) was well worth the wait. IP67 rating, grabbable and backpack-friendly dimensions, some smart functionality, and 10 hours of battery life make it a great option. It’s even got some multiroom ability—but unless your room is the Great Outdoors, that’s probably not so much of a selling point.
- Photograph: DALI
Best Portable Sound Quality
DALI Katch G2Danish loudspeaker specialist DALI is more readily associated with big, high-achieving, and generally quite expensive loudspeakers, but it’s poured everything it knows into its portable Katch G2. Great looks (in a choice of finishes), Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with hi-res codec compatibility, an epic 30 hours of battery life … and, above all, poised and high-quality sound, the likes of which make a seemingly-optimistic asking price seem absolutely fair enough.
- Photograph: Sonos
Stunning Spatial Audio
Sonos Era 300Like a few Sonos speakers, the Era 300 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) could just as easily slip into the wireless category—but it’s here because it’s the first time Sonos has fitted Bluetooth to an indoor speaker. Not only that, it’s a spatial audio device too, with six speaker drivers firing left, right, upward, and side-to-side all at the same time. So if you have an Amazon Music Unlimited or an Apple Music subscription, Dolby Atmos spatial sounds can be yours. And very convincing spatial audio it is, too.
- Photograph: Sonos
Best Overall Multiroom
SonosSonos defined the multiroom experience for the whole industry some time ago, and just keeps on refining what remains the best ecosystem around. Small speakers, big speakers, and soundbars of all sizes … there’s something for everyone in the Sonos line-up, no matter how many rooms you want to fill with sound. Lately, the company has started to embrace Bluetooth connectivity (which makes its products even more flexible) and spatial audio (which makes them even more engrossing to listen to).
No matter which of the Sonos range takes your fancy, you’re guaranteed enthusiastic, entertaining, and engrossing sound for music and movies alike. Add in the smoothest user experience around however many Sonos speakers you want, and no matter how many rooms you put them in, and we’re rapidly approaching no-brainer status here.
- Photograph: Audio Pro
Multiroom for Aesthetes
Audio ProThere are, admittedly, shortcomings to the Audio Pro experience—most of them centering around how disappointing the control app is. But when it comes to fresh, modern looks and sound quality relative to asking price, the Swedish brand deserves plenty of respect.
Audio Pro builds some of the best-sounding and best-looking wireless speakers this sort of money can buy—the choice of finishes is extensive and all typically Scandi-tasteful, and build quality is way better than the very reasonable asking prices might lead you to believe. The range also includes the mighty Drumfire, which looks more like a backline amplifier at a gig than a loudspeaker you can use at home. All of which means the obvious question is, “Why wouldn’t you want an Audio Pro in every room of your home?”
- Photograph: Bluesound
Best Multiroom Sound Quality
BluesoundNot the breadth of choice or the chic good looks of Audio Pro, not the effortless ease of use or the go-anywhere functionality of Sonos—but thanks to its ability with the 24-bit/192-kHz highest-of-hi-res digital audio content, Bluesound is the obvious multiroom choice for those who place sound quality above all else.
Give your Bluesound system the right stuff to work with and its big, organized, lavishly detailed, and deftly punchy sound will never fail to satisfy, no matter where in your home you’re listening. The BluOS control app is no slouch either, making it easy to set up enough individual listening zones to fill a multistory hotel with pristine audio entertainment, and as more and more companies enter the BluOS ecosystem it will become easier still. No, Bluesound equipment isn’t especially affordable, but it is well worth the money.
- Photograph: KEF
Best Overall Wireless
KEF LSX IIIn which KEF takes an outstanding little wireless stereo speaker system and, by deploying a number of incremental gains, serves up an entirely worthwhile update. The LSX II (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is still usefully compact, beautifully finished, and available in any number of very pleasant finishes. But now it’s a bigger, more detailed, and more engrossing listen, whether you’re enjoying your favorite music streaming service or the movie equivalent. Clarity, scale, and outright entertainment—the LSX II has it all.
- Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Hi-Fi Quality at Desktop Prices
Q Acoustics M20Yes, it’s on the hefty side for use on a desktop. Yes, the two speakers must be wired together. But once you get an earful of the sound of the M20 system (which is basically a just-add-source stereo system contained in two cabinets), we reckon you’ll find the room. Even at its most simple, with a smartphone connected via Bluetooth, the M20 sounds way more expensive than it actually is—and it looks and feels it, too.
- Photograph: Bowers & Wilkins
For Owners of Large Furniture
Bowers & Wilkins ZeppelinBetween 2007 and 2015, the Zeppelin and its variations were among the best wireless speakers around. After an unexplained seven-year absence, the Zeppelin (9/10, WIRED Recommends) came back—and guess what? It’s among the best wireless speakers you can buy. Yes, it’s pretty big, and no, it doesn’t quite deliver the true stereo sound that Bowers & Wilkins seems to think it does—but it’s nevertheless an uncomplicated treat to listen to and a conversation starter as an object too.
- Photograph: Naim
Hi-Fi Know-How in a Cube
Naim Mu-so Qb2The UK isn’t short of “proper” hi-fi brands, of course—but not all of them are prepared to indulge their customers to the extent Naim is. The company got in on the “high quality audio from a small and covetable package” early on, and has been refining its winning formula ever since. The very-nearly-cube shape of the Muso Qb2 is decorative and beauty finished, and it’s a source of brilliantly balanced, full-scale, endlessly enjoyable sound, no matter where in your home you place it.
- Photograph: KEF
Performance Stereo Speakers
KEF LS50 Wireless IIConvenience is all well and good, but if the compromises that come along with it are too great, then it becomes pointless. KEF has delivered a great-looking pair of stereo speakers in the LS50 Wireless II (8/10, WIRED Recommends), packed in a stack of connectivity possibilities both wired and wireless, including an HDMI ARC socket (so your TV can join in) and liberated, superbly accomplished, widescreen sound. So the compromises are effectively nonexistent and the pleasure of ownership is colossal.
- Photograph: Linn
For Those Who Demand the Best
Linn Series 3It’s completely in character for Scottish audio savant Linn to claim its Series 3 is “the best-sounding wireless speaker in the world.” It’s equally true to say that’s a statement that is mighty difficult to argue with. Yes, you’re paying top dollar—but it buys you an almost humblingly impressive sound from a speaker that looks like it was sculpted rather than anything as trite as “constructed.” You want the best? Here it is.
- Photograph: ELAC
Get a Taste of Passive Speakers
ELAC Debut 5.2The world of affordable passive speakers is extremely competitive—so it’s a measure of just how squarely Germany’s ELAC has hit the nail on the head that the second generation of its Debut 5.2 stand mounting speakers is almost a no-brainer at this sort of money. They’re not much to look at, it’s true, but by heavens, they have it where it counts. Entry-level doesn’t have to mean compromised, and organized doesn’t have to mean “no fun”— here’s your proof.
- Photograph: Bowers & Wilkins
That First Proper Upgrade
Bowers & Wilkins 606 S2 AnniversaryNever let it be said that Bowers & Wilkins doesn’t know exactly what it’s doing. Unlike the birthdays you or I celebrate, B&W gave everyone else a present on its most recent anniversary—and the compact, flawlessly built, and (whisper it) quite handsome 606 Anniversary are prodigious value for money no matter the territory in which you’re shopping. Want to know what “proper” hi-fi is about without breaking the bank? Here’s how.
- Photograph: Klipsch
Big, Big Sound
Klipsch R-800FWhatever Klipsch, the American loudspeaker institution, doesn’t know about providing extraordinary sonic value frankly isn’t worth knowing—and the R-800F are just the latest demonstration of its prowess. Big, good-looking, well-made cabinets produce big, authoritative, and utterly convincing sound at a price that seems unlikely. In other words, it’s Klipsch business as usual. So if the space you want to fill with high-quality sound is larger than the amount you think it’ll cost, think again.
- Photograph: Mission
Modern Retro Visuals
Mission 770If you want to set your watch back almost 50 years where looks are concerned, but want up-to-the-minute engineering skills at the same time, Mission’s reimagining of its classic 1978 770 loudspeaker could be just the ticket. After all, hankering after retro looks is all well and good, but no one wants to compromise on sound quality, do they? And though today’s 770 looks the full Saturday Night Fever, it sounds like some of the best the 21st century has to offer.
- Photograph: Bowers & Wilkins
Enter the High-End
Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4For the longest time, the Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series has represented the pinnacle of the company’s engineering and design philosophies—the fourth generation is no exception. And for once, the smallest and most affordable model in the range is the outstanding performer. The 805 D4 is a simply stupendous sounding (and, let’s be honest, stupendous looking) loudspeaker with a list of talents as long as your arm. Although “affordable” is a relative term here, of course.
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