Best speakers to improve audio for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV
The iPhone 6s and 6s P
lus provide up to 128GB of storage, which makes them ideal for home entertainment and storing all your music and video files – even those with 16GB devices can stream the latest music through the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. With music becoming more easily available, you’ll need a good speaker system to go with them, and you’re really spoilt for choice these days.
There are dozens of speaker manufacturers fighting for a slice of the Apple pie, with speakers in all shapes and sizes, designed for both indoor and outdoor use. Many speakers talk the talk – but do they walk the walk?
In this article, we explain various features you should look out for when in the market for a new speaker for your device, including the compression technology used by the speaker, and ‘360 degree audio’ – this is slides 1-4. From slide 5 onwards, we showcase a selection of our favourite speakers for your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.
The second hindrance to Bluetooth speaker sound is the current reliance on low-fidelity amplification technology, in common with other budget consumer electronics. While natural sounding hi-fi amplifiers still use a linear system known as Class A or Class B (more typically both, to form Class AB), cheap and portable audio devices use a fast-switching PWM system to drive speakers, known as Class D.
Class D is a clever way to make amplifiers far more efficient, turning more precious mains or battery power into usable amp output power. That’s particularly noteworthy in a mobile age dependent on batteries. Class D amps run cold so don’t require massive heatsinks to vent unwanted heat. A complete powerful 20W amp module can be built around a small microchip, saving much space and cost. The technology has everything going for it – except sound quality, which is typically grainy, harsh, lifeless and stripped of the natural essence of music.
The smallest of speakers with a single midrange speaker and limited volume can hide some of these issues; the challenge for the designer is to make a full-range speaker system that makes you actually want to listen to it.
The Bluetone’s matte black casing isn’t much to look at, but it packs a serious punch for speaker costing just under £200.
With 100W output, the Bluetone is powerful enough to really fill a room with sound, and provides a more solid bass sound than many compact speakers of this size. It measures 182x354x118mm and weighs 4.1kg so isn’t quite as portable as some of the other speakers in this round-up. It only runs off mains power, but there’s a carrying handle built into the back of the speaker and it’s light enough to easily carry from room to room at home.
It uses Bluetooth for wireless connectivity – with the option of Apt-X for devices that support it – and there are two inputs for non-wireless devices as well.
