Dynaudio's Xeo series discontinued?

[SpanishPassion]

I was just browsing the Dynaudio's official website and I noticed that the entire Xeo series is appearing as discontinued: https://dynaudio.com/home-audio

Only the new Focus and Music line of speakers are still listed are "current" digital speakers.

I'm extremely surprised... For those, who don't know: Dynaudio has several lines of active wireless speakers. Focus is their most expensive line, the cheapest bookshelf speaker there costs 5000€. Music is just a "lifestyle" type wireless speakers.

The Xeo line was a more mainstream, less expensive active, wireless and hi-fi speakers.

Honestly, I was thinking that this line of products had to be very popular, because they were not very expensive and they were very convenient to use. Dynaudio seemed to invest a lot into this line of speakers, especially given the fact that not too long ago they updated the entire line with Xeo 10, Xeo 20 and Xeo 30.

Now all of them are suddenly discontinued. Crazy. Either Dynaudio will launch a new line of similar speakers (maybe now under the Focus-derivative brand?) or actually those speakers were not nearly as popular as I imagined them to be.

Honestly, if this series is discontinued for good it's like Dynaudio is becoming less and less attractive for those who look for high quality, not too expensive active speakers. That's a shame honestly, because the concept of Xeo was amazing and their ease of use was unmatched. Yes, maybe they were not the best for sound quality, but they were still very good and much more convenient to use than the likes of Genelec and so on.

I'm honestly sad about this. This line of speakers was also the one who introduced me to hi-fi audio and I spent countless of amazing hours listening to them. Such a shame.

 

[bryan0101]

Also just found out about this. Was looking for a bluetooth/wireless solution in area that cannot have wires, and the xeo represent very good value for any wireless setup. Not sure there are any active speakers out there that can even do complete wireless at this quality with this price. Very curious why not as many people buy them, especially in Euro/Asia, where wireless solution is more attractive.

 

[Keith_W]

I bought a pair of Xeo's for my ex-gf. They still need a power cable to run to each speaker. There is a control hub which connects to the Xeo's wirelessly which accepts wired connections (HDMI, USB, Toslink) and which also accepts Chromecast and Bluetooth. It could not work as a Roon endpoint or use Tidal unless you installed additional third party hardware.

I do not think there are any advantages to the Xeo compared to a more traditional Integrated amp + passive speaker setup. In fact, going the traditional route with an integrated amp would probably be more advantageous because if that Xeo control box fails, you have a pair of very expensive boat anchors. At least with integrated + passive speakers you have the same number of cables as well as upgradeability and more market support.

 

[SpanishPassion]

I do not think there are any advantages to the Xeo compared to a more traditional Integrated amp + passive speaker setup. In fact, going the traditional route with an integrated amp would probably be more advantageous because if that Xeo control box fails, you have a pair of very expensive boat anchors. At least with integrated + passive speakers you have the same number of cables as well as upgradeability and more market support.

It's only the older Xeo 4 that required this Connect box. Starting from Xeo 2 they were completely autonomous, that is, no external box required to connect them to the source.

So you needed 2 powers cables and 1 cable to connect to the source while with your proposal you would have 2 cables, a power cable for the amp and another cable for the source. Not a big deal, honestly, but Xeo had this very minimalist setup appeal while still having good sound quality.

 

[Keith_W]

It's only the older Xeo 4 that required this Connect box. Starting from Xeo 2 they were completely autonomous, that is, no external box required to connect them to the source.

How does the Xeo 2 accept wired connections then? e.g. HDMI, AES/EBU, and Toslink? Do you have to run additional cables to the speaker?

So you needed 2 powers cables and 1 cable to connect to the source while with your proposal you would have 2 cables, a power cable for the amp and another cable for the source. Not a big deal, honestly, but Xeo had this very minimalist setup appeal while still having good sound quality.

I apologize for not being so clear about what I said. When I set up the system in my ex's house, she wanted no visible electronics. So all the electronics were stuffed into a cabinet on the side. The only cables visible were the power cables running to the Xeo's. In this scenario, having an integrated amp + passive speakers would have resulted in the same number of visible cables. And yes, for a woman those cables really mattered ... it took her a really long time to decide if she wanted black or white power cables at the hardware store!

 

[SpanishPassion]

How does the Xeo 2 accept wired connections then? e.g. HDMI, AES/EBU, and Toslink? Do you have to run additional cables to the speaker?

I just use a 3.5 mm jack to connect my PC to it. You can connect it to any of the speakers and it acts as "master" and transmits the sound wirelessly to another one. It also has RCA and Toslink connectors.

I apologize for not being so clear about what I said. When I set up the system in my ex's house, she wanted no visible electronics. So all the electronics were stuffed into a cabinet on the side. The only cables visible were the power cables running to the Xeo's. In this scenario, having an integrated amp + passive speakers would have resulted in the same number of visible cables. And yes, for a woman those cables really mattered ... it took her a really long time to decide if she wanted black or white power cables at the hardware store!

I don't really care that much about that, but having a clean desk is appreciated. Dynaudio was a good option for this.

 

[Danny247]

Kef ls50 II wireless? With the small subwoofer might be an option