Edifier S2000 Pro Review (Powered Monitor)

[Ultrasonic]

If Amir didn't use remote control it was definitely Classic mode

Which we know Amir didn't as he wasn't provided with it.

 

[EC1960SOCAL]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Edifier S2000 Pro monitor (powered speaker). It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $400 on Amazon including Prime shipping.

The S2000 looks better than its cost indicates:

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Connectivity is a lot richer than professional monitors anywhere close to this price range including a remote control:

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I only had this master unit for testing. I like the large controls in the back though the rotary control for volume has no indication. So you are adjusting it blind. There is also no detent to indicate neutrality on the bass and treble controls. I tested the unit as you see. Pressing the volume control in selects the input and a small display on the front indicates which input is chosen.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

I performed over 1000 measurement which resulted in error rate of less than 1%. Temperature was 70 degrees F.

Measurements are compliant with latest speaker research into what can predict the speaker preference and is standardized in CEA/CTA-2034 ANSI specifications. Likewise listening tests are performed per research that shows mono listening is much more revealing of differences between speakers than stereo or multichannel.

Reference axis was the tweeter center. The front baffler is slanted back. I measured it however as if it were not.

Edifier S2000 Pro Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker is and how it can be used in a room. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

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Other than a small bass boost, the measurements look OK until you get to a few hundred hertz where things start to get progressively more variable. If we look at the near-field measurements we can see some of the reasons why:

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The cabinet/port resonances start to mix with the response above 500 Hz causing the variations. The tweeter itself has very uneven response which may be due to all the structures in front of it. Despite use of DSP, it doesn't seem like it was used to correct any of these deficiencies.

Early window reflections which is more indicative of far-field listening is a bit smoother/better:

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That helps predicted in-room response some as a result:

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Horizontal beam width is variable:

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Vertical response is not centered on measurement axis due to slanted tweeter:

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Seems like response would have been better if they had not slanted it. Regardless, don't go below 90 degree horizontal line.

CSD/Waterfall graph indicates a number of resonances:

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Distortion was high and quite out of control at 96 dBSPL as I could hear the speaker make a lot of odd noises:

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Listening test after the measurements were complete indicated that turning up the gain in the back and lowering the signal sent to the unit improved the sound. So part of the problem at higher SPL may be this. Then again the amplification available is very modest (12/50 watts) so the limit is not going to be that high anyway.

Edifier S2000P Pro Listening Tests and Equalization
As is the sound was a bit boomy and not very enjoyable. I took out my EQ tool and started to correct response deficiencies one by one:

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I was still not happy with the results. Right before giving up, I realized I had to really push the speaker to get loud and it would generate a cracking sound at limit that often occurs due to digital clipping. So I turned up the gain in the back and boy did that make a nice difference. Now I could get good dynamics and with the EQ correction, the sound was quite good. The slight boost around 4 kHz opened the sound a bit. And taking down the rest of the peaks seem to not only impact the frequency response but level of distortion as clarity was increased as well.

Conclusions
The S2000 Pro is a very feature rich speaker for its price. Objective measurements though indicate a number of response errors. Subjective listening confirmed the same with rather lackluster performance. Equalization helped fair bit indicating that if they had done this in the on board DSP, they would have had a winner on their hands.

As is, I can not recommend the Edifier S2000 Pro. It is just too imperfect. If you have it though, equalization helps a lot to turn it into a good sounding speaker at a great price.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Starting to harvest some vegetables from the raised beds. Picked a few BoK Choi (second from front) which was absolute delight. So delicate and sweet compared to store bought version:

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Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

love bok choi

 

[Walter]

Owner should have instructed Amir before reviewing, but reviewer should always educate himself on the speaker before reviewing since claiming speaker does not have DSP implementation is wrong.

In two separate locations, @amirm mentions that the speaker has DSP, and laments that it was not used to correct the frequency response issues. Yes, it would have been great if he had done some research to see if a DSP setting was the problem, and then asked the owner to send the remote, but I don't think we can blame him for not doing so. The details about the EQ curves and the default preset are probably available somewhere online, but they don't come up in a quick search and they are not presented on the main page for this speaker on Edifier's site. I think the blame has to be placed squarely on the owner, and on Edifier for using such an awful preset as the default. As much as I appreciate people sending their gear to test, this kind of thing seems to happen way too often. This particularly bothers me personally with these speakers, as Edifier are the only brand of desktop/near-field speaker easily available in the country I'm stuck in until Covid gets contained that sounds even halfway good, and I have had been considering both the R1855DB (which has a sub out although I have no idea of the crossover settings) and the S2000MKIII for awhile now. (We have JBL stores but they only sell Bluetooth speakers and PA gear, damn it! No 305s, A130s, or anything decent.) On the other hand, finding out that I will have to go to the trouble of changing the preset every time I turn the speaker on is very valuable pre-purchase information.

 

[Ultrasonic]

On the other hand, finding out that I will have to go to the trouble of changing the preset every time I turn the speaker on is very valuable pre-purchase information.

On this last point I'll say that while it seems annoying it's not a huge deal in practice. I'm currently trying out some Edifier S3000 Pros and every time I turn them on I have to both select the monitor preset and raise the volume up to the maximum (as it 'forgets' this too), as I control volume with my miniDSP SHD and I need to be able to set a consistent level to maintain the match with my subwoofer. It didn't take long before I just got used to doing this without thinking about it.

 

[Walter]

On this last point I'll say that while it seems annoying it's not a huge deal in practice. I'm currently trying out some Edifier S3000 Pros and every time I turn them on I have to both select the monitor preset and raise the volume up to the maximum (as it 'forgets' this too), as I control volume with my miniDSP SHD and I need to be able to set a consistent level to maintain the match with my subwoofer. It didn't take long before I just got used to doing this without thinking about it.

Dang. I wish they would have designed these to memorize the last settings instead of reverting to default. I've never programmed embedded devices, but I suspect it would not have been difficult. How long is does it take before they go into standby after the input signal is stopped? If I only have to do it when I first sit down at my desk, OK, but if I'm going to have to reset it every time I pause the sound to take a phone call, that is a deal breaker. I wish the knobs were on the front, as that would be even easier than using the remote.

I must say that I am surprised that someone using an SHD would have it paired with speakers such as these--even with the much higher cost of the S3000 compared to the S2000. Do you actually think they are THAT good? What others have you compared them to?

 

[Ultrasonic]

Dang. I wish they would have designed these to memorize the last settings instead of reverting to default. I've never programmed embedded devices, but I suspect it would not have been difficult. How long is does it take before they go into standby after the input signal is stopped? If I only have to do it when I first sit down at my desk, OK, but if I'm going to have to reset it every time I pause the sound to take a phone call, that is a deal breaker. I wish the knobs were on the front, as that would be even easier than using the remote.

I must say that I am surprised that someone using an SHD would have it paired with speakers such as these--even with the much higher cost of the S3000 compared to the S2000. Do you actually think they are THAT good? What others have you compared them to?

I said I was 'trying out' these speakers not using them long term . I picked them up second hand for a price I'll be able to sell them on for little loss. My main speakers are as in my signature but I'm considering going down the active standmounts route so wanted to give the Edifiers a go. I got these whilst redecorating my lounge so acoustically I've yet to hear them when everything is furnished as normal so I'm deliberately holding off doing a direct comparison for now. For the money they are a long way from being rubbish though.

I don't think the S3000 Pros ever go into standby automatically. I've not noticed them doing so anyway. Actually they're more on or off actually I think. I use the power button on the remote to turn them off at the end of the day, but then turning them back on again is when you need to reset the EQ preset, and in my case volume. I thought this was going to be really annoying but as I said I actually found it quickly became something I just do without thinking much about it.

In terms of the wanting the knobs to be on the front, for my own use I'm very glad they're not as the speakers look MUCH better without this being the case. I have these in my lounge rather than on a desk. I also never use the knobs anyway.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Two quick points I'll add as they matter to me and so may to others:

1. When you select an EQ preset the iluminated output selected on the front of the right speakers flashes a number of times that shows what has been set. So you can be sure it is in the mode you want.
2. In a similar vein, increasing the volume causes the same indicator to flash with each step, until the maximum level is reached when further presses don't give a flash. This is important to me since I can be sure what the level is. There is no other volume indicator.

 

[Walter]

Great info, thanks. Once a day is only a minor annoyance. On the S2000MKIII, the indicator lights have been replaced with an LCD showing the volume, Input, or DSP setting. Better for desktop, worse for distance viewing, I suspect. .

 

[Katji]

love bok choi

ok, sure, I'll think about it.

 

[981CS]

@amirm , would you consider adding a note to the review that says this - that it's possible/likely one of the DSP modes was active and this surely skewed the frequency response?

As the article reads now, it indicates that this is a highly flawed speaker that is not recommended because of the wacky response. However, it's very likely that this wacky response is easily defeatable.

I'm not requesting a labor-intensive re-measurement. But, I think a quick addendum would be fair?

This is not the first "review" in here that has been done where certain options aren't correctly accounted for, tested or even mentioned. I don't see the point in going through all the trouble if all aspects of the design aren't tested.

I doubt you're going to get an edit, so anyone who googles this speaker will see this review and probably not read all the way through to understand what the culprit might be.


Sigh.

 

[MrOtto]

I have some issues with this speaker. When connecting a Toslink and playing 24/96, there is a distortion, most noticeable on high frequencies. When I play 16/44, no distortion. This speaker is sold to play at least 24/96. This distortion is not apparent when I use the Topping E30 with same Toslink input and RCA to Edifier.
I have tried different Toslink cables.

The thing is, this distortion is also apparent when using the XLR input, on any type of media played. I just noticed this when I tried my SMSL SU-8v2 DAC and used XLR output. When switching to RCA output from same DAC, not distortion. When I use XLR tl RCA to Edifier, no distortion.
Anyone else noticed this?

 

[MrOtto]

@amirm Which input on the speaker did you do the test on? I'm having some bad distortions on XLR input, and also toslink input on 24/96 media.

 

[Ultrasonic]

I have some issues with this speaker. When connecting a Toslink and playing 24/96, there is a distortion, most noticeable on high frequencies. When I play 16/44, no distortion. This speaker is sold to play at least 24/96. This distortion is not apparent when I use the Topping E30 with same Toslink input and RCA to Edifier.
I have tried different Toslink cables.

The thing is, this distortion is also apparent when using the XLR input, on any type of media played. I just noticed this when I tried my SMSL SU-8v2 DAC and used XLR output. When switching to RCA output from same DAC, not distortion. When I use XLR tl RCA to Edifier, no distortion.
Anyone else noticed this?

Have you experimented to see if the volume setting on the speakers makes a difference, whilst adjusting volume upstream to achieve the same output level?

 

[MrOtto]

Not much experimenting on volume, because it's just so obvious when I switch input, and the source and speaker volume is about same.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Not much experimenting on volume, because it's just so obvious when I switch input, and the source and speaker volume is about same.

I was wondering for example if the XLR input may be overloading the ADC input, such that reducing the soure level but increasing the speaker volume could reduce/remove distortion...

Edit: note my comment was for the same final output volume.

 

[MrOtto]

I tried the XLR input on S2000 Pro direct from XLR output on a SMSL SU-8 v2, but now when I tried again from RCA on Topping E30 via Ghent RCA to XLR cables, there is no audiable distortion on high frequencies, like it was before. Strange.
I have tried SMSL SU-8 v2 XLR output to XLR input on a Gustardard H16, and there was no audiable distortion.

 

[Ultrasonic]

I tried the XLR input on S2000 Pro direct from XLR output on a SMSL SU-8 v2, but now when I tried again from RCA on Topping E30 via Ghent RCA to XLR cables, there is no audiable distortion on high frequencies, like it was before. Strange.
I have tried SMSL SU-8 v2 XLR output to XLR input on a Gustardard H16, and there was no audiable distortion.

Does the distortion go away if you reduce the volume on the SMSL SU-8 slightly? I'm just wondering if the peak output level is slightly too high for the inputs on the Edifier?

 

[mononoaware]

I tried the XLR input on S2000 Pro direct from XLR output on a SMSL SU-8 v2, but now when I tried again from RCA on Topping E30 via Ghent RCA to XLR cables, there is no audiable distortion on high frequencies, like it was before. Strange.
I have tried SMSL SU-8 v2 XLR output to XLR input on a Gustardard H16, and there was no audiable distortion.

I suspect the S2000 Pro has high input sensitivity and you are over-driving the S2000 Pro XLR input with the SU-8 XLR output.
RCA typically has a lower maximum output voltage (2Vrms) than XLR (4Vrms), so that is how you are not experiencing any audible distortion with RCA output to XLR input using the Ghent cables.

 

[MrOtto]

Thanks. Yes, sounds plausible. But what kind of XLR input do the S2000 Pro accept then, if it's not a RCA to XLR cable?

 

[Ultrasonic]

Thanks. Yes, sounds plausible. But what kind of XLR input do the S2000 Pro accept then, if it's not a RCA to XLR cable?

As per my post above, try turning down the level of the incoming signal.