John Darko
The Dad Grumble™ about wireless active loudspeakers is that they’re not, y’know, wireless. The unintended subtext of such a complaint is that the manufacturer was simply too cash-conscious or too lazy to implement wireless electricity 🤦🏻♂️. But if battery power is insufficient for active loudspeakers, no one told AIAIAI whose Unit-4 Wireless+ is exactly as described: wireless in every way.
The Unit-4 Wireless+’s mains power feed is optional with an internal 77Wh rechargeable battery providing up to 20 hours of playback between charges, SPL depending (max 105dB). According to AIAIAI, it takes 2 hours to go from empty to full.
The Unit-4 is a 2-way design with a 4″ mid-bass driver augmented by a 1″ silk dome tweeter, each individually powered by a 30-watt Class D amplifier. The waveguide surrounding the tweeter promises an even frequency response up to 30 degrees off-axis. The 3kHz crossover is executed with DSP.
That DSP also runs the speakers’ 5-band EQ which can be set in the accompanying smartphone app and whose presets could be useful when moving the Unit-4 from a home desk to an outdoor location (and back again). The Unit-4 can be positioned upright to fire directly forward or on its side to fire at an upward angle. The removable steel grilles provide optional driver protection.
The speakers themselves communicate using AIAIAI’s proprietary W+ Link, which debuted in the optional wireless module for the Danish company’s TMA-2 headphones and for which latency is rated at a low 16ms. We stream audio from a USB-C (or mini-jack) source to the speakers using the supplied W+ Link-equipped X02 transmitter with a Bluetooth input providing a handy fall-back. (There is no word on advanced Bluetooth audio codec support). Those preferring hard-wired connections can make use of the 6.3mm TRS balanced and 3.5mm single-ended sockets found on the back panel.
On frequency response, AIAIAI’s website claims ±2dB deviations down to 50Hz with low-frequency action dropping to -10dB at 40Hz — the Unit 4’s bass response is assisted by an internally folded bass reflex port and a high-excursion mid-bass driver.
Would it be reasonable to expect more bass from a cabinet whose internal volume tops out at 3 litres? That’s a question to be answered by professional loudspeaker designers (and not me). For context, the similarly-sized, BluOS-loaded PSB Alpha iQ are 3dB down at 64Hz, according to the manufacturer. KEF rates its LSX II as 3dB down at 54Hz. However, neither the PSB nor the KEF are truly wireless speakers as the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are. The latter can go where the former cannot: into the field.
The AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ are available now for €826/pair. Any colour you like as long as its black.
Further information: AIAIAI
