Labs

These speakers weigh 15kg each and, at 400x250x290mm, demand lots of space. There are separate 150W and 75W amplifiers for the low- and high-frequency drivers in each speaker, providing lots of headroom. Limiters are built in to avoid damage to the drivers due to excessive volumes, but ear-splitting volumes were required to make the Limit LEDs light up. The tweeters are protected from external damage by metal meshes. Power switches are on the back, which you'll need to use as the auto-standby mode consumes 38W of power.

Each speaker is tested at the factory and sold as matched pairs with individual frequency response diagrams. These show a nominally flat response from just 40Hz, but the curve gets bumpy above 10kHz. This matched the results of our listening tests; the speakers displayed deep bass and lots of high-frequency detail, but the clarity was just behind ESI's nEar 05.

The B2031A set is incredibly loud, but ESI's nEar 05 is more accurate and cheaper.