Bluesound Pulse 2i Wireless Multi-Room Smart Speaker with Bluetooth - Black - Compatible with Alexa and Siri

This review will largely be about the Bluesound brand, although this speaker is really really fun - especially when paired with a 2nd one to have it in stereo. The build quality and features of the speakers are excellent and I love that they keep improving the firmware/software. When I was looking into purchasing a new "ecosystem" of sound, I looked into the different players. There aren't a ton and Sonos was the leader. I dug into both Sonos and Bluesound becuase I knew I'd be building a new house and would be purchasing a lot of components - so before the big financial investment, I wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction. Because it all came down to quality of sound for me, I leaned heavily towards Bluesound. I started my journey by purchasing the Bluesound Powernode about 2 years ago, and replacing my amplifier in my office with it. I had 2 simple bookshelf speakers and a powered sub. WOW, once i set it up I was floored at how much better sounding the system was. I was very much hooked on the experience and did really like how Bluesound and the BluOS worked. I then bought 2 of these speakers for my house and have been testing them out in relation to my home and home network. Now for the support team. With one of the speakers there was an issue where it would cut out/power off and because it was so new I didn't want to try and deal with it. I worked through their support team and the replaced it for me. That was a year ago and I just worked with their support team for the PowerNode that was out of warranty, but they also replaced that for me and their support team is responsive and very helpful. It feels like they've been working on the support side, which for me is key since i'll be purchasing a LOT more components at the end of this year when our house is finished - and I want to make sure I'm completely covered. TLDR; Loud, clear audio and great support means i've found a long term partner for my expansion needs.

I didn't return it because it is very convenient to be able to move around a player in and out of the house that is synced with my HiFi system. Unfortunately, the sound quality is not great. Why build a high-resolution, uncompressed digital audio streamer that sounds so dull? My Ultimate Ears "Mega Boom" Bluetooth speaker sounds WAY better for 1/4 the cost. I am a recording engineer and listen to a wide range of music from classical and jazz to bluegrass and R&B.

Es ist so traurig, dass wir verlernt haben uns einen richtigen Klang zu gönnen! Musik aus Smartphones ist unser Alltag geworden. Wir merkten aber, dass wir von den Tönen sehr schnell gereizt wurden. Nun steht bei uns Bluesound Pulse 2i und verzaubert uns mit dem klaren Klang und jedem einzelnen Detail in dem Musikstück, was gerade abgespielt wird. Ich frage mich nur, ob die Box wirklich was besonderes wäre, oder die einfach die Musik wiedergibt wie sie klingen soll! Wir hörten die Musik den ganzen Abend und wollten nicht ins Bett, so verzaubert waren wir von dem Klang und allen Nuancen der Lieder, die wir eigentlich schon immer gehört haben. Kurz zu App: die Installation ist wirklich pain in the A..! Wifi wurde nach dem 3. Versuch gefunden. Die Box leuchtete Blau, was bedeutet, dass sie im Netz war, aber weder IPhone, noch Samsung Geräte konnten die Box in der App sehen. Danke, dass hier jemand meinte, dass man die App löschen muss und dann wieder installieren. Genau das hat uns geholfen. Amazon Musik funktioniert super. Spotify geht nur mit Premium Mitgliedschaft, was sehr enttäuschend ist. Allerdings kann man über Bluetooth die Musik zur Box leiten. Das klingt gut. Wenn man aber das gleiche Lied von Amazon direkt über die Box spielt, dann fällt man vom Stuhl, was für Klangunterschiede es gibt. Musik aus dem IPhone kann man direkt über AirPlay hören. Man aktiviert das Symbol direkt beim Lied in ITunes. Die Verbindung wurde komischerweise ab und zu getrennt. Kann allerdings an meinem alten IPhone liegen. Die Box spielt also bei uns von morgens bis abends und wir genießen die Musik endlich wieder in vollen Zügen. Bluesound hat uns ein Stück von Lebensqualität wieder zurück gegeben. Eine absolute Kaufempfehlung!

Overall: what is desired from (a set of) loudspeakers is, in the end, high quality sound. At the end of the day, the Pulse 2i "smart" speakers very capably deliver this. I notice that it is very difficult to find the frequency range of these speakers anywhere in the documentation: it is roughly 51 Hz to 17.7 kHz. Unless you're a very young teenager, a dog or a bat you won't hear anything higher than that. For optimal bass performance, though, their subwoofer will be necessary. Still, a PAIR of speakers delivers well for normal daily listening, especially if you use the best controller settig. Why only 4 stars? 1) These speakers are overpriced relative to the rest of the field. Bluesound was an early entrant into this category of loudspeaker and is apparently still trading on that. I estimate the price should be dropped around $150 or so. 2) Documentation for setup is extraordinarily rudimentary and poor. Those reporting any sort of "ease" of setup here likely have had prior experience with setup that they've forgotten about. The fact is, loudspeaker setup could hardly be MORE difficult or poorly documented. In particular, a new speaker goes through an initial upgrade process that isn't mentioned in the written documentation and that confounds the entire process. Moreover, when using them with WiFi the ISP connectivity isn't well represented in the controller. 3) I'm not entirely convinced these loudspeakers have the longevity that they should, though I could be wrong about that. Note: individual speakers perform well, but don't have nearly the same presence that two do. So, if at all possible, get two. You'll be glad you did.

I like this - it is reliable (I've owned it for over 6 months) and has a nice soundstage that makes it sound a good bit bigger than it is. I use it at low volume exclusively and do not need more than mono - However, it definitely does not sound like a point source (and this is adjustable). Overall, very high quality with a reliable wi-fi connection to my home network. I have not tried bluetooth. The app is easy to use to control it - the buttons on the top less so.