Edifier S351DB Review

The Edifier S351DB speaker system is a 2.1 speaker system, set to provide room-filling sound for your TV watching and music listening endeavours. The system is an alternative to the black slab-like soundbars that looks to provide a more conventional speaker setup, with two satellite speakers and an 8-inch subwoofer.

Video Review

Design

I really like the design of the Edifier S351DB speakers, they have a black design which looks stealthy and fits right into any room – the speakers are matte black on the front and have a black wood veneer finish on the sides which adds a bit of texture to the design of the speakers. The speakers are then finished off with silver accents on the speaker drivers to add a bit of flare and that premium touch to the stealthy design.

One thing to note is that the speakers do not have grilles, so you’ll want to be careful around the speakers as there is nothing in the way to protect the drivers, but it’s also an aesthetic point which some people may like or dislike, I don’t mind as I think the speakers look great but that will be up to your personal preference to decide.

The speaker system is comprised of three units, two satellite units and a subwoofer unit. The satellite units are quite compact, coming in at 8.8 inches tall, 5 inches wide and 6 inches deep. The design of these two satellites is identical, aside from a few technical differences which result in a rather interesting speaker configuration.

The right-side speaker is actively powered and features the built-in controls for volume, bass and treble as well as a display on the front to show input selection. Unfortunately, this display is not OLED like on the S2000 MKIII, but it is nice to have, nevertheless. The left speaker is passively powered, both of these connect to the subwoofer which acts as the main hub for the system.

The right speaker’s cable is hardwired into the unit and connects to the subwoofer with what looks to be an RS-232 plug and the left speaker has a removable 5-pin cable. This makes sense as the right speaker does have the addition of the controls, but it would’ve been nice to have this fully removable as it could restrict your speaker placement, or even better, the same connector on each speaker as it is a little odd to have a different connector for each speaker. This setup does also mean that these speakers are a system, with no clear upgrade path. What you buy here is what you’ll be using until want a different speaker system.

The subwoofer is the hub of the system, it contains all the inputs and the connections for power as well as the two satellite speakers on the back of the unit. There are two RCA inputs, coaxial and optical input support, providing plenty of choice for if you end up using these speakers with your TV or a computer. The subwoofer shares the same design characteristics as the other two speakers and comes in at 12.3 inches tall, 10.4 inches wide and 11.7 inches deep and features a bass port on the right-hand side to allow for sufficient airflow.

Sound Quality

I’m used to using Sonos speakers around the house and my Mackie CR3 speakers with my computer, so when I first set up the Edifier S351DB I was expecting overwhelming amounts of bass from a 2.1 system with a dedicated subwoofer, but that was not the case, the speaker system sounds great and provides a well-controlled sound that delivers an exceptional listening experience.

I conducted my testing with the speakers set to 0/0 for treble and bass on the side dials, I found this balance of the bass and treble, but these dials do give you the flexibility to add and take away bass and treble as you see fit to make the speakers work best for you. As far as power goes, the subwoofer features a 70-watt 8-inch driver and satellite speakers feature a 0.75-inch 15-watt titanium dome tweeter and a 2.8-inch 25-watt midrange driver in each speaker.

The subwoofer does a fantastic job at delivering deep, yet controlled, bass that doesn’t interfere with or subtract the mid and high frequencies from the satellite speakers. Speaking of the satellite speakers, they also do a fantastic job at providing excellent clarity for instruments and vocals. I think this is greatly helped by how bass, mid and treble can all be addressed by individual drivers across the speaker system, it just results in a sound and listening experience that is extremely clear that I’ve been unable to get on my 2.0 setup with my Mackie’s.

Testing the speakers with a range of different genres, such as pop, electronic, rock and trap, the experience is fantastic. The subwoofer responds great with deep bass and a punch when needed that covers the low-end and sub-bass fantastically, working great for trap and electronic music particularly. Acoustic instruments and strings sound great from the tweeters, providing great and silky-smooth clarity with good stereo separation.

As you can probably tell, I really like these speakers and I do think that they sound great. The general consensus is deep and powerful bass when needed, which doesn’t interfere with the clarity of the mids and highs.

Features and Accessories

As mentioned earlier in the review, the speakers feature a variety of inputs and Edifier has included all the cables you’ll need to get up and running. Included within the box is a 3.5mm to RCA, optical and speaker connecting cable.

The S351DB also features Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to connect your phone, tablet or computer directly to the speakers without any wires needed. Support for Qualcomm aptX is included alongside this, so you should get slightly better sound quality as a result of this.

There is also an infrared remote included to control the speakers from across the room, this is particularly handy as it prevents you needing to get up off the sofa to adjust the volume level or change your input. I think it could’ve been beneficial to also have controls for bass and treble on the controller, but unfortunately, controls for those are limited to the dials on the speaker unit itself, although it would be nice to see this added in the future.

Conclusion

When it comes to speakers and soundbars for your TV, there’s an endless number of choices out there. For £249, the Edifier S351DB are a great sounding option with deep controlled bass and fantastic clarity, whilst offering a good amount of flexibility allowing them to work with a range of different devices. I would highly recommend the Edifier S351DB for powerful room-filling sound and an excellent listening experience.

The Edifier S351DB 2.1 speaker system is available to purchase on Amazon.