Edifier S3000 Pro Multimedia Speaker review

Edifier is back at it again with another set of premium speakers, and this one’s a bit of a unit. The S3000 Pro.

Seriously. These might be the biggest things I’ve ever had on my desk. Lifting them out of the box was akin to hefting a chunk of stone up the side of a pyramid, with all of the eventual grandeur and luxury.

One thing should be clear – these are premium speakers. They make sure you know that the moment you pull them out of the box. Edifier certainly caters towards audio enthusiasts, but how does this gorgeous bit of kit stack up in a gaming setup?

BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN: 5/5

It is apparent, moments out of the box, how well made these are. That doesn’t come as too much of a surprise considering Edifier’s reputation and track record. The design effortlessly blends a lot of modern audio technology with a classic aesthetic, soft, glossy wood panelling contrasting pleasantly against muted but sharp metal. All the various technological innards aim to deliver excellent sound in whatever acoustic situation they end up in, so it’s fitting that they have a timeless look, too.

Everything else on my desk looked pathetic in comparison. If you’ve ever taken a five-star meal into a McDonald’s at three in the morning you may know roughly how I felt seeing a pair of gorgeous high-end speakers sit next to a bunch of garish keyboard LEDs.

One point I would make is that the S3000 is probably wasted on a smaller room. They are huge, looking right at home next to a home cinema set-up, but they might not be a great fit outside of larger environments.

EASE OF SETUP: 5/5

Despite having more input options than you can shake a stick at (If shaking a stick at input options is your thing) it’s refreshingly easy to get the S3000 up and running. The stereo connection between both monitors is truly wireless, which cuts down on a lot of hassle, and in my time with the unit, I never experienced a single fluctuation in quality as a result.

The hardest thing about the setup is lifting them out of the box (and in my case finding a spot in my relatively small workspace to keep them). Everything was effortless, and it sounded great out of the box. Using them for gaming required a bit of extra tweaking to balance the resounding fullness of the bass with dialogue, but it was still crystal clear, extremely quickly. While I can certainly appreciate a good pair of speakers, I’m not an audiophile by any stretch, so if it was easy for me to get the sound I wanted, it’s safe to say it would be a breeze for more experienced hands.

FUNCTIONALITY: 5/5

The sound quality of the S3000 Pro is incredible. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t think an inch of internal space is wasted. As previously mentioned I had to move a few dials to get an optimal sound for the game I was playing at the time but the music was fantastic right off the bat.

Rap fared particularly well, with Aesop Rock’s None Shall Pass exhibiting some sparkling high notes alongside rich lower tones. Everything rang through clear and unmuddied. Heading to the heavier, bassier end of things was also a great experience – Hail Mary Mallon’s Whales is dominated by a thunderous bassline that rumbles the walls with my soundbar of choice if I forget to turn the subwoofer down. With the S3000 that wasn’t a concern – while the low end was full and defined, it wasn’t blowing anything off the shelves.

Personally, bass is a bit of a tough one for me. There’s a lot of primal enjoyment to have with an amped-up subwoofer, but you do lose a lot of other elements in the process. Listening to music on monitors like this is a more authentic experience to what’s actually been recorded. But there was a decent chunk of my thought process that felt unimpressed by the thump of the low end because I was inadvertently comparing to my current audio solution – a soundbar with a subwoofer intended for movies and TV. This is more a case of education and preference over objective quality though, so I’m hardly going to take points off of it.

VALUE FOR MONEY: 4/5

This is a tough one. On Amazon, the S3000 Pro currently sits at £589.00, with five-star reviews across the board. But in my opinion that price point leaves the set in a difficult spot between low and high end – a bit too rich for people on a budget, who could make several more significant upgrades to their entertainment setup with that money. On the other side of the scale, spending a couple hundred more would land you with something even beefier from a big name. Should big names matter? Absolutely not, but that’s what Edifier is competing with.

They are a fantastic company – their attention to quality and detail is far superior to the majority of the mass-producing names on the market. These speakers are a real testament to their ethos and commitment to quality. They are fantastic – but I wouldn’t recommend them for casual listeners.

S3000 Pro OVERALL SCORE: 4.8/5

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