Tivoli Audio Music System all-in-one system

Just when you thought the music system was set to become a footnote in the history of hi-fi along come a bunch of manufacturers with other ideas. After all, many of us like to access a range of audio files outside of our listening room. And for the hi-fi enthusiast the Music System+ can be used in a dining room or bedroom to spin CDs, listen to the radio or stream music via Bluetooth from a phone or tablet. The inclusion of a radio/alarm indicates that Tivoli Audio expects many of its customers to wake up to the Music System+.

Tivoli Audio Music System+ all-in-one system

The Music System+ is compatible with Bluetooth audio, although aptX is absent as is AirPlay. There’s also no DLNA networking or even USB playback, which we’d expect to find on a cutting-edge $1150 system, and hence no means of playing back uncompressed hi-res audio files.

There is a DAB/DAB+ tuner and the slot-loading CD drive will spin regular CDs as well as CD-R and CD-RW discs, offering playback of MP3 and WMA. I also discover by chance it will play 16-bit/44.1kHz AIFF files.

Wood you believe it?

The unit is substantial in terms of size (36cm wide) and weight (6kg) and is handmade in real wood with black ash, cherry and walnut options available. The presence of 21 buttons on the fascia arguably spoil the aesthetic, but make operating a lot of features a painless process. Unfortunately, the lack of contrast between lettering and surface makes it challenging to identify the buttons, especially in low light – the other finishes look easier to read. The rotary knob for controlling the volume and other settings is plasticky and the double decker matrix display is large and automatically adjusts its brightness according to ambient conditions. It looks fine when static, but letters pulse as they scroll briefly losing legibility. Luckily, you can disable scrolling. The remote control is awful – small, plasticky, ugly and crammed with tiny buttons.

The rear panel houses a 3.5mm aux input, record output, telescopic aerial and a mix input, should you wish to listen to music from an external source while simultaneously listening to the radio. Bizarre. There are twin full-range drivers on the front, complemented by rear-firing bass ports and a downward-firing subwoofer on the base.

You can adjust the treble by +/– 4dB, switch EQ on or off (enhancing lower frequencies at lower volumes) and, using the menu, choose between mono, stereo and the so-called Space Phase Wide mode. Bass adjustment is made using a rotary dial on the rear, which is hardly the most convenient way.

Tivoli Audio Music System+ all-in-one system

Source selection is straightforward, although I find the Bluetooth completely unreliable with an iPhone 5. When re-connecting, the devices often fail to play ball, sometimes I try to re-pair from scratch, which can take between five and 10 attempts. Also, streaming is rather prone to dropouts, sometimes losing the connection completely.

Getting the most pleasing sound out of the Music System+ is a bit like operating the Tardis, requiring a number of knob tweaks and switch flicking to get the thing just right before it gets properly into its stride. SpacePhase Wide mode automatically engages every time the unit is switched on and seems to work well, especially from a distance, but not always so that you find yourself playing with it rather than just listening to the music.

Lip up fatty

The main issue, though, is keeping a handle on the bass output, which can be flabby, for example when listening to Kate Bush’s Snowed In At Wheeler Street on CD. And at moderately high volume the front drivers start to rattle, and the word “you” distorts at the end of the first line of the song. The Velvet Underground’s Here She Comes is a smoggy mess across the dynamic range. Yet conversely, Two Tribes by Frankie Goes to Hollywood rolls along without any obvious failings. A CD-R of AIFF files, originally hi-res FLAC downloads, is also good. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.17 in G Major sounding tight as the strings and piano are reproduced with clarity and openness.

Tivoli Audio Music System+ all-in-one system

The low bit-rate of DAB radio is cruelly exposed on the Music System+, Julius Benedi’s Piano Concerto in E Flat Major on Classic for example, sounds awfully thin compared with the FM transmission.

Overall, Bluetooth problems and inconsistent all-round performance leave me feeling underwhelmed by the Music System+.