Geneva Model S Wireless DAB

While the likes of B&W, Philips and JBL have embraced the Lightning connector with speaker docks, Geneva has taken the opposite tack. It still sells its Model S and Model S Wireless DAB+ models, which feature motorized 30-pin Apple connector berths, but as you may guess from its name, the Sound System Model S Wireless DAB+ features wireless connectivity. In choosing Bluetooth over Airplay, Geneva is aiming to attract owners of Android and Windows devices, as well as recent versions of Apple portables, and countless computers, too. There are pros and cons to both systems, but one of Bluetooth’s advantages over Airplay is that it doesn’t require a network to operate over, and manufacturers don’t have to pay Apple substantial licensing fees. This is not the latest apt-X incarnation of Bluetooth offering CD-quality streaming, but A2DP – which doesn’t have as much dynamic range and attenuates frequencies above 14 kHz.

Geneva Model S Wireless DAB+

DAB’s the way to do it

Swapping the iPod dock for Bluetooth connectivity has enabled Geneva to offer this model for $112.61 less than the Model S DAB, a significant drop that incidentally makes the Model S Wireless DAB+ the same price as B&W’s Z2 speaker dock, which has Airplay and a Lightning dock rather than Bluetooth and a DAB+ radio.

The Model S Wireless DAB+ is pleasing on the eye in any of its three color options (red, white and black). It’s a sturdy Bakelite-esq block, with nicely rounded edges and is covered in durable, piano-lacquered plastic, plus it has an equally high-quality, fine-mesh grille covering the dual, full-range, drivers and bass ports.

With no obvious buttons or display windows, the unit looks like a speaker and nothing else until connected to a power source, at which point the time is displayed in 2cm-high red numerals behind the grille. This is the one aesthetic bum note, the fineness of the mesh impairing the clarity of the display. When all eight characters are lit they look warped because of a protruding dome in the center of the grille.

The Sound System Model S Wireless DAB+ features wireless connectivity

The top of the speaker features an exquisite touch-sensitive panel that lights up on making contact with the indentation that is, in fact, the standby button. The remote is also nicely designed.

Each speaker is separately chambered and individually powered by a low-power Class D digital amplifier. Power output is a claimed 30W (2x 15W) with a frequency range of 75Hz to 20kHz (-3dB).

At the rear is a 3.5mm line input and the aerial connector.

When tuning into DAB stations, the names of stations don’t always display fully and, frustratingly, there is no provision for showing the name of the music or programmer title. But the sound quality is very good as the speakers deliver a rich version of Schubert’s Symphony No 9 in C major. There’s a hint of sibilance with higher register sounds from lower bit-rate sources including presenters’ voices on DAB and some vocals on MP3s streamed over Bluetooth, such as OMD’s Enola Gay, and the brass section during Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.

Switching to higher-quality Apple Lossless Audio file versions of the same material proves that the Model S Wireless DAB+ will deliver excellent results given suitable material, even when delivered via the A2DP Bluetooth profile from portable devices. Camp Ivanhoe Cadence Melody from the Moonrise Kingdom soundtrack is a simple mix of big drums and trumpet, which is effortlessly reproduced. Strings and percussion, especially, are highly polished and Thom Yorker’s spine tingling vocals on an Apple Lossless Audio file rip of Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees is flawless, as is Bill Withers’ version of Am not No Sunshine. AAC files are decent too, Spitfire from Public Service Broadcasting’s The War RoomEP is energetic and accurate, underpinned by the relentless eagerness of it’s perfectly timed bass.

At the rear is a 3.5mm line input and the aerial connector

Keep it down!

Although the Model S Wireless DAB+ is powerful for its size, cranking the volume up causing reverberation, such as with the bass during Plan B’s Love Goes Down and the electric guitars on the aforementioned Fake Plastic Trees.

The integration and the basic nature of the LED display is inelegant and doesn’t match the otherwise peerless build. But overall, the Model S Wireless DAB+ proves a class act in terms of its performance and is easily recommended.

Details

·         Price: $529.26

·         Website: www.genevalab.com

·         Our verdict: 4.5/5

Technical Specifications