Swedish company Audio Pro last appeared in these pages in the 2011 Awards issue with its Living WF100 system, designed to send music wirelessly from a computer or audio system to a remote amplifier. As we said, ‘This could just be the ideal Gramophone Player companion.’

The product we have here is even neater: the LV2e package, which sells for £700, contains everything you need to deliver high-quality audio from a computer. The ‘front end’ is the TX100 transmitter from theWF100 package, and this communicates directly with a pair of compact active speakers, with digital-to-analogue conversion, remote control and amplification built-in.

Very cute the speakers are, too, and not just because the review pair was covered in red leather! Each contains 2x25W of Class D amplification, active crossovers (again in the digital domain) and wireless communications – unlike many other powered or active speaker systems, there’s no need for a cable between the speakers.

Each ‘knows’ whether it’s left or right, and the righthand speaker contains the control receiver and display for the credit-card-sized remote handset.

The crossover optimises the signal for the drive units in each speaker, and extra speakers can be added to the network, thanks to the choice of three ‘House Codes’ on transmitter and speakers.

There’s no limit to the number of speakers you can add, it’s possible to set one of three ‘Volume Zones’ for complex systems, and if the 20m room-to-room range of the system isn’t enough for you, there’s a wireless extender available.

PERFORMANCE
All that’s required to get the speakers up and running is a power cable to each enclosure, and the selection of the transmitter as the sound output device on the computer to which the USB ‘dongle’ is attached.

The volume level on the right speaker goes up to 31 – this isn’t a Spinal Tap-style ‘amp goes to 11’ thing, but apparently because the gain from the amplifier divided into 2dB increments gave 31 steps! – but way before that there’s enough sound to fill even quite large rooms with music.

The sound on offer is quite remarkable for boxes so compact (they stand just 21cm tall, and also come in black or white leather). There’s enough power to play orchestral music without signs of dynamic compression, and the refined, precise sound opens up recordings and shows superb levels of detail.

The LV2e speakers also have good weight and substance, but should you want even more low-end punch, you can switch them from FR (full-range) to SAT (satellite) mode, and use them with the wireless LV-SUB powered subwoofer (around £550).

You can even use the speakers as an extension for an existing audio system: the transmitter has a line-level input, but you’ll need to add a USB power supply in this mode.

While many will consider it this as a study or second-room set-up, for those embracing computer audio and wanting a minimalist package this could well end up being the only music system required. I think it’s worthy of unqualified recommendation.

Specifications
Price £700
Drive units 25mm soft-dome tweeter, 11.5cm aluminium cone mid bass
Power output 2x25W per speaker, active DSP crossovers and digital amplification
Wireless transmission 2.4GHz band, with diversity antennae and channel-hopping
Accessories supplied Mains cables, remote handset, USB transmitter
Dimensions (speakers, HxWxD) 21x14.5x18cm