BRISTOL SHOW 2013: Dali Kubik Free Bluetooth speakers make their UK debut

We first saw the Dali Kubik Free aptX Bluetooth speakers at ISE in Amsterdam, but now thay're making their UK debut here at the Bristol Show.

There are two models, an active speaker and a passive 'slave', called the Kubik Free Xtra. Due on sale this summer, a single active speaker will cost around £700, while a stereo active and passive combo will be £1000.

We've had a chance to take a closer look and listen here at the show, and bring you some more detail shots of the prototype, and hear from Dali themselves about the new speaker and why the company chose Bluetooth not Apple AirPlay.

Here's a sneak peak with the grille off, revealing the 5in wood fibre cone woofer and 25mm soft-dome tweeter, driven by a 100W digital amplifier.

And below you can see the numerous connection options. On the back you get a USB socket for charging your iPhone/iPad, gain adjustment, auto or manual power mode and channel select to choose if you want to make the speaker a left, right or single one.

Underneath you'll find USB and optical digital inputs, a subwoofer out if you want to create a 2.1 system with extra bass, and a standard set of RCA analogue inputs for connecting other devices.

Dali says it went for Bluetooth aptX 3.0 streaming, rather than AirPlay, because it wanted to make the speakers compatible with as many devices as possible. You can read more about the Dali Kubik Free speakers in our original news story here.

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Andy Clough

Andy is Global Brand Director of What Hi-Fi? and has been a technology journalist for 30 years. During that time he has covered everything from VHS and Betamax, MiniDisc and DCC to CDi, Laserdisc and 3D TV, and any number of other formats that have come and gone. He loves nothing better than a good old format war. Andy edited several hi-fi and home cinema magazines before relaunching whathifi.com in 2008 and helping turn it into the global success it is today. When not listening to music or watching TV, he spends far too much of his time reading about cars he can't afford to buy.