Libratone Live
Great with voices, but pricey and not an all-rounder
Write your own reviewFor
- Interesting appearance
- carry handle
- expressive mids
Against
- Expensive
- ill-defined bass performance
This iPod AirPlay speaker stands head and shoulders above the competition… well figuratively speaking, at least.
The Libratone Live measures 47cm tall. It can be laid horizontally too, but this doesn’t really suit the design, and the sound dispersion doesn’t sound quite right in this position either.
Libratone’s own app plays a key role with the Live, letting you customise how the unit sounds. There’s a selection of seven presets to choose from, although we got the best results using the standard, ‘neutral’ setting.
You can also set up the speaker by feeding the app information about the surface on which it’s standing, and how far it is away from the walls. It’s certainly a nice idea, but doesn’t work too well in practice – we stuck with the Mk.I trial-and-error method to tune the sound in the end.
Low frequencies unravel
With 150W of total power on tap, the Live certainly goes loud and won’t struggle to fill a medium-sized room.
Spin Charlene Soraia’s Wherever You Will Go and the speaker showcases a very natural-sounding, emotive midrange. Her vocal sounds really sweet and endearing.
But switch to a beefier track such as Kanye West’s Love Lockdown and things start to unravel. Low frequencies are present, but sound as wooly as the Italian cashmere in which this unit is wrapped (yes, you heard). At this kind of money we really expect better.
See all our dock system Best Buys
Follow whathifi.com on Twitter
Join whathifi.com on Facebook
