Wharfedale announces DS-2 desktop Bluetooth speakers

The DS-2s are based on the now-discontinued DS-1s (which took home a What Hi-Fi? Award as the ‘best desktop speaker under £200’ in 2015), but introduce a new design and a promise to deliver an “even better sound-per-pound performance”.

Pretty miniature even for bookshelf speakers – they’re 19cm tall and 12cm wide – the two-way speakers are designed to sit on a desktop or table, connected to a smartphone, tablet or laptop either over an aptX Bluetooth connection or via its 3.5mm input.

Beneath a 2cm silk dome tweeter is a 7.5cm mid/bass driver with a woven polypropylene cone, and at the back are rear-firing ports for helping low frequency performance. Unlike the DS-1s, they come with metal grilles for protecting the drive units.

The master speaker features 30 watts (or 60 watts peak) of next-generation amplification, the aux input and volume and pairing controls.

The DS-2s look just as friendly as their predecessors with their curvy-cornered cabinets and high-gloss finish (in black or white), but hope to win even more fanfare with leatherette side panels – smart indeed.

At £180, the DS-2s may be pricier than the £130 DS-1s, but if the improved sound claim rings true, we don’t see why they wouldn’t be a serious contender for that desktop space either side of your laptop.

We hope to find out for ourselves soon after their launch in March.

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Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.