Eight... AirPlay speakers

Klipsch Gallery G-17 Air

The G-17 is an unassuming pice of kit, but don’t let that fool you. Drawing on Klipsch’s decades of audio engineering expertise, it produces a sound that will fill a large living room and keep all but the liveliest party going. Accuracy is the watchword here. There’s no added bass or extra warmth. The G-17 reproduces audio with precision and clarity. Every breath from a singer, every pluck of a string can be heard clearly. The G-17 Air is also child’s play to set-up, thanks to the free app which guides you step-by-step through the process.

Libratone Live

This tall, slim speaker could almost hide in the corner of your living room. Until you turn it on. It produces a sound stage whose breadth defies belief, thanks to its outward firing drivers which, when placed in that corner, bounce the audio waves from the walls. Bass is weighty but precise and the treble and mid-ranges have a crispness that slices through the air. I enjoyed listening the Libratone Live as much as any speaker here. Sadly, even with its own app the relatively complicated set-up and the hefty price tag mean that it doesn’t come as highly recommended as it could have done.