Elipson W35 Xi

This is a HiFi review of the Elipson W35 Xi. The Xi bit represents an update of the previously favourably reviewed W35+, itself the second version of the W35.

This is not just a big bold Bluetooth speaker anymore, but it is a room-filling multiroom contender now with an excellent App.

Design

The Elipson W35 Xi is still 35cm in diameter with the claimed 350W RMS of built-in Class D amplification. It has however lost a few pounds in weight on the W35+, coming in now at 7.6kg!

The Xi features two 165 mm Midrange/bass drivers with apparently an oversized magnetic assembly for extended range and two 25 mm silk dome tweeters, which, Elipson claims, have enhanced heat dissipators at the back of the magnet for better cooling.

The Xi now has built-in Chromecast, AirPlay 2, and Spotify Connect. The App retains access to streaming services like Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, and the like. The Elipson W35 Xi has Bluetooth v5.0 aptX.

There are a few inputs recessed at the back that include an analogue AUX (mini-jack 3.5 mm provided) input a digital optical S/PDIF and an Ethernet RJ 45. The device has WiFi connectivity.

The claimed response of the Elipson W35 Xi is (± 3dB) 47 Hz – 22 kHz.

Quality

The Elipson W35 Xi is very lovely to the touch and colour-wise it has a deep black fabric finish over the matrix that covers the drivers. I prefer this finish to the dark grey colour with the W35+ that is in almost daily use here at HF&MS. There is a matte black aluminium ring around the circumference housing the controls on the top and leading over to the recessed power and other inputs at the rear.

The Elipson W35 Xi can be mounted as it is, on a tripod stand, it can be wall mounted or ceiling mounted if required and they can be stereo paired if you purchase two of them. There are no headphone options here or a remote control, though I do have one for the W35+.

The Elipson W35 Xi MSRP is £699.

Performance

Physically

I have the unit on a bench on a cork mat. The base of the sphere is flat for a table or where the Tripod fixes. It is stable and quite a looker, it still has the Death Star appeal.

Setup

Couldn’t have been easier really. I happen to have the App as I use it on the W35+. As I have experience with these things now, the first thing I did was reset the device (removing older WiFi pairs and other nonsense) before starting, using a SIM card pin at the front. With my iPad, I just did the ‘select device’ thing in the Elipson App and paired the WiFi with no fuss at all.

App

The App is good, on both iOS and Android phones, I think we can call it functional, not the worst but it is intuitive and does what you need it to do. The multi-room functionality is there as is the ability to assign left and right if you have two of them.

Sound Quality

There is a ton of resolution here, it is very impressive. If I take Philip Glass’s Solo, or even Nils Frahm’s pianos on his Solo (Qobuz 24-bit, 96kHz), the resonance is beautiful here as are Fabiano do Nascimento’s guitar strings in his new album The Room (Qobuz 24-bit, 96kHz). With the W35 Xis drivers facing to the side, there is a chance to see if you can place the instruments in the soundstage in Miles Davis’ Flamenco Sketches (Qobuz 24-bit, 192kHz). Certainly, Davis’ trumpet is dead centre, with Bill Evans’ piano to the rear of that. John Coltrane’s sax is to the side and the double bass opposes this so there is a decent wide soundstage being generated here with enough depth to keep you engaged.

Switching to a more complex track like Bombtrack (Qobuz 24-bit, 96kHz) by Rage Against the Machine, things get a little less coherent, inevitably, but there is a party here with a solid sound delivered with ease, the W35 Xi turns up to a good volume effortlessly.

These observations have been streaming Qobuz HiRes in the App but Tidal is excellent too using Chromecast and Bluetooth is fine too, see below.

Thoughts

This is a solid and as needed a dominant presentation, the improvement in connectivity over the 35+ is compelling and now you have the connectivity you would expect from a package like this.

At this price, the W35 Xi is in Escape P6 (£699) and Naim Mu-so Qb (£699) territory so these need to be thought about. I guess you could argue the PSB Alpha iQ are in this conversation too but if you do want a multiroom conversation piece this is a proper contender.

Overall

…if you are after a conversation piece as well as a decent sound, you won’t be let down

An excellent upgrade on the 2nd Gen.W35+ delivered with French style. There is a proper multiroom busting sound here, and if you are after a conversation piece as well as a decent sound, you won’t be let down.

Specification

Full details are on the company’s site.