Shelby_Compare
Member
Creative has a new pair of desktop speakers, the XF1, at $179.99, and the feature list reads far above the price: Bluetooth 6.0, LDAC, 24-bit/96kHz over USB-C, bi-amplification, a 10-band parametric EQ and a dedicated subwoofer output. Drivers are two 3-inch woofers and two 3/4-inch tweeters, quoted range 55Hz to 40kHz, signal to noise at least 85dB, THD+N under one percent.
The number I would poke at is that 72 watts RMS. Creative rates each woofer channel at 26 watts and each tweeter channel at 10 watts, and 26 plus 26 plus 10 plus 10 gets you the headline figure. It is not wrong, it is just four amplifier channels added together across two small boxes, which is not what most people picture when they read 72 watts. Bi-amping is a genuine advantage at this size, but the arithmetic is doing some marketing work.
The other thing worth reading carefully is that 55Hz bottom end. On a desk with the speakers close to a wall, boundary reinforcement will hide it. In any use where you are further away, that subwoofer output stops being an upgrade path and becomes the thing you needed from the start. Good on Creative for putting it there, because plenty of rivals at this price do not.
One pointed note: Creative's own marketing shows a turntable as a source, and there is no phono stage in the XF1. Your deck needs its own, or you are buying another box. And if you are on an iPhone, the LDAC support does nothing for you at all - iOS does not transmit it, so you are on AAC.
Anyone tried these against the usual Edifier and Audioengine suspects at this money?
The number I would poke at is that 72 watts RMS. Creative rates each woofer channel at 26 watts and each tweeter channel at 10 watts, and 26 plus 26 plus 10 plus 10 gets you the headline figure. It is not wrong, it is just four amplifier channels added together across two small boxes, which is not what most people picture when they read 72 watts. Bi-amping is a genuine advantage at this size, but the arithmetic is doing some marketing work.
The other thing worth reading carefully is that 55Hz bottom end. On a desk with the speakers close to a wall, boundary reinforcement will hide it. In any use where you are further away, that subwoofer output stops being an upgrade path and becomes the thing you needed from the start. Good on Creative for putting it there, because plenty of rivals at this price do not.
One pointed note: Creative's own marketing shows a turntable as a source, and there is no phono stage in the XF1. Your deck needs its own, or you are buying another box. And if you are on an iPhone, the LDAC support does nothing for you at all - iOS does not transmit it, so you are on AAC.
Anyone tried these against the usual Edifier and Audioengine suspects at this money?
