These are the Edifier S3000MKII, which promises a fusion of powerful sound with elegant design.

So, in this review, we shall find out if that is true after using these speakers for 2 weeks, and I’ll tell you what is wrong with these speakers.

Unboxing

Let’s start with the unboxing process. 

Firstly, the speakers come in a huge cardboard box. My first impression: this is HEAVY! There’s even a warning at the front that says it weighs over 15kg, so keep that in mind. 

After opening the inner box, you’ll immediately see a polystyrene tray housing all of the accessories. 

In there, you’ll find:-

• two power cables, one for each speaker unit, 
• one RCA to RCA cable, 
• an RCA to a 3.5mm cable, 
• a USB Type-B to USB Type-A cable, 
• an optical cable, 
• a remote with AAA batteries included, thank you very much, Edifier, 
• and various paperwork, including the quick start guide and warranty as well. 

Then, underneath the tray, are the speakers themselves wrapped nicely in plastic and a black felt cloth bag. Very premium.

Design & Build

Now, let’s talk about the design of these speakers because I must say that these speakers scream class. 

They are made of thick, dense plastic with beautiful panels of mahogany-like wood panels at the side. Both speakers have a mesh filter on the front with the Edifier logo at the bottom. 

Behind the mesh filters of the speakers, you will see the tweeter and the driver underneath. I’ll talk about the specs of these speakers later on. 

At the back of the right speaker unit, there is the RCA port at the top right with a USB Type-B port, an optical port, and the coaxial port right at the bottom of that. 

In the middle are the right and the left XLR ports. Then, on the left side, there are three knobs that control the speaker volume, treble, and bass. At the bottom, you’ll see the port for the power adapter and the power button. 

In front, there is a small LED display at the bottom that displays the current volume and the type of connections that the speakers are currently in. 

As for the left speaker unit, there aren’t any ports here except for the power adapter port and the power button at the back.

Hardware

Next, let’s talk hardware. The speakers have a total output of 256W of RMS, which is driven by dual 175W stereo PurePath Ultra-HD Class-D TI amplifiers. 

As for the acoustics, it comes with a planar magnetic tweeter with dimensions of 107mm x 107mm and a 6.5-inch long-throw aluminum diaphragm driver. 

Before we move on further, let me explain what RMS means in case you did not know. Well, RMS stands for Root Mean Square, which means how much of a speaker or woofer can continuously output power. So, it’s basically a way to see or hear how much the speaker can take before the sound is compromised. 

The speaker also comes with top-of-the-line Texas Instrument and XMOS XU216 digital audio processing, which Edifier says can deliver studio-quality sound reproduction.

In terms of connection, the speaker supports Bluetooth V5.3 with Qualcomm aptX or aptX HD technology and Hi-Res Audio certification as well. It also supports the processing of 24-bit/192 kHz digital audio signals for high-resolution audio playback. 

Then, the audio boards in the speakers allow for a frequency range of 38Hz to 40kHz. The SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) is also higher at 85dB(A). So, SNR, for context, means that the speaker basically tells you how clear the sound output is. So, the higher the SNR, the better or the clearer the music that you’re listening to. 

Both speaker units are connected to each other via a proprietary 5.8GHz connection, which offers low-latency transmissions of digital signals up to 24-bit/96kHz, allowing for real-time synchronization between the speakers for a more coherent experience. 

Finally, the speakers can be connected to the Edifier ConneX app for more playback control and EQ customizations. And of course, we’ll go into detail about the app later on as well.

Performance

So, how does the speaker sound? 

This Edifier S3000MKII does exactly what Edifier says on the tin because this is one powerful beast! 

If I could summarize these speakers with just one word, that would be this: POWER! 

Everything about these speakers just screams power, and the performance when it comes to the audio has been truly amazing. 

Overall, the audio output on this is clear, crisp, and also very bass-heavy without crackling like a muffler. 

The mids and lows are satisfyingly pronounced, with the mids sounding warm and the lows being punchy, especially when listening to bands, whether it’s the kick drums or just listening to the low ends of the guitars. 

At no point did I experience any muddy-sounding experience with these speakers because, all in all, they offer a truly powerful, amazing, and clear experience across the board. 

During my test, I connected the speakers mainly to my smartphone and laptop via Bluetooth since it has very high Bluetooth connectivity. And while I usually prefer wired connections because they provide a better overall audio experience, the performance with Bluetooth was quite impressive. 

Connecting the speakers was a very seamless experience. The Qualcomm aptX HD technology is really doing a marvelous job over here. The audio performance also translates really well when watching movies or TV, to a point where I completely forgot about lunch, but that’s fine because it’s fasting season. 

The movie’s incredible sound design and Hans Zimmer’s score never sounded better. In my opinion, the only time it sounded better was when I was watching this movie in the cinema when it was first out. 

[Check out my YouTube video for a sound test using my binaural microphones]

App

So, these speakers are also compatible with Edifier’s brand-new ConneX app. 

Once you connect the speakers to the app, you don’t need to use the remote anymore because everything that you do with the remote is also possible with the app. And of course, there’s a bit more that you can do as well. 

So, if you always misplace your remote controls often, you pretty much don’t have to worry about that now. 

The app not only offers basic controls like pause, play, skip music, and volume control, but it also gives access to its EQ controls. 

You can also customize a speaker sound profile, whether you want it to be the default profile, a vocal-focused profile, or even a dynamic profile, where the dynamic profile is my personal go-to profile as it does give a much fuller sound experience. 

And of course, you can create your own custom sound profile by adjusting the frequency sliders on the app. 

Another cool feature of the app is that you can choose which connection that you want to use for the speakers. You can switch between Bluetooth and other various wired connections by simply selecting them through the app. 

What’s Wrong?

Now, I’ve spoken about everything good about these speakers, right? So what’s wrong with it? 

Well, while I’m completely satisfied with these speakers, however, I do have two minor complaints. 

Firstly, I wish that these speakers had a multi-point connection feature where you can connect it to more than one device at a time. So if you have more than one device and want to enjoy the speakers like say on your laptop and also on your phone, you’ll need to unpair and repair if you’re using multiple devices. 

Secondly, and this might be a little subjective, I personally feel that the speakers are really big and heavy compared to other bookshelf speakers because they absolutely tower over the previously reviewed Edifier MR4 and the Edifier QR65. 

While I do understand that these are premium speakers compared to those two, some people may not find this issue because if you’re like me who loves to move things around the home or even in the studio often, this might be quite a task to do so. 

And also keep in mind that because of this size and weight, you’ll need to put this on a very sturdy table or shelf. But if you already have a permanent space to put these boys at or even a dedicated speaker stands, then it won’t be a problem at all. 

Verdict

So overall, my verdict is that this Edifier S3000MKII is truly an impressive set of speakers that will satisfy not only casual music listeners or moviegoers but also a few hardcore music critics and movie buffs as well. 

Not only does it SOUND very good, but it also LOOKS very good too. Very classy like a real statement piece. 

As for the price, it goes for RM2,999 which is about USD633 and can be purchased through the official Edifier stores on Shopee and Lazada, which I’ll put all the links down below. 

Shopee (MY) – https://invl.io/clkw2w7

Lazada (MY) – https://invol.co/clkw2wa

And while the price may be a little steep for some, I feel that this is very well justified due to its absolutely powerful performance and classy aesthetics. 

Now, if you want a speaker which also has a very unique aesthetics, check out my review of the Edifier QR 65 speakers over here: https://youtu.be/cWWxwMXfIP8