Edifier R1280DBs Active Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers – Optical Input – 2.0 Wireless Studio Monitor Speaker – 42W RMS with Subwoofer Line Out – Wood Grai


Get ready for crystal clear and distortion-free sound experience with Edifier R1280DBs active Bluetooth bookshelf speaker. Connect the speaker wirelessly to your phone, tablet, and laptop by the latest Bluetooth technology. You don’t have to deal with a tangled mess of cords. It designed to let you enjoy the studio-quality sound for music, videos, and movies.

active bookshelf speakers active bluetooth bookshelf computer speakers active bluetooth bookshelf computer speakers
TOTAL POWER OUTPUT: R/L: 21W+21W RMS R/L: 21W+21W RMS RMS R/L(high): 15W+15W, R/L(mid-low): 18W+18W
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO: ≥85dBA ≥85dBA ≥85dBA
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 51Hz-20KHz 52Hz-20KHz 52Hz-20KHz
INPUT SENSITIVITY: LINE IN1: R/L:500±50mV LINE IN2: R/L:600±50mV Optical /Coaxial: R/L:350±50mFFS Bluetooth: R/L:700±50mFFS LINE IN 1: 500mV±50mV LINE IN 2: 700mV±50mV LINE IN 1: 700±50mV LINE IN 2: 550±50mV Bluetooth: 400±50mV
INPUT TYPE: RCA x2, Bluetooth, Optical, Coaxial RCA x2 RCA x2, Bluetooth
BASS DRIVER: 4 inch (116mm) 4 inch (116mm) 4 inch (116mm)
TREBLE DRIVER: Φ13 mm silk dome Φ13 mm silk dome Φ19 mm silk dome
DIMENSIONS [PER SPEAKER]: 17in x 11.8in x 7.2in 17in x 11.8in x 7.2in 17.6in x 12.1in x 7.6in
ACTIVE/PASSIVE: Active Active Active
REMOTE CONTROL:


Dimensions: 43.4 x 32.1 x 18.3 cm; 5.52 Kilograms
Manufacture: Edifier
Reference: ed-r1280dbs-wood-uk

32 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    These are amazing…. such good value for money. Used them to extend the music from my hi-fi stack around the house. Great , high quality sound, very responsive with nice detail in the mid range and great bass response, they have a sub outlet but can’t see why you would need it as the bass is so good.
    Highly recomend them.

  2. Fenway Health says:

     United Kingdom

    Very impressed with these speakers, I use them in my kitchen, connected to my iPad via Bluetooth, seamless and fast connection, the sound quality is phenomenal for the money, the sort of sound quality you’d expect from a 400/500 pair of bookshelf speakers.
    I highly recommend for anyone looking to upgrade their sound

  3. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Well made and they look good and sound great for the relatively low cost. These are the updated version with the ‘s’ on the end of the R1280DBs and they have some improved features over the previous version, R1280DB. They are hooked up to a record deceasing the audio leads supplied and also to an iPad using the Bluetooth option. Both work very well.

  4. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    The quality of the sound is great for speakers of this size and cost. I have them linked to my PC where they perform well. I have also used them in Bluetooth mode for my phone and they are excellent. I am very pleased with them and recommend them if you are after a pair of bookshelf speakers at a reasonable price.

  5. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Exceptional sound for their size. The bass is a bit punchy, as opposed to smooth, so I have coupled them with the Edifier T5 Powered Subwoofer currently selling for 139. Don’t get me wrong, these speakers sound very nice without the assistance, but for smoother low frequencies it’s worth investing.

  6. RichellNXZ says:

     United Kingdom

    After a few months of using these, I really have to say that I love them.

    I’m no audiophile, but then an audiophile isn’t looking for speakers priced sub 200. They sound great to me, and I can hook up to optic out from my tv to make it simple to switch between tv and PS4, and connects to bluetooth seamlessly.

    The only downside I’ve had is with the remote – I find that the IR signal is pretty shoddy so I’m having to angle the remote at different angles to get it to work at times, but it isn’t a dealbreaker for me.

  7. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    If you don’t want to spend a fortune but do value decent sound quality, these bookshelf speakers are surprisingly good, given their relatively low price. Perfect for an office or bedroom, they may not be top range, but the bass and treble are well defined and the detail in classical music exceeded my expectations. I wouldn’t have these as my main source of music, but for a smaller room, they punch well above their weight. They also look rather nice as well.

  8. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 6 From Our UsersGot these to add to my TV setup as I was not really happy with the sound output from the TV itself. Strange that we are at a stage where the TV themselves are easily ranging into the 65inch size category with ridiculous visuals ( HDR, 4k etc) but the sound being produced from the thin sets are average at best. But most people including myself are legitimately ok with them because we simply don’t expect visual & sound to have equal weight.

    Finally decided to do something about the great TV and the ‘acceptable’ sound. Let’s just say I fell down a rabbit hole for audiophiles….so much out there to read up on.

    But consistently these speakers were deemed to be an amazing bang for the buck speakers that tv soundbars simply cannot match. It would appear that soundbars, unless very expensive with subs cannot hold itself against a good set of speakers.

    Furthermore bookshelf speakers have made great strides in tech and sound quality and people were impressed with these eidifer speakers.

    Got them and set them up for the TV. First they look amazing without the cover and really completed the setup, I got the wood finish version . Not too big nor too small, was a breeze to setup as I used an optical connection, I really wish in the future hdmi arc is introduced to allow the TV remote to control sound. Anyhow minor gripe here.

    The sound produced is just ‘rich’ compared to the TV sound, its broad with great depth and actual deep bass. Honestly felt semi cinema like, and really made things immersive. Really impressed. The 2.1 sets up is equally impressive with dialogue and sound having distinct locations. Make that they are evenly spaced out, like a triangle setup with you being at one point, the two speakers being at the other ends, placed at sitting ear level and angled in towards you.

    Music to be honest is even better, the range of these speakers is impressive for its price. Throughly enjoy listening to them in the living room and I don’t want a sub as heavy bass has me somewhat paranoid neighbours will complain as its a smallish flat. Seriously its just refreshing to hear such a robust sound stage in the living room.

    Spent half the time testing them watching a film then switching to the TV speakers and constantly shocking myself that I had accepted such rubbish sound! Thinking to myself ‘was I seriously listening to this!?’

    These speaker are like a opening gateway to a world of ridiculous high fidelity speaker setups and I’ve just started my journey with a limited budget.

    Great speakers for the price and kicking myself I didn’t get these before.

  9. Thomas Caughlan says:

     United Kingdom

    Used to have three sonos speakers which were always losing connection with the Wifi. Endless re-connecting or installing updates every week before you could use them. Then Sonos stopped supporting them!

    Just wanted a pair of speakers for kitchen for anyone to play music/youtube etc. These are very good for the price. Look decent, have enough cabling to locate them a good distance away from each other.

  10. Meara Isenberg says:

     United Kingdom

    Bluetooth and Wired Active Speakers in 1. They are loud. They look good. Remote control. What’s not to love?!

  11. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    After getting the positioning right for my room and playing with the balances i was so impressed with the quality of these little power houses i use them for music from my pc xbox and phone and they just sound great im so happy i bought them and would 100% recomend you wont be dissapointed

  12. DevonJessep says:

     United Kingdom

    I like them a lot. I’ve not really had much experience with other speakers so can’t compare, but I like the features (the treble and bass gain, the subwoofer out, the bluetooth and the “live performance” mode). The sound quality is comparable to my good headphones.

  13. Sam Allcock says:

     United Kingdom

    I’ve been looking for speakers for my tv for ages as bit let down with my jvc sound bar. These as spot on glad I bought them the sound is great much better than sound ba

    Better than a sound bar for a tv

  14. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Got these when we moved house as our previous system was made up of passive speakers and an amp and didn’t want the hassle and mess so decided I’d give some active speakers a go. Got some little Ruark’s that sounded as small as they looked so thought I’d try these as I could always send them back if they were rubbish.

    Happy to report they sound much better than I hoped, and with optical and Bluetooth connections mean I have 10% of the wires I used to. Very happy! For the size and the price 5 stars

    Sound grea

  15. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Works well wired in and the Bluetooth is excellent too. And noisy enough

  16. UAERicoabikp says:

     United Kingdom

    Lovely sound quality, good bass response for their size and easy to use.

  17. John Peters II says:

     United Kingdom

    Bought to use as “cheap” studio monitors to show what my music sounds like through budget speakers but..they’re too good. The quality is brilliant. They have an output for a sub woofer, if I tried one it would probably blow the windows out. Buy them you won’t be disappointed.

  18. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    I’ve listened to many different brands over the years and personally think these give more expensive speakers a decent run for their money.
    The remote control could be better laid out, but it certainly isn’t a deal breaker.

  19. DarylCorcoran says:

     United Kingdom

    These active speakers sound great and have loads of connection options. The audio expander is useful if you are hooking them up to a TV as it fills in the middle of the soundscape. Unless you need to fill a really big room with sound these are all the speakers most people will ever need.

  20. RomeoOsburne says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 13 From Our UsersBought this set to replace an old and mostly broken DAB/CD micro system, realising that streaming etc are far more significant ways of listening in this day and age. Rigged it to an old tablet for streaming (e.g. TuneIn, Spotify, BBC Sounds) and stored mp3 playback via line in, optical digital input from TV and leaving the Bluetooth channel open for ad-hoc casting from phones etc.

    Having posted a query on here about the dubious sizes quoted in the specs, I am happy to report that the measured dimensions of each speaker are W = 5.75in/14.5cm, H = 9.5in/24cm and D (with grilles) = 7in/18cm. The dimensions quoted “per speaker” were actually for the retail packaging. Width and height turned out to be identical to our old speakers, so a physical drop-in replacement. Note that the “brains” are in the right hand speaker, and the tone controls on the right hand side of it. Power cable (hard wired) is 5ft, and the speaker connection cable (which could do with clearer polarity marking) is 8ft. Power consumption on standby is less than a watt (does not even register on my meter) and idle (powered but no sound) is 2 watts. There is no hum or hiss at idle that I can discern.

    Initial impression is very positive, though only had a couple of days. The sound is decent enough for the size of the units, with plenty enough bass for an old fogey in training. Everything I wanted to connect worked first time – analogue, digital and Bluetooth, with cables supplied for all wired inputs other than digital coaxial. The tone controls do not have as much effect as one might hope but can compensate for the acoustics of different shelves/cabinets etc these might be accommodated in. Input selection is straightforward especially via the remote, with a second tap on the relevant button for the secondary function (e.g. line-in #2, or coaxial rather than optical digital) acknowledged with an extra flash of the different colour LED behind the grille on the right hand speaker for each input type. The input selection and standby status appears to be memorised between physical powerings. A little surprisingly, the volume control on the side of the right hand speaker duplicates that on the remote; I had imagined it might be a physical limiter, but this is not a problem.

    In terms of any negatives at this early point: It’s a shame the system does not memorise per-input volume settings, which would be easy to do with a fully electronic system such as this. It would be useful to have a left/right switch function, to allow the “brains” unit to be the left-hand speaker if that made the controls more accessible, though to be honest they are not generally needed when the remote covers day to day functionality. There’s a reasonable lag on the digital input – thankfully approximately corresponding to the maximum compensation available on our TV (250ms) but not all TVs might allow this level of adjustment, so be aware if buying specifically for soundbar-type duties. I doubt there is any scope for end-user firmware update given the lack of any kind of accessible service port, so any improvements to these issues would have to wait for a later revision. It’s a bit excessive taking up two buttons on the remote for the sound enhancement function that most people would probably not use at all. The remote itself is extremely directional and very clicky, though nicely finished and smart looking.

    Overall though, an amazing product that I can thoroughly recommend. If you think these are the kind of active speakers you’re after, you’re unlikely to be disappointed.

    Impressive sound and connectivity in a small package

  21. ConcettaSchell says:

     United Kingdom

    I used to use the Sonos system but BBC radio 4 and 3, in particular the Sounds app, was not available. Also there were occasional connection issues.

    With these speakers I can use them for any purpose including internet video calls with my children and grand children and also listening to radio dramas and stories. The sound quality is close to that of the Sonos but the Edifier speakers are considerable cheaper and much easier to use.

  22. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    After returning a pair of AUDIOENGINE speakers which cost 240 because they just stopped working I bought these because I already had a pair with a turntable I bought last year. For the price they really are great speakers. they sound MUCH better than the Audioengine speakers which cost another 100….

  23. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Bought this to replace an old desktop speaker system that’s at least 20 years old. The quality of sound is very good with enough volume to fill the room if needed. I use this for my PC for video calls/meetings as well as music. It handles both really well. For my taste I’d like a little more bass so will think about adding a sub-woofer apart from that I’m very pleased with it.

  24. JasperClibborn says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 6 From Our UsersI am impressed and very happy with these speakers. Originally purchased to link with my Audio Technica AT LB60XBT Bluetooth turntable. Previously I had routed sound through my TV Sony Bluetooth soundbar system. The speakers are so good I have now not only linked to the turntable, but also taken away the TV sound bar and the new Edifier speakers provide sound output from both TV (via supplied optical cable) and I simply switch to Bluetooth when playing my vinyl. My wife is hard of hearing and is delighted that she can hear clear speech now from the TV, the clarity is excellent, and the spacial positioning of speakers enhances this. Recommended without hesitation. Oh, and I may be a bit retro but the wood grain effect on speakers looks really good.

  25. Mike Sanders says:

     United Kingdom

    I bought these to go with my Fluance RT81 Record player, i had heard good reviews and had seen someone with this pairing on line, and i’m very happy. I’m not an audiophile but for me the sound quality is great and i never get anywhere near the full volume. I’m happy that I went with the additional Bluetooth feature as i can happily connect my Alexa Show for continuous music.

  26. Ellen Cannon says:

     United Kingdom

    I use the speakers with my PC. They are excellent. Great value for money. I plugged an old subwoofer into them and it’s perfect. It’s transformed the music I listen to 🙂

  27. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 3 From Our UsersReally pleased with these – I have them set-up in our kitchen on top of the fridge connected via optical to an Apple Airport Express and wired to an Amazon Echo Dot. They have replaced an Amazon Echo Plus that I never got on with, the sound quality although loud, was really harsh.

    They were well packed and come with a decent length cable for between the two speakers, an RCA cable, an optical and a headphone socket to RCA cable. The small remote is also included, along with a battery. The speakers are a good weight, feel well made and I really like the wood finish.

    We leave them powered on all the time which means that they work well with Alexa and the sound quality from the Alexa dot is good.

    Streaming iTunes from the Airport with Apple’s higher quality stream the sound quality is really very good, excellent for the price in my opinion.

    Good stereo separation and sound field and really good dynamic width with decent low level bass without being boomy. I don’t have a subwoofer connected, but to be honest I don’t feel the need for one.

    Given that the speakers are sitting on top of a huge steel fridge freezer that may well be helping with the solid sound, either way sounds pretty good to me. In terms of volume, our kitchen is medium size, and they are more than loud enough and have not experienced any distortion at the levels we’re listening too.

    Some reviews have mentioned background hiss, but so far in my experience there is no detectable background hiss, noise or other interference.

    The remote is small and lightweight but does the job, it’s a bit confusing that the remote has buttons labelled ‘on’ & ‘off’ where these are in fact not power buttons, but instead are for turning on a truly terrible ‘sound field extension mode’; this just surrounds horrendous, is totally unnecessary and my advice is ignore it and never go there!

    Bluetooth seems to work well, only used it to test pair to my phone which was fine.

    I like the fact that the power supply is integrated (so no annoying brick), it would be nice if the power lead could be disconnected, but a minor gripe really.

    Overall, an excellent pair of ‘bookshelf’ speakers, really good sound for the size, well constructed and very flexible in terms of input source options. For what we’re using them for I don’t think I could have found anything better for even a substantially higher price, very pleased and would recommend them.

  28. michaeld says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 9 From Our UsersThese are the newer speakers to the ones I previously owned. I had no hesitation upgrading and found these new ones to be better than my old ones. Connecting via Bluetooth was a breeze and the addition of other various connection methods (Inc optical) means you can connect pretty much anything to them. Sound quality is superb, bass is deep but not overpowering, mid range and treble are superb too. I guess the only minor niggle is the 2 speakers have to be wired together and are not paired via Bluetooth as a stereo pair, but really this doesn’t cause me any issues at all unlike some Bluetooth speakers when you pair 2.

    I recommend these speakers.

  29. Running to the Kitchen says:

     United Kingdom

    These are excellent Bluetooth speakers ( other connections available) – I am using these for my pc and the sound is amazing and the look the shizzle on my shelf

  30. James R. Hood says:

     United Kingdom

    So far impressive. Great design and sound via bluetooth and like having the remote too.

  31. Anonymous says:

     United Kingdom

    Golden Review Award: 2 From Our UsersGreat speakers better than any soundbar. Clarity great for dialogue, music sounds rich and full.Speakers feel solid and well built.Downside is poor flimsy remote which does not respond half the time,could have done with bass and treble on remote. Worst problem is if you want more bass the sub out on the back is not your normal connector like on a amp so I could not connect any woofer I owned.returned as remote packed up after a few days,would have taken 3 weeks for replacement.

  32. DannyBeveridge says:

     United Kingdom

    Excellent speakers with a really nice warm tone. Easy to control the bass, treble with the side knobs to get a perfect sound (subjective of course). Having Bluetooth is also a really nice feature since these are primarily used as active speakers for my turntable. The finish and build quality is also really nice considering the price. Would highly recommend these speakers for anyone looking for an affordable yet excellent sounding speakers. The small remote included is also a nice touch, does exactly what you want it to do and good quality, not one the typical remotes you get say with an led strip. 5 stars.

    Excellent build quality with equally excellent sound.