Edifier e25 Luna Eclipse HD Speaker Review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing & First Look3. Testing4. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

Over the past 20 years, Beijing-based Edifier has been creating some of the most visually appealing speaker systems in the market. At their peak, over half of the speakers sold into the Chinese market were manufactured by Edifier and, during that time, production moved first to Shenzhen and then Dongguan. Edifier's own site claims that these speakers offer flawless sound and a powerful audio experience with an elegant look. One look at the design of the e25HD tells you that they have already nailed the elegant look – so we began testing to see if the flawless and powerful audio claims are also justified.

With a UK street price expected to come in just over the £160 mark and with the addition of optical support over the older (non HD) version, the Edifier e25HD speakers are not cheap for a set of 2.0s. That said, in a market where people are paying up to £500 for a ‘Zeppelin', the Edifiers are also not expensive.

The feature set, stunning looks and optional stalk-like stands mean that these speakers are meant to be seen as well as heard, so general/multi-purpose living room audio is the target market. You can get an idea of the product life cycle from this short video.

 

Features

• Wireless audio playback with Bluetooth enabled devices
• Capacitive touch sensitive controls for volume, play/pause, previous/next track and standby
• Auxiliary input port for high-quality connection to external devices
• Incorporation of DSP and DRC for enhanced audio performance and distortion control
• Electronic crossover and dedicated power amplifier to each tweeter and bass drivers
• Total power: 74W RMS
• 3″ bass driver and 19mm silk dome tweeter in each speaker
• Dual 2 inch × 3 inch passive bass radiators for enhanced bass effect in each speaker

Specification

• TOTAL POWER OUTPUT:15W x 2 (Treble) + 22W x 2 (Bass)
• SNR:≥85dBA
• FREQUENCY RESPONSE:50Hz ~ 20 kHz (± 6dB)
• INPUT TYPE:Bluetooth 4.0/Auxiliary/Optical
• INPUT SENSITIVITY:650mV ± 50mV
• ADJUSTMENT:Touch keys, remote control
• BASS & MID-RANGE DRIVER:3 inch (82mm)
• TREBLE DRIVER:3/4 inch (19mm) silk dome
• VOLTAGE:100-240V

The sturdy external brown cardboard box arrived with no bumps or scratches. Inside was a second brown cardboard box surrounded by bubble wrap and inside that was the printed packaging. This combination is likely to ensure that your speakers will arrive in pristine condition, which given the ultra high gloss piano finish, will be important.

 

 

The sticker on top of the printed box tells you that these speakers have a 2 year warranty.

 

The speakers came with both a European and UK cable/plug, but we suspect that this was just for us and that Edifier speakers destined solely for the British market will come with just the one plug.

Alongside a leaflet to tell you how to set everything up, all of the other cables are as you would expect: Power to the main speaker (with built in amplifier), cable to connect to the second (left) speaker and a choice or regular or optical audio cable (with a converter for good measure).

The speakers themselves come in a white cotton sack with pull ties.

 

 

These shots show the overall design and the 4th shot also shows the mini remote control that is supplied.

Traditional speakers were always wooden and squared off, whereas modern designs tend to rounded, smooth curves – take the Devialet Bluetooth speaker or B&W Zeppelin for instance. Touch sensitive controls are located on the active speaker, for volume and power control as well as track change in a swiping motion.

The red arc on the front appears, at first glance, to be an attachment point of some kind, but it’s actually a tweeter protector. The main diaphragm at the front is exposed, so be careful that you don’t cause any damage when placing the speakers.

Most speakers use a magnet to create sound waves. As a general rule, the heavier the magnet(s), the greater the punch that the speaker is able to make. The e25HD speakers feel solid without being too heavy and, despite the narrow base, they are stable when placed on a shelf – even when that shelf is shaking (we tried).

 

On closer inspection, the cut away design reveals what appears to be 2 more diaphragms – facing each other across a small gap. These are passive (i.e. non driven) bass units – designed to give more punch at the low end. Their effectiveness is covered in our testing. So, technically, we have 8 speakers in the box.

We tested the Edifier e25HD speakers in a rectangular room approximately 6.5 meters by 5 meters, using a variety of music, films and games over a two day period.

The design incorporates an optical input for use in the living room, Bluetooth 4.0 pairing capability for your mobile devices and an integrated DSP (Digital Signal Processor) for enhanced audio performance and distortion control.

The speakers feature dynamic range compression (DRC), which works to reduce the ‘gap’ between the quietest and loudest sound waves in an audio track, so they can all be amplified to a much higher level overall. In an ideal situation, the right combination of DRC and DSP will give you higher volume levels without clipping.

For direct audio comparison, we had a Wavemaster Moody 2.1 speaker set, which retails at around £100 less than the Edifiers. We used both Bluetooth and cables to connect the e25HD units.

Music
These tracks were chosen to push the speakers in different ways across the full spectrum of audio demands. We have included links to the videos for your reference, but were using Apple etc as the source for testing.

Yaeji – Drink I'm Sippin On
Choosing this track first was a fortunate coincidence for Edifier. It has a pulsing (rather than overpowering) bass underpinning a delicate female vocal melody, which plays to the speakers’ strengths.

Gary Moore – Out in the fields
Classic rock track with clear, sharp guitar and cymbals. Sounded great close up, but the lack of punch from a separate sub-woofer became clear when moving more than 2 metres away.

EDX Festival Remix – Human
The original track has Christina Perri’s hauntingly clear vocals, but the dance remix packs a huge bass punch on most speaker systems (specifically the drop at 1:54). That direct punch was not present with the Edifiers, but it was during this track that we went to brew more coffee and noticed that while the track didn’t have the impact we’re used to ‘in the room’, it actually carried between floors very well indeed.

The Alicia Keys Empire State of Mind
This also sounded crystal clear, but again there was less power at the lower end of the audio spectrum.

Massive Attack’s Teardrop
Our last track provided the E25s with the chance to shine again. There is clearly a sweet spot for these speakers and it lands outside thumping bass/huge volume. The word that comes to mind is fidelity.

Film
Modern film and TV offers rich, complex audio – none more so than Star Trek Discovery. From moments of quiet introspection, to the richly detailed soundscape on the bridge and the full-on battle scenes, this show has it all. The Edifier speakers did a fine job of separating out the individual sounds and creating an immersive experience, apart from the battle scenes. We ran the Klingon attack from Way of the Warrior in Deep Space 9 and had the same situation.

Mindhunter is a drama series set in the late 1970s as FBI behavioural scientists begin to understand the complex emotions that drive serial killers. There are plenty of scenes that rely on the audio component to build tension. Again, the Edifiers do a decent job with separation, but the punch is limited.

Gaming
Our experience with music and film was echoed across to games. Atmospheric titles suite the Edifiers, while heavy duty/intense battle scenes lack a deep bass punch. We used console titles like Destiny to see how the speakers reacted in the ‘living room environment' that they have so clearly been designed for.

From the small, silver remote control to the space-age smooth surface of the speaker enclosure and the additional passive bass speakers hidden within the structure – the Edifier e25HD speakers are an attractive proposition.

Available in black, white and red (with a possibility of orange and blue in the future?), getting a pair to match your décor will be simple – whether you choose to make them blend in or stand out.

Set up is straightforward, even if the cable that links the speakers together is a bit fiddly. The touch control on the speakers fits in with the design, but a dial would be much easier and more satisfying. The tiny front-mounted LED lets you know if the speakers are on – and the colour changes from green to blue when you go wireless.

The audio quality is good and AV aficionados will appreciate the optical connection. Connecting the speakers to an iPhone 8 using Bluetooth was simple and the connection was stable from across the room – a distance of just over 6 metres.

Going back to Edifier’s 3 original claims of style, power and flawless audio reproduction, the E25HDs score high on looks and reproduction, but are slightly anaemic when it comes to delivering on power.

The E25HD speakers are expected to retail around the £160 mark and that’s the only real challenge. The new HD version has optical support.

Our side-by-side comparison was done with a set of Wavemaster Moody speakers. This 2.1 kit will set you back around £69 and they gave the Edifiers a serious run for their money in all of our comparisons.

According to the packaging, the Moody speakers offer 65w RMS (2x15w plus a 35w sub-woofer) while the Edifiers boast 74w RMS (2x15w treble and 2x22w bass speakers). In reality, the 2.1 configuration packs a significantly larger punch across most of the music and films we used for testing.

All the time we were testing, we kept pivoting back to the price. There are a lot of products that pack more punch for less money. Creative’s Sound BlasterX Kratos S5 also includes RGB that will extend the lighting set up you have in your rig. There are others that have a similar feature set. But then you need to consider the additional features and design on offer from Edifier.

These units are seriously stylish, the audio reproduction itself is excellent and while it might not have the out-n-out punch of a good 2.1 set up, it does offer an optical connection and Bluetooth – arguably making the E25HD a better all-round home speaker system. The DRC/DSP combination worked and there was no clipping or distortion, even at maximum volume.

Retailer links to come!

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Pros

• Styling.
• Connectivity.
• Clarity.

Cons

• Needs more presence for the price.

KitGuru says: Worth buying if style is important to you and you listen to music, TV and games at regular volumes.

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