BenQ treVolo review

BenQ treVolo Bluetooth Speaker Review

My wife has a record.

Well, quite a few of them.

No, not the Guinness-kind-of-record.

The plasticky-vinyl-kind-of-record.

You know. Rappity-rappers use to scratch on them.

Your parents had them, or (gasp) …grandparents had them.

An LP.

Anyway, I recently got her one. Apparently they’re making a comeback.

Oh and it was Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, for those that were wondering.

Double-hipster-word-score.

So I like good-sounding stuff. And stuff to sound good.

That really means, of the artists I like, I enjoy the quality of audio reproduction.

I’ll be honest. I have a little background in audio—enough that I know what a zero-bit track is for—but not so much that I’d talk down to you like the bearded fellow barking specs about the dynamic headroom of his tube amplifier.

And since Dadand is into all things gadgetry, I wanted to share this Bluetooth speaker with you.

The BenQ treVolo Review

I got a hold of one of these speakers, the BenQ treVolo, and after a quick listen, my only reply to the folks at BenQ was:

“This is the Bluetooth speaker you’ll want to plug your turntable into.”

Is that enough for a review?

Nah.

But would probably make a good magazine cover.

dad blog review of BenQ Trevolo Speaker

So this is the BenQ treVolo. The name might overdo the use of camelcase, but the exterior of this thing is perfectly done—a blend of good looks and slick materials.

First, I noticed this isn’t a big hunk of plastic. While I’m not sure of what metal is used, the machined details reveal a gold-toned metal much like brass, which complement the overall dark anthracite coating.

Anthracite jsut means "silver".

Anthracite is some european fancy word for “silver”, I’m just trying to sound like a smart reviewer.

An elegant ring of light encompasses the power button, which also serves to distinguish between three built-in equalizer modes—“pure”, “warm” and “vivid”, allowing you to “tune” the treVolo to the type of music you’re listening to.

The “warm” setting seems to increase bass, while the “vivid” mode brings out midrange like vocals and guitars. The “pure” setting has a flat (no equalization) response.

dad blog review of bluetooth speaker with lighted power button.

Check the LED light ring around the power button. It also has a pleasant tone on power-up and power-down.

treVolo Drivers

Here’s what makes the treVolo unique: electrostats. Electrostatic speakers are different from conventional “round” speakers—they have a thin piece of film that vibrates between two electrically-charged perforated panels. It’s a cleaner, less-distorted sound that is bidirectional, emitting sound from the front and back of the speaker. This creates a more complete “soundstage” allowing for natural ambient reflections in the room.

Electrostatic bluetooth speaker review from dad blog.

The electrostats open up from the sides of the treVolo.

The electrostats are paired with two traditional speakers, about 2.5” in diameter, which probably handle the lower frequencies. They are complemented by two oval-shaped passive radiators—something that looks like a speaker but helps to trick the “real” speakers into thinking they are in a larger enclosure.

That just means better bass.

The Sound

I really like the sound of the treVolo. It has a natural sound and warmth that is typically lost with today’s formats (MP3) and (Bluetooth) speaker construction.

I did have to play a bit with the positioning of the speaker to get the best sound for where I was sitting. The sound filled the room fine, but there definitely is a sweet spot where it creates a pretty good stage.

And for those of you that want to hear those little details in the music, I think the treVolo is about the best you’ll get in this class of wireless speakers—at least from what I’ve heard to date. The speaker uses active DSP crossovers instead of passive crossovers which I think would attribute to it’s clean reproduction of music.

More Features

While I haven’t listened to the treVolo for 12 hours straight, they promise 12 hours of music from a full charge through a mini USB cable. And at about 7”x3”x5” it’s a small package with a big punch—take it with you anywhere.

The Verdict

If you want to see what Pete thinks, check out his unboxing video.

If you’re ready move up from that overpriced “beat” plastic Bluetooth speaker to something built using quality materials and has a superior sound quality, I’d give the BenQ treVolo a listen first.

Price: $299

Get more information, or pick one up at BenQ.

 


Disclosure: Dadand was supplied product and/or compensated to create this post. Despite that, the opinions expressed by Dadand are our own. To provide as much transparency as possible, Dadand makes every reasonable effort to disclose the source of all products and services reviewed.

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