System Audio Silverback 1 & Stereo HT Hub wireless speaker system
If there’s one thing this industry needs it is sensibly priced high performing audio systems that minimise complexity and appeal to a younger demographic. The System Audio Silverback 1s are a compact active, wireless speaker system with WiSA, which, combined with the firm’s recently released Stereo HT hub, retail for £2,249. They are part of a range of ‘Future Fi’ loudspeakers from System Audio, the Danish audio firm founded in 1984 by Ole Witthøft. Their mission is to provide a high-quality system in a box, so all you have to do is connect a source such as a phone running Tidal Connect or Spotify and you have a sound system capable of high quality sound with minimal wiring.
With their cool, slanted, minimalist design aesthetic you can tell right away that these speakers hail from Scandinavia. From the front they are about the size of a sheet of A4 paper measuring 32.5cm high (just under 13 inches). The review pair were supplied in tasteful satin white finish with light grey grilles, although black satin with black grilles is also available if your décor is more Darth Vader than Princess Leia. What is impressive is the way that the front baffle with its recessed divider appears to ‘float’ just in front of the cabinet due to a clever optical illusion. Remove the grilles and you’ll find a proprietary 25mm DXT Ti soft dome tweeter set in a dedicated waveguide. The bass driver is a 140mm/5.5” Silverback unit, also proprietary. On the rear is a service port, pairing button and power connection. The grilles are magnetic and as you replace them, they self-position on to the slanted baffle – slick.
The Silverback 1 cabinets have a reassuring heft to them and are beautifully finished. Inside each cabinet is a pair of 80-Watt Class D amplifiers operated actively with each one connected directly to a driver for maximum control. The crossover is a digital processor designed to ensure that the drivers are never pushed beyond their limit. System Audio suggests that best results are obtained when the loudspeakers are hung on a solid wall and a recessed wall mount is provided on the rear panel for flush fitting. They are also suitable for shelf mounting, so I tried them in a variety of locations – on window ledges, on furniture and also on stands.
The core of the whole package though is the diminutive System Audio Stereo HT Hub. I was lucky to be the first reviewer in the world to get my hands on this brand-new model and the level of flexibility it provides is staggering. The Stereo HT Hub provides inputs for HDMI ARC and eARC, three optical SPDIF inputs, coaxial (SPDIF), RCA phono, a USB-B socket for PC connection and a further USB-A socket for portable players such my Fiio. The hub is of course wireless and can support hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/192 kHz via both the optical and coaxial inputs. This is in addition to a plethora of wireless options including Google Chromecast, Apple Airplay2, Bluetooth 5.0, DLNA UPnP, Tidal Connect and Spotify Connect. Just in case that isn’t enough for you it is Roon-pending and WiSA certified, so offers seamless inter-operability with other WiSA components. The hub connects to your router via either ethernet or wi-fi.
Setup and network connection to the Silverback 1 system is accomplished via the System Audio Cockpit app available for Apple and Google devices. This includes wi-fi connection, speaker positioning, room optimisation (via Apple only) and even fault-logging. It should be noted that the system also offers upgrade possibilities for multi-channel with the purchase of the firm’s Surround Hub which facilitates up to 8 channels of wireless uncompressed audio at up to 24bit, 96kHz.
The supplied remote control is no lightweight plastic affair either, but is hewn from aluminium and offers LED indications for input and volume selected. Some basic set-up such as speaker position and pairing can also be completed via the remote which is powered from a built-in rechargeable battery, recharged via the USB port. The remote uses the WiSA protocol so doesn’t require line of sight to operate which is a delight. It does however suffer from a somewhat laggy response to volume adjustment which takes a little getting used to.
I spent most of my time with this system in my 15ft x 13ft bedroom, connecting it to my laptop via Bluetooth, my phone via Tidal Connect and to the TV and Blu-ray player via the ARC HDMI connection. The instructions provided were at times a little unclear and I did have some teething issues getting the HT hub to connect to the Silverback 1 speakers. Once that was accomplished though, the system proved reliable in use. I did encounter occasions when my laptop wouldn’t connect because a phone had already paired via Bluetooth leading to a certain amount of head-scratching. It would have been useful to have the identity of the device paired within the Cockpit app. I was deeply impressed however that when I flagged such issues to Ole, he tasked his development teams with revising the software and sent me screenshots of the prototype software inside a week. I’m not sure I have ever come across a company quite so responsive or keen to refine their product – ever.
Sound quality
Sonically, the Silverback 1 speakers sound vastly bigger than they are, filling the room with a broad and impressive soundstage. Of particular note was the beautifully mellifluous treble which brought female vocals to life in an uncannily realistic manner. Emma Kirkby’s sublime voice backed by the Academy of Ancient Music on Vivaldi’s Nulla in mundo pax RV630 via Tidal was beautifully rendered without the sibilance or harshness that some lesser loudspeakers exhibit. The Academy strings had excellent timbre and the sense of acoustic space was extraordinary for a speaker of this size – indicative of good portrayal of low-level details. In my room I found myself preferring the loudspeakers moved just 2cm away from the wall for a little more air and space around instruments and a more articulate and natural bass response.
Turning to Hanna Boel’s excellent cover of JJ Cale’s After Midnight demonstrated the ability of the Silverback speakers to respond quickly to transients without smearing the leading edges of notes. The sealed nature of their cabinets and high-quality drive units within surely helps here – I’m particularly sensitive to timing in audio systems and the Silverback 1 offered whipcrack-fast percussion and guitar on this beautifully recorded track. The grilles are excellent, but for critical listening I preferred the sound with the grilles removed as this seemed to inject even more transparency into proceedings.
Mazzy Star’s sublime album Among My Swan revealed all the fragile beauty of Hope Sandoval’s vocals, while the percussion and bass were portrayed with just enough mid and lower bass warmth to convince you that you’re listening to a full bandwidth speaker. Frequency response is quoted at 45-25,000Hz which for a loudspeaker of this size is remarkable – you’re in for a treat when you hear just how low these little marvels can go.
Movies and streamed TV benefitted greatly from the addition of the Silverback 1 system, which eliminates the need for a soundbar in the room and provides a compact solution for both AV and purist audio. In particular the soundstage was simply more expansive than any sound bar, although blockbusters would undoubtedly benefit from the addition of a powered subwoofer. The Stereo HT hub of course features a subwoofer output for just this case.
Conclusion
It’s rare in this line of work that I find myself lusting after an item of review equipment, but I certainly did with the Silverback 1 system. Its blend of Scandinavian cool, exemplary build and refined but accurate sound is a simply irresistible combination – in fact I ended up buying the review pair. They are ideal, whether you are seeking a chic and modern loudspeaker system for a small domestic living room, or something truly elite for a bedroom or office. I do a lot of my writing from the bedroom and it’s been enjoyable to have such an excellent sounding system to accompany my writing sessions.
For someone starting out in hi-fi and upgrading from something like a high-quality BT speaker or sound bar, these are quite simply in a different league. Make no mistake this is proper hi-fi for Gen-Z, the kind of system that might just light the fires of audio for a generation that seems largely immune to the quest for better sound. For Gen X or the boomers this is a perfect second room system; as Frankie said “Welcome to the Pleasuredome”.