“£20 for a pair of hi-fi speakers?” – That was my first thought when, browsing through the Richer Sounds website, I stumbled across the Tibo Edge Mini’s. Sure, I’ve owned cheap speakers before – though they were usually the afterthoughts supplied with some cheap boombox. However, I required some cheap speakers for a project – so decided to give these a try.
On paper, the Tibo speakers seem like remarkable value. Rather than the usual cheap plastic casing of their similarly priced rivals, these speakers come with thick, sturdy MDF cabinets and removable cloth-covered grilles with MDF frames, rather than the usual cheap flexible plastic.
The packaging is fairly decent. They come in a thick, strong box, well wrapped and supported. You also get little rubber feet to stick onto the bottom should you wish to sit these on a desk – a great first impression.
On the front, a 4" long-throw bass/midrange driver sits below a 1" soft-dome tweeter – a basic setup that has stood the test of time. On the back, you'll find a simple terminal block with 2 spring terminals (bi-wiring isn't supported); a bass port, and a screw hook should you wish to mount these on the wall.
They're rated for a maximum of 60W (40W long term), with an impedance of 4 to 8 ohms and a sensitivity of 88 DB. When testing with an ohm meter, the impedance was found to be right around the 4 ohm mark.
The cases are glued together – however, using a torx screwdriver, it's possible to remove the drivers. Removing the woofer, I was delighted to find spade connectors, rather than the usual soldered-on cables found in cheap speakers. A simple capacitor, mounted to the terminal block, serves to separate the frequencies being fed to each driver – this is, unfortunately, the only area where these speakers fall short. However, adding a better crossover is a relatively simple task, and one I might attempt.
There's a tiny piece of fibreglass dampening material – again, this is something that could be added and would probably result in better sound. The internal cabling is decent, unlike the cheap thin cables found in some speakers – even high end audiophile designs.
When hooking them up, I wasn't expecting much – however, I was pleasantly surprised. These speakers sound much, much better than they have any right to at this price. No, they're not going to compete with high-end audiophile speakers – even mid-range ones. They're rather like a cheap mini hi-fi speaker – only, in some areas, a lot better.
For my tests, I used a Cambridge Audio Azur 340A amp, fed by a stream magic 6. rated for 40W into 8 ohms and 50W in to 4 ohms, this amp was the perfect partner for these speakers. The sound produced was lively, with a fairly decent sound stage. Vocals were clear and crisp. However, you do find yourself drawn to the midrange and upper bass – which can sound a little boomy and boxy in comparison to rivals with better crossovers and better internal resonance control
Be careful with positioning – put them too close to a wall and the bass becomes boomy and overpowering. Too out in the open, and the treble takes over and can become too bright – this is probably due to the cone material used on the tweeter. It appears to be a thin plastic material, rather than the usual silk found on soft-dome tweeters. It's also in part due to the crossover – a better crossover would, I'm sure, help to even things out a little.
In summary – when I first removed these speakers from the packaging, I wasn't expecting much – however, for the most part, I'm pleasantly surprised. While they're not 'audiophile' speakers by any stretch of the imagination, you could certainly do a lot worse.
Would I recommend these for the music lover on a budget? – Probably not. The bright treble and overpowering midrange were, unfortunately, enough to have me reaching for the stop button after a rather short period of time. Plus, when you can have the rather excellent Wharfedale Diamond 9.0's for £40, I find it hard to recommend these.
However – if, like me, you're a DIY technology enthusiast looking for a run project, they're hard to beat. The cabinets are easily worth the £20 price tag on their own – and, with a few internal modifications, these speakers could be made to sound awesome.
I have he same pair of speaker and i would replace the crossover. I was ordering one from amazon. Which is the best frequecy cut to choose?
Would probably go around 2KHZ
Go for the Wharfedale 9.0 Diamonds, they are well made and sound great, even partnered with my Topping VX1 DAC/amp.
The Diamonds are far, far better than the edge minis in every regard. The Edge Minis are really just a cheap, fun project for the DIY electronics enthusiast.
hi Ashley, I’ve just bought a pair of these little chaps to improve the sound from my TV. Very good value and certainly is better! Have you tried changing the crossover yet? If so, what design did you use and what cutover frequency?
Glad to hear you’re enjoying yours – Sadly I haven’t attempted messing with them yet – they’re one of those projects that ended up on a top shelf waiting for their turn to one day arrive. I suspect that, when I do get around to it, the crossover point will be somewhere around 1.8KHZ.
I also have no ideas yet with regards the design. This has inspired me to actually begin working on them though, so stay tuned for hopefully an updated post shortly! 🙂
Thanks for the review Ashley. I was planning to grab a pair of these for fun.
No worries – I'm sure you'll enjoy them! Have just upgraded mine with dampening material, a better tweeter and a couple of extra cabinet modifications. They sound pretty awesome now – just the crossover to go!