Fiio SA1's Review - Entry level price that doesn't sound entry level at all

 

General/Build
Fiio is a brand which produces a wide range of audio products. Ranging from headphones, true wireless earphones, as well as speakers, they all come in different price ranges ranging from entry level all the way to mid and high end. They released SP3, SP3BT previously and today i have with me their latest entry level speaker, namely the SA1, honestly, it doesn’t look that budget/entry level to me, also in terms of the sound, we will delve into in later
The speaker is in the following configuration: Wood fiber cone for the woofer,  Aluminum-magnesium alloy diaphragm for the tweeter, the cabinet material is made out of high density MDF and the unit that i have with me is in Cloud White colorway

Specifications (Grabber from Fiio SA1’s product page)
Cabinet Material - High Density MDF
Bluetooth Codecs - LDAC/AAC/SBC
Bluetooth Version - 5.4
Speaker Crossover - Two way active electronic, crossover point at 3.5Khz
Driver size - Woofer: 3.5 inch, Tweeter: ¾ inch
Frequency Response - 65~20Khz
Power Output - Woofer: 20W *2, Tweeter: 5W *2
Bass adjustment - ~6dB ~0dB
Inputs - RCA/Phono In, Aux in, USB In, COAX in, Optical in
Output - Sub woofer out
USB/Optical/Coaxial Support - USB: 96k/32bit, Coaxial:192k/24bit, Optical: 96k/24bit

Gears used for this review

• Macbook Air M2 Aux Input

• Zen Dac 3 RCA Out

• Fiio JM21 Lineout

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

General Features
Bluetooth Performance

• Generally very stable and connected to LDAC from JM21, good quality output and no disconnection occurred

SubWoofer Out

• I hook up the SA1 to my Yahama’s NS-SW300 active subwoofer, the crossover point is rather low and it does add quite a bit of rumble that you can actually feel for certain tracks as well as media consumption, streaming Netflix as well as gaming, the added rumble certainly gives more impact to the overall listening experience

USB Input

• USB in’s performance is not up to expectation in the sense where the sound is not as clean, and output is slightly weaker compared to using RCA out from my dedicated DAC (Zen Dac), which has far superior sonic performance, but nonetheless, it’s good that Fiio provided this feature for non critical listening purpose i would say

PEQ Support via Fiio’s App

• Connecting via bluetooth allows you to switch the input, acting as a remote?

• You can also assign certain preset EQs to SA1, or have your own customised EQ applied to it

Sound Impression
Speaker is a whole different game compared to in-ear monitors or headphones, positioning of the speaker is crucial to achieve good sound, as well as the surface that the speaker, when placed on a non solid surface, the bass kinda disperses and you will feel like there’s no bass coming from the speaker at all, before we go further, the placement of SA1 is on my working desk solid rubber wood surface, aligned to my ear level, and there’s no wall behind the SA1 so bass is rather natural and not boosted (without connecting to my Subwoofer).

The overall sound tuning of SA1 is leaning towards warm neutral, timbre is very natural and i would say, the sonic performance of SA1 is actually punching above its price point with the features that it offers. Prior to this review, the SA1 has been run in for approximately 50-60 hours on loop with pink noise on low to moderate volume level

Bass

• Bass from the SA1 is solid with good note weight, but i have to stress this again, placement is crucial for speaker as it will affect how the bass sound, sub bass, as expected from a 2.0 system is not as strong, but with the addition of the subwoofer output which i can utilise, not an issue overall

• Mid bass is punchy and tight, totally doesn’t sound bloated and muddy at all

• There is also a bass knob where you can adjust the level to your desired preference

Mids

• Mids are clean and rich, it has very good layering to it and the instruments in this range has very good note weight and natural timbre

• Male vocal has good texture and doesn’t sound hollow, female vocal on the other hand sounds sweet and crisp and not harsh sounding even when the volume is being cranked up

Treble

• Treble has fairly good extension and it doesn’t sound harsh at all

• Even at high volume, the treble doesn’t present itself as sharp and harsh, balancing between good resolution and smooth listening experience

Imaging/Soundstage

• Imaging and soundstage of the speaker is largely dependent on the placement of the speaker, i have stated the positioning of the speaker above

• Separation is very good as during complex track, the instruments doesn’t sound mushed together and very well layered

• Soundstage wise, it is wide and definitely gives the perception of out of head if you are in the right position, that’s the tricky part of speakers

Conclusion
The Fiio SA1 is a versatile and high-quality 2.0 system that delivers impressive sound performance across a range of frequencies, considering the asking price, the performance is actually in line with the price, at times maybe punching above its weight. Whether you're using it in a home office setup, as a desktop speaker, or for casual listening,the SA1 is sure to impress with its stylish appearance and impressive audio quality without breaking the bank. Highly recommended!

*A big thanks to Fiio for sending this over for the purpose of this review. Grateful for the opportunity as always.