Fluance Ai61 Powered Bookshelf Speaker Preview

Fluance has gone and updated their wonderful Ai Series Powered Bookshelf Speakers, the Ai41, and Ai61. I get to review the larger of the two, the Ai61. I look forward to it as I own the original Ai60 which sits pretty on the media unit at our cottage. Fluance hailed it as the best speaker for any occasion. And this statement held true. The original Ai60 is a great speaker, it’s simple, it looks good, it sounds good and it helps keeps the TV area relatively clutter-free. I sometimes bring them upstairs and place them on opposite ends of our kitchen counter. It’s the only place in our awkwardly shaped cottage to place speakers and not have them get further damaged by our kids. (My soon-to-be three-year-old son Milo loves to push soft-domed tweeters in and has repeatedly done so to my poor Ai60’s). It’s served us well having great sound at the cottage as my family has gotten quite used to having better sound for music, TV, and movies at home.

There’s a lot to like and be excited about with this new release. The integrated Class D amplifier is now up from 100 to 120 Watts of power (60W per speaker). The woofer now has an 80Hz low-pass frequency cutoff making the connection to a subwoofer much easier.

But what I’m most excited about with the release of the new Ai Series, is the tuned port on the back of the speakers. See, much hoopla was made when Fluance first released the Ai Series. Specifically, about the Ai60 and how they reach down to 35Hz. And while they do reach low it’s at the cost of the overall soundstage. For example, when I’m playing some drum and bass fairly loud and the bass kicks in, the overall volume drops down rather noticeably. It makes sense as the built-in DSP is protecting the drivers, but a port on the speaker should alleviate that. The port alone makes me want to go ahead and order a fresh new pair of Ai60’s.

The Ai61’s feature a neodymium magnet silk soft-dome tweeter paired with a woven, glass fiber driver for mids and bass. The speakers are ‘Enhanced’ with Digital Signal Processing (DSP). The right speaker houses all the goodies. Around the back, you’ll find Bluetooth 5.0, RCA, Optical, and USB-C connections, along with the subwoofer output, mains connection, and power switch. Once again, the Ai series is available in black, walnut, white walnut, and white bamboo finishes. I like white bamboo the best.

So, will they be a sure-fire repurchase for me to replace the Ai60s that my children have mistreated? Or will the improvements that Fluance has made add up to much at all? You’ll have to stay tuned. I have a bit of a soft spot for Fluance products and I can’t imagine one of them letting me down anytime soon!