Gadget review: Frankenspiel FS100 Panettone

IT HAS been in development for six years, and is the first completely wireless surround sound speaker set to hit the market. Its manufacturer claims it could revolutionise how consumers listen to music.

Here, we take a closer look at the Panettone speaker.

A wireless 2.1 all-in-one 240W pro-level sound system , in a pyramidical cube form with a 30 cm footprint and a height of 34 cm. Owing homage to some classical audio gear with its straphandle, this unit has astounding acoustics. Set up is literally plug and play. Plug in the wall socket and you’re ready to go. The Panettone has a straphandle because it’s meant to be carried from room-to-room, and from room-to-patio.

150 W of Class D amplification drives 2 transversally juxtaposed side-firing BMR 85 high excursion full range 30W drivers . Front firing sub woofer is a 90W 6” high excursion with aluminum cone.

Front firing sub, classic BMR-derived wide-dispersion stereo- with this kit there is no searching for a sweet-spot. The side firing BMR drivers give a 340 degree sound dispersion without any cancellation. This will fill any living room or even event room with ease. Tons of bass , but it’s the level of control, and detail, and the sound stage through the whole frequency range which is ultimately astounding and very satisfying.

Because of the acoustic characteristics of the advanced full range BMR drivers, stereo separation is outstanding, and the audio performance FS100 is not sensitive to where it is placed. It can be placed on the floor, on a table.

Mains powered (we understand a battery option is on the cards) it weighs in at 9 kgs, but with its classic straphandle it can be easily carried. Being without delicate fittings such as dock, it is a robust piece of kit.

It is almost as an afterthought that you realise that this is also a piece of kit with very advanced connectivity. There is no integrated dock, sound and music is streamed direct from the mobile device ( smartphone or tablet) through either WiFi Direct audio or proprietory multi channel.

WiFi Direct Audio breaks free from the bandwidth and other limitations of Bluetooth, handling uncompressed audio files and being capable of one-to-many connections.

Technical Specification:

240 watts Peak Power

2x30 watts RMS + 1x60 watts RMS

Sub woofer: 50hz-250 Hz 90W 6” with aluminum cone

Drivers: 2 x juxtaposed 30W full range BMR 4.5” with (2x) 170˚dispersion @ 4M.

Connectivity: wireless 2.4/5 GHz streaming uncompressed 16 bit/48 KHz