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.

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