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I love me some good speakers. And recently, Edifier have been bringing out a lot of those. I’ve reviewed the S880D MkII just over a month ago, and am already testing another pair, the M90 (review of those coming soooooon).
But one thing that’s always felt like a luxury to me, a mere farmer’s son from rural Iceland, is a real fancy subwoofer. A special separate unit just for the bass? If you have one of those, in my eyes, you’ve really hit the jackpot in life. Especially if you also have proper good speakers too.
So when I had the opportunity to pair the M90s I’m testing, a fetching pair of bookshelf speakers in their own right, with the new T5s unit, I saw one of my life’s aspirations finally come tantalisingly close to (temporary) fruition (cos it’s a test unit and will have to go back eventually).
And after a good ol’ while with the T5s hooked up to my office’s sound system, I’m not sure I can ever go back to a subwoofer-less life.
Design and build
(Image credit: Future)
The Edifier T5s, thanks to its large internal long-throw woofer, is a tall unit. In fact, at 400mm high, it’s taller than any of the actual speakers I’ve tested from Edifier in the last couple of years (and I’m up to quite a few of those now). It’s quite wide too, at 399m, but relatively thin at 170mm, which is hardly any more than my compact-ish bookshelf speakers I’ve been using with it, the M90 pair from the same manufacturer.
The casing is made from 18mm-thick MDF, designed to ‘minimise resonance and distortion’. On the back is a power port, audio in and out ports and two knobs, one for volume and one for the all-important Low-Pass Filter (LPF).
The LPF, or low‑pass filter, on a subwoofer determines how much upper‑frequency clutter gets cut away, so the sub sticks to what it’s good at: the deep, weighty stuff. Set it too high, and it starts stomping on your main speakers’ territory; set it right, and it blends in cleanly, adding heft without announcing itself like an overeager session musician.
The colour is a pleasing, earthy wood-grain finish, equally adept at regally showcasing itself in plain view or hiding itself behind a desk or TV without drawing undue attention to itself.
And then there’s the circular grille on the front (or the side, depending on your point of view), clad in tasteful black.
It’s easy to plug in, set up, and place where you prefer, and then the fun can begin.
Features and performance
(Image credit: Future)
As it’s a subwoofer, the Edifier T5s has one, singular purpose: “Add bass. Add bass good.” To achieve that noble but simple aim, the good people at Edifier have equipped the T5s with an 8-inch long-throw woofer with a Class D amplifier. 8-inch woofers, when done right, are good at balancing footprint and performance, offering impactful low‑end without demanding huge enclosures, and strive for tight, musical bass rather than room‑shaking chaos.
It supports a frequency response from 35-115Hz and is specced at 70W output power.
And in the case of the T5s, I’m happy to report, that aim is achieved with subtle style. I have run everything from Faith No More’s 1997 seminal alt-rock classic Album Of The Year to Boys Noize’s bass-dominated electroclash thumper +/- from 2021, along with movies and video games across genres through the woofer, and in every case the experience is elevated, deepened, tightened with the T5s’ unmistakable thrum, while staying distortion-free, even at the highest LPF setting.
The solid MDF casing and the soft-clad grille don’t vibrate or judder distractingly, and facing the grille towards a wall only enhances the effect from the woofer rather than creating unwanted resonance or droning. Instead of recreating poorly sound-engineered and traumatic nightclub concert moments, the T5s just fills that bass-reservation spot in my neurospicy brain. If that makes sense.
Plus, have I mentioned that it looks gorgeous?
Now, while it is slimlined, it’s still not exactly tiny, so you will have to make sure there’s space for it, if your audio-dedication allotment in your apartment or house is especially limited. I could slide it in next to my tower PC in my office with relative ease, but that’s because I have space on one side of my desk. Your mileage may vary.
Price
(Image credit: Future)
The Edifier T5s subwoofer comes in at £129.99 in the UK and $199.99 in the US at the time of writing this. While that’s not an inconsequential amount of money, the outlay dwarfs in comparison to some well-known rivals such as Sonos or B&W, where you can find yourself spending upwards of £/$700 for a subwoofer that’s maybe a little bit better specced. The T5s offers premium 8-inch woofer quality for the price of something much cheaper.
Buy it if
- You want subtle, nuanced but voluminous bass
- You want a subwoofer you don’t have to hide
- You want a subwoofer you can hide
Don’t buy it if
- You want shoutier bass
- You don’t have space for its height and width
Edifier T5s: Price Comparison