NAD M10/PSB Alpha T20/Bluesound Pulse Mini 2i multiroom system

NAD’s M10 BluOS streaming amplifier is nigh-on ideal to form the engine of your main-room listening experience. It wants to be a bit of everything: stereo amplifier, high-resolution audio streamer, incorporate a bit of home cinema functionality and look like a superior bit of industrial design while it does so. So under the hood there’s 100 watts of Hypex nCore Class D amplification, an ESS Sabre 9028 digital-to-analogue converter capable up to a heady 32bit/384kHz resolution and aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity. On the rear panel are a couple of stereo RCA analogue inputs alongside digital coaxial and digital optical alternatives, along with stereo RCA pre-outs and a couple (!) of pre-outs for subwoofers. There’s also a LAN connection for ultimate network stability (naturally enough there’s wi-fi on board too) and an HDMI ARC socket for connection to an appropriately specified TV. At the front there’s a hi-res TFT touchscreen with plenty of options for customisation of input name, icons and what-have-you, as well as the option of virtual VU meters. This is all wrapped in a smooth glass-and-aluminium chassis that’s a discreet 10 × 22 × 26cm.

The NAD is connected to a pair of PSB Alpha T20 loudspeakers which are fully deserving of the description ‘modest’. Another Lenbrook International brand, PSB is in the process of overhauling its ‘Alpha’ range for the first time in several decades – and as well as being modestly priced, the Alpha T20s are an unassuming 83cm high. Nevertheless, PSB has found room for a 19mm aluminium dome tweeter behind a shallow wave-guide and a pair of 13cm textured polypropylene mid/bass drivers up front, and a 64mm tuned reflex port above biwire speaker binding posts at the rear.

The ‘multiroom’ aspect of this particular system is represented by Bluesound’s Pulse Mini 2i wireless speaker. Like the PSB speakers, the Pulse Mini 2i is a rather utilitarian looker – but, like the PSB speakers, it has it where it counts. A total of four drivers (two tweeters, two mid/bass drivers) are angled out from the front of the enclosure to deliver a convincingly wide spread of sound, and they’re powered by a total of 100 watts of Class D amplification. It’s able to handle high-resolution audio formats like FLAC and MQA without alarms, and as well as operating via BluOS it’s packing aptX HD Bluetooth connectivity (in both directions – so it can be used with wireless headphones as well as its 3.5mm headphone output) as well as a combination digital optical/analogue 3.5mm input. There are touch-control on its top surface, and voice control is available via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

As a stand-alone, second-room option, the Pulse Mini 2i is hard to argue with. It’s not the most discreet wireless speaker you can buy, but the sound it serves up is considerably larger the enclosure it emanates from – Marvin Gaye’s Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) [Tamla] as an MQA file occupies an expansive, strictly defined soundstage. Detail levels are high, bass reach is considerable, midrange communication is torrential… the Pulse Mini 2i is way more capable than its configuration (if not its price) might suggest. It’s a poised and authoritative listen – and while some alternatives may have a little more rhythmic certainty to the sound, none can combine the Bluesound’s sheer scale of sound with its extensive functionality and specification.

There’s no arguing with the NAD/PSB combination where rhythm management is concerned, though. They prove to be a surefooted and sympathetic combination, as a pass through a 24bit file of Thee Oh Sees’ The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In [Castle Face] proves in short order. The PSBs have no problem integrating the frequency range smoothly through their multiple drivers, and they deliver every scrap of the considerable quantity of information the M10 provides them with. Other amp/speakers combinations are rather more willing to give the bug-eyed, grimy dynamism of this recording full expression – I get the strong impression the NAD considers this pin-headed garage-rock nonsense a little beneath it – but it’s arguable that no other similarly priced pairing exercises quite such control or exhibits such straight-edged low-frequency presence.