Lush, Smooth, Big Sound – FiiO SA1 Active Speakers
FiiO SA1 is a $179 USD pair of Active Speakers with multiple functions, including a 31-Band Lossless PEQ, a Variety of inputs, support for high-resolution DAC Bluetooth, and a fairly powerful 20W * 2 + 5W * 2 four-way power output.
Introduction
We often come back to FiiO and especially in the recent months they’ve been expanding faster than the speed of light, having launched CD Players, DAC / AMPs, Streamers, Cassette Players, Vinyl Turntables, and so much more. FiiO is known to offer right now one of the best price / performance ratios on the market, and are available for purchase through a wide network including distributors, hiFi sellers, Amazon and sometimes even general electronics market shops.
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Huge thanks to FiiO for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/43BUQBy
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oFbd3FO
Build Quality / Design
FiiO SA1 is the kind of active speaker that you purchase once and can keep using forever, they are really beautiful, both the black + wooden panels or the white and silver version. Physically, this is one of the smallest speakers I have ever reviewed, even smaller than the Aurender S5W, although featuring similar driver selection in size. Speaking of which, for the sound, SA1 is powered by a 3.5″ wood fiber woofer, and a 3 / 4 inch aluminium magnesium alloy tweeter.
I like how FiiO brags about the inclusion of a complex 31-Band PEQ, and how no other speakers include this, which is totally true. You have to use the smartphone to configure this, but if you are looking for bass, there is a limitation to how much bass you can squeeze out of a 3.5″ driver. When it comes to inputs though, SA1 is insanely versatile especially for the price range, and we have
- RCA / Phono Input, with standard RCA plugs
- Aux Input with a standard 3.5mm line input
- USB Type-C input, with support for up to 32 Bit / 96 kHz data streams
- Coaxial Input, with a standard RCA coaxial digital input, and support up to 24 Bit / 192 kHz
- Optical Input with a standard Toslink input and support for up to 24 Bit / 96 kHz
- LDAC Bluetooth input with support for Bluetooth 5.4 and bit rates up to 990 kbps
Taking a closer look at the drivers, just like the FiiO SP3 Speakers we’ve reviewed recently, SA1 uses a 3.5″ driver, although this one is made of wooden fiber pulp, similar to the one found in the FT1 Wooden headphones. To improve the bass extension despite the small size of the driver, FiiO employed a large 75mm flexible suspension, managing to get the bass extension down to 65 Hz.
The amplification stage is rather similar to that of the SP3 BT Speakers from FiiO, with two Texas Instruments TI TPA3118 Class D Digital Amplifiers. The Right and Left speakers are driven in four ways, with a woofer output power up to 20W x2 and the tweeter output up to 5W x2 at maximum. To keep the sound crisp and take advantage of each driver type, SA1 has a crossover point set to 3.5 kHz, having a second-order two-way active filter. You can actually hear where the crossover point is, as we will see in the sound part of the review.
As FiiO just launched the TT13 Vinyl player, they also included a Phono Preamp for SA1, which should allow you to use the two together, with standard RIAA Equalization in order to ensure a faithful reproduction of sound. As TT13 actually has a built-in preamp, you won’t need this function for it in particular, and you can simply turn the RCA / Phono to RCA, which will turn off the TurnTable Phono Preamplification. There is one output on the SA1, and that is a sub Out Subwoofer Output, which will allow you to extend the bass impact and response with the SA1.
Cabinets of the SA1 are made of high-density MDF, with a thickness of up to 12mm. As it is visible from the FiiO website, the speaker cabinet uses a tube design that enhances bass, and you can feel the bass slit at the bottom of the SA1 speakers. To control the sound of the SA1 speakers, you can use the controls on the right side of the right speaker. The volume wheel at the top can be turned clockwise to increase and counter clockwise to decrease the volume, and pressing for a short time on it will switch between inputs. The bottom wheel is a bass enhancement, turned clockwise to enhance the bass. The Power Switch at the bottom is for turning the speaker on and RGB lights on and off.
On top of everything so far, FiiO includes a remote with the SA1 speakers, and they support automatic stand-by and wake up functions. SA1 turns off if there is no input for 20 minutes, but wakes up when there is a signal detected. You can turn off this function using the FiiO app.
Room Placement / Subjective Usage
While the part above is more about the technical data of the product, this one is about my user experience, and I have to give it to FiiO, SA1 has a function that made me think those were broken. Basically, I have to start with this, but when you turn on the speakers, they need two button presses to turn on. So on the wheel at the top, to turn them on, you have to press once for about half a second, lift your finger, and press again for around a second to turn on SA1. I did not find this in any manual, so I believed that my pair was broken for almost 3 weeks before trying to turn them on this way.
Besides that little detail, I love the wooden veneer on the sides of the SA1, it looks stunning in person, they have a really small footprint, and if placed around 20 cm away from my 65″ monitor, I can keep the SA1 on my desk without the need for stands. They have a somewhat short cable in between the speakers, you have around 2 meters of cable in total, which can be a bit short. The power converter is also a bit short, so the right speaker needs to be placed next to a wall power outlet.
FiiO SA1 is really easy to place within a room, you don’t need anything special done, they have an ultra wide dispersion, and as long as you are somewhat within the firing range of the speaker, you will be fine. This means that they can be literally placed anywhere and you will still get 99% of the performance. In fact, even if SA1 is not perfectly left / right balanced between your ears, you won’t really notice it, you can sit 20% – 30% closer to either of the speakers and the sound will still mostly be the same. The remote receptor sensor is on the right speaker, which also has all the electronics and wires, so make sure that one is in an accessible place. Vertical dispersion is also excellent, you can place the speakers both above you and below you in a 45 degree cone and you will get 99% of the performance, without having to have the tweeters or woofers at ear level.
There is a Windows bug, where you get most of the volume really early, and at 2% volume on windows, SA1 is already rather loud, and you can use the volume up to about 20 / 100 on Windows machines. I noticed this issue with a lot of portable DAC/AMPs, and it mostly likely is a driver issue that will be fixed in the future, but I believe it has to be fixed in the generic driver, not SA1 drivers, as it affects countless DAC AMPs. This bug affects only the USB Type-C input, and not the Bluetooth input or any other inputs.
Sound Quality
Pairings – FiiO SA1 is an active speaker, so it has its own DAC, ADC, AMP and everything else inside. I mainly have used them with my PC computer, via the Type-C USB input, via Bluetooth LDAC together with my Samsung S24 Ultra smartphone, and together with either a Rose Technics RT-5000 or Dethonray Listening M1, via the RCA input. You can always hear a faint hissing while the SA1 is turned on, regardless whether music is playing or not, and this background noise is audible regardless of the volume of the speakers.
Overall Signature – You can significantly change the sound of the FiiO SA1 speakers by using the bass wheel on the right piece, it can change everything about the sound, not just the bass. I personally like it set on maximum, it gives them the best impact, body and makes them sound more natural, makes the bass roll-off not obvious, and makes the sound ultra enjoyable. The signature is generally lush , warm, smooth, resolution is good, while the sound is remarkably wide, holographic with a superb imaging and fair layering / instrument separation. It works really well for EDM, Dubstep, Modern music, and Pop.
Bass – Although the bass wheel changes the bass at most, the crossover point being set at 3.5 kHz, you will change the bass and midrange if you engage that wheel. There’s no clear point where it is set at 50%, so it is made to be used as you please. In every single room I tested the SA1, sound is best with the bass set at maximum, as it gives those speakers a groovy, thick bass. This gives the midrange body and presence, lushness and a pleasing tonality as well. Bass quickly rolls-off below 65 Hz, so bass basically really starts at about 69 Hz, above which it can have quite a bit of presence and body. The design can faithfully emulate sub bass at higher volumes, especially if SA1 is placed on a wooden desk, and I feel like they have a bass extension much lower, down to 40 Hz, when I push them really loud.
Midrange – FiiO SA1 has the crossover point set at 3.5 kHz, but most instruments at voices will be rendered in big part by the paper woofer, which gives most music a thick, lush, slow decay presentation which makes music easy to enjoy. If there is something SA1 is, that’s relaxed, full and laid-back. Even with the bass set at minimum, this is a set of speakers that cannot sound harsh or aggressive. Overall, they present a sound that gives a bit more body and strength to male voices, but thanks to the aluminum tweeter, female voices are crystalline and emotional.
Treble – You will hear a smoother treble most of the time, and although theoretically the aluminium drivers are capable of creating a fairly bright sound, SA1 just renders music without a harsh edge, it is perfect for all types of modern music. I am saying this because with classical and orchestral music, the sound does not have the type of texture that would emphasize those styles. If you set the bass at minimum, the sound gets really bright, not aggressive and not harsh, smooth but bright and without the bass depth of the slider set at maximum.
PRaT / Textures / Dynamics – FiiO designed SA1 to sound smooth regardless of the volume and bass amount, they will be smooth, with a liquid / wet character for the sound, this kind of presentation and signature emphasizes musicality and lushness. Also, although it cuts on the technicalities, it helps SA1 sound open, wide and holographic without forcing them to be too aggressive.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – SA1 generally has a consistent sound for the vast majority of the volume levels, except for the extremes. At really quiet levels you hear the noise floor, and the sound gets less instrument separation, while at maximum and ultra high volumes, the sound gets compressed, shouty, aggressive and the THD or Total Harmonic Distortion grows considerably. Sound grows more aggressive, more engaging, but also more forward the more you increase the volume of the SA1.
Soundstage – Despite their small size, soundstage is quite wide and holographic, and although SA1 blends instruments more than it separates them, it presents music in an open, wide space. There is even a sense of depth, which I’m surprised to be writing about given the bass roll-off at 65 Hz, but SA1 is good at creating a bit of layering, and showcasing which instruments are further away and which instruments are playing close to the listener. Out of most small-sized speakers out there, SA1 has one of the best imaging and layering, with a really holographic presentation for modern music, pop, EDM, Dubstep. You just don’t believe the sound is so big and wide when you see what size are the speakers from which the sound is coming from.
Value and Conclusion
When it comes to the price of the SA1, it is incredibly low, it comes with a rich package, and an excellent sound. If you need a mini sized pair of speakers, you literally cannot purchase something much better right now, especially considering the equalizer, remote control, number of inputs, maximum volume and overall sonic quality.
At the end of the day, FiiO SA1 is perfect for a mini pair of speakers, it has a warm, pleasing sound, you can dial in more or less bass, it is a pair of speakers that has a Phono Preamplification, USB Type-C input, LDAC Bluetooth, and so much more to offer, so it would be perfect for anyone who needs mini size but maxi sound and features.
PROs
- Beautiful lateral wood veneers
- Very easy to place and has a consistent sound regardless of the room placement
- High vertical and lateral dispersion
- Warm and pleasing signature
- PEQ for you to tune it any way you want
- High maximum volume
- Solid and stable on my desk
- Excellent overall deal
- Really wide and holographic sound, much bigger than you’d believe speakers this small can produce
Cons
- Short cable between the speakers
- Audible background noise / hissing when no music is playing
- Odd way to turn them on and off, with a double press with a pause in between
- Windows bug that makes them loud really early, 2-4% of maximum windows volume
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/43BUQBy
Aliexpress – https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oFbd3FO
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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