New Creative XF1 for ~$194 — The First Desktop Speakers with Bluetooth 6.0 and LDAC

Creative has released the XF1 desktop speakers — the first desktop pair I know of with Bluetooth 6.0 and the LDAC codec. The company claims 72W of total power, two Hi-Res certifications and an upper frequency limit of 40kHz. The announcement came on 24 June.

What the manufacturer states:

• 72W RMS: woofers 2 × 26W, tweeters 2 × 10W, each driver has its own amplifier
• Drivers: 2 × 3-inch woofers and 2 × ¾-inch tweeters
• Range 55Hz – 40kHz, signal-to-noise ratio from 85dB, distortion below 1%
• Bluetooth 6.0 with LDAC, plus AAC and SBC
• USB-C carries a stream up to 24-bit / 96kHz, and there is a 3.5mm AUX input
• Subwoofer output with automatic switching
• Two certifications: Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless
• One speaker measures 155 × 99.7 × 191mm; the active and passive units weigh 1.29 and 1.36kg

Why the new Bluetooth matters here. Desktop speakers usually run on Bluetooth 5.x and stop at the SBC and AAC codecs. Here the manufacturer fitted the sixth version of the protocol and LDAC, so the wireless path is no longer the obviously worse one. The second unusual detail is the subwoofer output with automatic switching: a modest pair turns into a 2.1 system without replacing the whole set. Manufacturers normally suggest buying new speakers at this point.

Frequency range limits. An upper limit of 40kHz looks impressive on paper, but people cannot hear it, and two three-inch woofers physically will not deliver the lower midrange that makes people buy larger desktop speakers. The lower limit of 55Hz confirms this: anything below that the pair does not reproduce, and the deepest bass will require a subwoofer.

Price and where to buy. Creative named a price for Singapore only — about $194 a pair (SGD 249 — Creative has not announced a US price), and sales there opened on 16 July on the brand site. The company announced the speakers in Tokyo, naming Japan the first country of the global launch. Pricing for Europe and the United States has not been announced yet: once the pair reaches our partners, we will add a direct link with the price in your country.

We recently covered another wireless pair — KEF LS Luxe. The difference is the purpose: LS Luxe is a bookshelf pair built to fill a room, while the XF1 is a desk pair with an amplifier per driver and a documented path to a 2.1 system. Where the XF1 lands among desktop speakers — our test will show.

What we will check in our test. We will measure what LDAC actually gives a pair like this and whether the difference against a USB connection is audible. We will listen to how two three-inch woofers hold the lower midrange on voices and live instruments. And we will check the main promise — the move to a 2.1 system: how evenly the crossover routes low frequencies to the subwoofer and whether the stereo image survives.

Would you put a pair like this on your desk, or would you add a subwoofer straight away? Write in the comments — I will collect your arguments for the test.

Source: Creative