It’s been well over a year since we last heard from Tibo, when we tried out their Kameleon speaker. Well they have got in touch again, this time about their Plus 2.1 speaker system, a pair of active bookshelf speakers. These are part of a range, including the Plus 1.1 & 3.1. Let’s get the box open and see what they are like.

Features

  • 2x35W powered active speakers
  • 1x Sub out for connecting to external subwoofer for extra bass
  • Bluetooth connectivity
  • Multiple inputs: 1×3.5mm mini jack, 1xoptical and 1xRCA Line

Look & Feel

The speakers sit at 130w x 223h x 185d and has a wooden casing, with a matte black finish to them. There is a single 100mm woofer & 25mm tweeter within each speaker. Both speakers are covered by a metal mesh grille, which isnt removable. To the rear of the master speaker, is the amplifier and includes all the inputs/outputs. They include optical in, line in, RCA in, power in, sub out and a feed out to the passive speaker. There is also an on/off button, plus a volume knob. There is also a thin cut out at the bottom of each speaker, at the rear, as a bass port to let the air out.

In the box itself you get the speakers, some instructions, a couple cables and also a remote control. The remote control allows you to control a number of settings, including volume, source but also an EQ option. Overall, a very compact set of speakers, that look quite good.

Set Up

Set up is very straight forward and depends on what input you’d like to utilise. For me, I went straight to the Bluetooth feature, as my iPhone is the main audio source I use and of course, it doesn’t include a headphone jack anymore. To connect to the speakers via Bluetooth, you need to select Bluetooth as the source, via the remote. Scroll through the various sources until you find Bluetooth. The sources are spoken aloud, as there is no display, which worked fine. Once on Bluetooth, select the speakers via your smart device and start playing music. Likewise with any of the other sources, plug in at the rear and then select the correct source. The optical in is a great addition, making it easier to connect the speakers to your TV or games console etc.

Performance

As for performance, they sounded great! The sound was well mixed, with a surprising amount of bass, which I liked and I’m not too sure you’d need to add a subwoofer to the speakers, unless it was for movies. You can switch between the different EQ’s, such as Pop, Rock etc and there are subtle changes and it’s a nice feature, being able to adjust the sound to suit. I did plug the speakers into my TV and tried a couple of movies, it sounded good but it’s still just a 2.0 system, and I do like my surround sound.

The only negative I found was the remote control, it was a little laggy and unresponsive at times. I’d end up pressing the source button multiple times and end up missing the source I wanted. It’s not a deal breaker, just a little irritating.

Verdict

Overall, a great pair of bookshelf speakers, with a surprisingly good audio performance for their size. Best suited for a bookshelf, funnily enough, or your desk or tv unit. The speakers are available now with an RRP £149.99, which is a fair price to me.

For more info and to purchase, visit the official Tibo web page.