Fluance Ri71 speaker review: Power and function that goes beyond the bookshelf

Bookshelf speakers haven’t, and don’t, immediately come to mind when you think about speakers that suit many purposes. While passive speakers and traditional amplifier setups still definitely do have their place (mainly for audiophiles), the case for great sounding, well-priced, powered speakers with Swiss Army knife-like connectivity options continues getting stronger. The most recent candidate to cross my path is from Canada’s Fluance, who consistently kill it with their speakers, turntables, and home theater gear.

Fluance’s new Ri71 Reference Stereo Powered Bookshelf Speakers are a set of mid-range performers that can do a lot for their $400 price. They’re powerful at 120 watts, but not too powerful (for that, look to their big brother, the Fluance Ri91 towers), and compact enough to sit on your TV or turntable stand (without the need for a bulky receiver). They also feature high-quality Bluetooth, RCA, and HDMI ARC input options, ticking enough connectivity boxes to do the trick for a lot of people. Their sub-$500 sticker seems like a steal, though, so what, if anything, is missing? Let’s find out.

Fluance Ri71: Specs

Design and power

I love pulling the styrofoam wrapping off a new set of review speakers (or turntable, or anything, really), and I always take note of my primeval reaction. The Fluance Ri71 speakers made me go “oooooh.” Fluance makes some sexy gear, and the walnut veneer-finished Ri71s the company loaned me are definitely that.

Solid and substantially weighted at just over 14 pounds (for the powered speaker — 11 for the passive), they feel like quality. I have a thing for wood-finished AV components, and the walnut looked great flanking my slightly-lighter oak U-Turn Orbit Special turntable. I was happy to read that the Black Ash and White Ash options are also not in the glossy finish of many of Fluance’s record players, which I like but don’t love (maybe it’s time to follow suit with a lineup of turntables, Fluance. Please?).

I like the size and shape of the Ri71s, too. Their 12.2 x 7.28 x 7.83-inch (HxWxD) reinforced MDF cabinets can fit on shelves, tables, and media units with enough room for your components, and with a little cable management can look at home with a TV, as well (yes, you can use them for more than just music).

They’re not small, though — they’re proper-sized bookshelf speakers — and definitely not desktops. They’re also good as standmounters. In fact, that is probably the best way to accentuate their neat curved sides.

OK, let’s talk drivers and power and stuff. As a fan of premium speakers like Bower & Wilkins’ 607s, I love the look of the  Ri71’s woven “glass fiber” midrange driver. It’s 5.25-inches in diameter and surrounded by a “butyl” rubber ring, which some say is more durable than foam, so they should last for years without having to replace them.

Fluance is also trying something new with the Ri71 (and Ri91), switching from its usual dome-style neodymium tweeters to a 1.1 x 1.3-inch AMT (Air Motion Transformer) tweeter, that the company says will enhance the high frequency and mid/vocal range with ultra low distortion. I’m not sure if they achieve this better than dome tweeters (more below), but the look is striking, giving the speakers a unique edge that I like. Running along the bottom is a slot-style, tuned passive bass radiator.

Pushing the air with the Fluance Ri71 bookshelf speakers is 120-watts of clean, Class-D power (2 x 60 RMS), that contribute to the speakers’ honorable 46 Hz to 30 kHz frequency response, which doesn’t deliver the deep-deep bass you might crave, but does the job all the same. Plus, you can always add a subwoofer. The Ri71s are plenty loud and dynamic, don’t worry, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Connectivity and features

I get asked about speakers and speaker systems a lot, and a common thread I’ve been noticing is that many often don’t want to buy several speaker setups for, say, their turntable, TV, or for streaming music from their phones or other Bluetooth devices. They don’t want to spend a fortune, which kind of goes hand-in-hand.

The Fluance Ri71s are kind of a sweet spot in this regard. Sound-wise, they’re a big step up from a Bluetooth speaker, they don’t take up tons of space like a component system, and they have loads of connectivity.

For turntables and other line-level inputs, the Fluance Ri71s have a single left/right RCA port. It’s not a phono input, though, so you’re going to need a phono stage or a turntable with one built in. On the Bluetooth front, the Ri71s have a leg up on many on the market with the more advanced aptX HD codec that supports hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/48kHz from devices that can deliver it. They also support aptX Low Latency, SBC, and AAC codecs.

There’s no Wi-Fi connectivity, though, like on comparable powered bookshelves like the Edifier S1000W that are on our best bookshelf speakers list, so that means no streaming lossless audio from services like Tidal or Qobuz. But aptX HD sounds excellent and only audiophiles will notice the difference anyway. The Ri71’s internal DAC also supports up to 24-bit/192kHz, too.

Lastly, if you don’t want to fork over more money for a soundbar for your TV or gaming, the Fluance Ri71 bookshelf speakers feature an HDMI ARC input, and while it’s a basic two-channel sound, they’ll be miles better than your TV speakers.

Switching between those connections has been well thought out, too. It can be done using the large selection/volume dial on the back/top of the powered speaker that’s smooth and works well. And there’s an included basic remote that does this, too, and also gives you volume and bass/treble adjustment control.

Speaking of the powered speaker, the back of it is where all the action happens — all the inputs, power switch, speaker posts for connecting to the passive speaker, Bluetooth pairing button, sub output, and physical bass/treble dials for manual adjustment are here.

There’s even a feature that lets you switch the left/right designation of the speakers to accommodate where your power outlets or your components are. And as a Canadian I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the cool maple leaf flag proudly waving back there, too.

Sound and performance

Now the fun part. Fluance recommends a 10- to 12-hour break-in period with the Ri71 speakers, so I threw on a massive playlist and went out for the day. While I wasn’t gone for quite 10 hours, when I got home I was welcomed by a marked improvement in the speakers’ sound. The low end was much smoother and fuller, while the initial tinniness and harshness of the mids and trebles was totally gone. As my review progressed, they continued improving — Fluance knows their gear.

Lively and articulate, and pretty forgiving to the wide range of musical genres I played, the Ri71 bookshelfs maintain a consistent sound signature that’s warm, clean, and well balanced across the entire frequency range, with the EQ set to flat and at a medium volume. The Ri71s deliver excellent clarity in the high end, but I can’t say that their AMT tweeters are superior to other tweeter formats. The Ri71s do a good job at keeping the sound clean when you get into the upper limits of their volume, and only started getting harsh at unreasonable volumes. Get a party speaker, if volume’s all you’re after.

I’d recommend playing around with the placement of the Fluance Ri71s, though, especially if you like spacious, psychedelic, or cinematic music (this helps for watching TV, as well). While the speakers are highly moveable and deliver a pretty solid soundstage when set up in a closer configuration (3 to 4 feet apart, for example), if you have the room, my favorite results were when I separated them by around 8 feet, or as far as the connecting speaker wire would allow. Pink Floyd’s Time / Breathe in the Air on vinyl sounded just huge, with beautiful separation and height (especially that insane guitar solo), while the reverb-drenched snare and vocals in The Cure’s Disintegration made my small basement feel like a cavern.

If needed, like on much of the Smiths’ The Queen is Dead, the speakers offer a little extra headroom for adding bass. Adding a subwoofer would, of course, add a whole other dimension to these compact standmounters, but if you’re musical tastes lie with quieter pop, folk, jazz, or, yeah, stuff like The Smiths, then the Ri71’s low end will do just fine.

I made use of all the Ri71’s input sources, connecting a turntable through their RCA line-in, my older LG TV via HDMI ARC, and wirelessly to my iPhone (and my TV) over the Ri71’s Bluetooth aptX HD connectivity.

Connecting was pretty straightforward, with the exception of HDMI ARC that took some troubleshooting (it more or less came down to the old turn-it-off-and-on trick). Make sure to read the quick start guide and get your TV settings right.

Overall, there’s a consistency with sound in these speakers across sources, with the exception of using them to watch TV, of course. While they will, for sure, sound better than your TV’s built-in speakers, there are better soundbars on the market if this is more important to you. That’s not to say they don’t sound good, they do, but I’d recommend adding a subwoofer if you plan on using the Ri71s as your TV sound, too.

Bottom line

For $400, it’s very difficult to go wrong with the Fluance Ri71 Powered Bookshelf Speakers. The Niagara Falls-based company has done it again with a set of high-quality speakers that somehow teeter on the edge of audiophile but remain accessible to the cost-conscious. Their variety of inputs are more than enough to satiate the modern music listener, with options for high-quality wireless connectivity from the phones, laptops, and the plethora of Bluetooth devices we use. But for those delving into the hot world of physical media like vinyl or CDs, or who’d like to integrate a single system into their TV room with HDMI, too, the Ri71s could be the one-way ticket you’re looking for.