Piega rivals KEF with plush Premium Wireless Gen2 Series streaming speakers

(Image credit: Piega)

Swiss speaker manufacturer Piega has pulled the cloth from its latest range of active streaming speakers. The Premium Wireless Gen2 Series comprises the 301 standmounters (£2950) and 501 (£5950) and 702 (£7500) floorstanders, somewhat rivalling the superb, similarly priced KEF LS50 Wireless II and LS60 Wireless in the increasingly popular all-in-one stereo speaker space.

Support for Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast, Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, DLNA and Bluetooth allows owners to stream to the speakers using their phone, tablet or another source device via a separate ‘connect plus’ hub (£590), which also accommodates external analogue and digital physical sources – including a TV, via HDMI – so that they can play through the speakers too. This compact hub also takes on preamplifier and DAC duties and transmits music to the speakers “completely lossless and uncompressed” in up to a 24-bit/96kHz resolution.

The ‘Gen2’ in the range’s naming obviously represents their second-generation status, marked primarily by the move from a bass reflex ported cabinet in the original Premium Wireless speakers to a sealed one. This new sealed design, Piega says, benefits impulse reproduction and low-frequency precision and allows greater flexibility in placement. Owners with iPhones can also use the Piega Control iOS app to calibrate the speakers according to placement and room acoustics.

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The company’s in-house-developed, Swiss-manufactured Linear Drive Ribbon tweeters are present across the range, paired with midrange drivers and woofers in a 3-way arrangement for the 180-watt and 200-watt floorstander models, and with a mid/bass driver in a 2-way arrangement in the 100-wat standmounter. The floorstanders have gained the woofer to ensure the low-end and dynamic performance is made up for by the move away from the previous bass reflex design.

These cabinets are made from aluminium and handmade in Piega’s Lake Zurich factory, finished in either brushed aluminium. For a slight premium, the speakers can also be black anodised or white lacquered. And for those who aren't interested in networking streaming smarts, a physical connections-only hub (£290) can be paired with the speakers instead.

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Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of the brand's sister magazines Down Under – Australian Hi-Fi and Audio Esoterica. During her 11+ years in the hi-fi industry, she has reviewed all manner of audio gear, from budget amplifiers to high-end speakers, and particularly specialises in headphones and head-fi devices. In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.