Wow. This thing is huge.
At 60cm, the Tangent Classic has the same width as a small basking shark’s mouthspan. You certainly couldn’t fit it on a bedside table.
But you wouldn’t really want to, because it looks good enough to be displayed proudly in your living room.
Design
There’s a lot of wood. It’s wrapped around most of the speaker’s surface, with cutouts for the twin reflex ports at the back.
It’s wrapped around the credit card-sized remote control. There’s even an adorable wooden phone holder – not a dock, just a stand.
The Danish company has clearly decided to capitalise on the Scandinavian vibe – part elegant, part retro – and we dig it. Build quality is strong as a tree (if a tree had been hollowed out for audio entertainment purposes).
Connections
This is a very simple device. It’s primarily a Bluetooth speaker. No AirPlay, no network set-up or faffing about with wi-fi passwords.
You can connect up to eight Bluetooth devices within a range of around 10 metres. It can handle aptX, the high-quality kind of Bluetooth we like, as long as your phone/tablet/player offers it.
Other connections? There’s a USB port, used only for charging portable players, and a 3.5mm input. That’s it. Does that make the Tangent limited? Perhaps. Then again, there are plenty of AirPlay-only speakers around. Seeing as Bluetooth isn’t Apple-specific, we think this makes the Tangent fairly flexible.
For the money, however, it’s not unreasonable to expect a little more.
Ease of use
The system is very easy to use. Bluetooth pairing is simply a matter of holding down a button on the remote and picking up the signal on your portable player.
A little light goes from flashing to solid to indicate you’re connected, and you’re good to go. The remote is a little fiddly – the wooden sleeve demands you press a bit harder for the buttons to work.
If this really bothers you, you can remove the sleeve without too much effort.
Performance
We’re pleased with the performance. As we’d expect from a speaker of this size, there’s an effortless sense of scale.
The sound is huge. It’s loud too, certainly enough to engage a party full of folks and get the neighbours a-knocking. It’s a likeable, entertaining sound.
There’s plenty of energy, and dynamics are strong. When it comes to tonal balance, the Tangent is definitely on the rich, warm side. It’s a full-bodied sound.
The bass is properly deep, if a bit overstated. It’s also not the cleanest sound, often coming across mildly muffled. If you’re in a confined space, this might be a bit much.
There are buttons for different EQ presets like ‘Pop’ and ‘Rock’ but we wouldn’t really bother – most of the time we use ‘Flat’.
Verdict
The Tangent Classic is a commendable speaker as long as you give it the space it needs.
It’s not the most flexible offering, though – it’s big, and we’d like to see a few more features – but it’s well worth a listen.
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