Tangent Evo 5 review

These Evo 5 loudspeakers from Danish specialist Tangent have lately suffered from unhelpful global exchange rates. However, the Evo 5s have more than enough about them to make the euro's strength against sterling much less of a talking point.

Although it would be nice if they were a bit cheaper, naturally.

Small (23 x 15 x 20cm), glossily finished (shiny white is available as well as our shiny black example) and with just enough of a curve to the cabinet to keep things interesting, the Evo 5s are both discreet and relatively stylish.

The tweeter is a 25mm, soft-dome affair, accompanied by a 13cm mid/bass driver; there's a bass reflex port firing from the back of the cabinet.

Tangent has been generous enough to supply rudimentary wall-brackets, too.

Given a good long playing-in to knock off a few rough edges, the Evo 5s deliver a sound as pleasant and reassuring as a favourite meal served in a favourite restaurant.

The unthreatening sound of Adele's 19 suits the Tangents down to the ground – the warm authenticity of her voice is captured with all its character and frailty intact.

Big size sound for small boxes
There's a surprising amount of scale on offer from such modestly sized cabinets, similarly unanticipated weight and body to low frequencies and a convincing soundstage.

Dynamic fluctuations are handled without fuss, and recordings are organised and focussed confidently – in the least pejorative sense, the Evo 5s are an easy listen.

Only when the going gets grimy do the Evo 5s run into problems. The Prodigy's Invaders Must Die has an awful lot of dirt underneath its fingernails, but the Tangents are, frankly, too well-bred to draw attention to the fact.

Even at £200, we need our bookshelf speakers to have a bit of bite and bile about them if necessary, and the Evo 5s are demonstrably above all that.

Of course, our currency may yet recover and, if it does, the Evo 5s will become even more compelling than they are now.