Bluesound Powernode 2I Wireless Multi-Room Streaming High-Res Amplifier (with HDMI) - White - Compatible with Alexa and Siri

I've had the Powernode 2i for a month now, so felt ready to write a review. In summary, I was considering returning it and replacing with the Node 2i, due to fears about the quality and strength of the integrated amplifier, which kind of goes against audiophile principles of separate components. I'm still not 100% decided on this. However, I've decided to keep the unit, because the sound quality is excellent through my Monitor Audio Silver speakers, the BlueOS app with Tidal is a pleasure to use, and the vinyl input is acceptable and fairly transparent. A few caveats though:- My hi-fi is in a small living room, about 4 x 4m with soft furnishings etc and the MA Silver speakers are perfectly adequate for this space. The amp may have trouble in a larger room with floorstanders.- The vinyl input is good. However, I'm sure a separate amp would be better here - whether you'd get more from the equivalent £300 amp (as the Powernode is £300 more than the Node), I am not sure (and reviewers have said no). You have to crank up the volume a bit on quiet records, but, for example, Gregory Porter's 'Liquid Spirit' loses none of its vitality.- BluOS and Amazon have not got it together - the interface is not good, and I think it's the Amazon API to blame (I've contacted them with feedback). Tidal is excellent, but more expensive. If things change, then I'm hopping back to Amazon, but for now, Tidal rocks. In terms of sound quality, both providers have lossless + studio (Tidal 'Master', Amazon 'Ultra HD'), some of which is phenomenal (better than vinyl).I hope this review and these caveats are useful. For my current needs, the Powernode is a winner, and Bluesound seem like a company who concentrate first and foremost on sound quality.

I’ve been a Sonos user for many years with 7 zones (amp and connects). The recent Sonos S2 upgrade debacle prompted me to shop around. The WhatHiFi review for Bluesound convinced me to buy a powernode 2i and node 2i to compare with my legacy Sonos kit. Immediate impressions playing a MQA feed (24 bit rate) were impressive and a clear improvement. But how does this compare to the new Sonos Amp. I purchased the new Sonos Amp. Swapping between both powernode and Sonos amp, the difference were harder to decern - slight improvement on powernode (using my b&w floor standing speakers). However, things turned for the worst when I tried Alexa on the bluesound equipment, very poor, you needed longer instructions, it does not support default group speaker, and I struggled getting it to work reliably. So the challenge - slightly improved sound quality against significantly worse Alexa experience. I’ve yet to hear if the new Sonos S2 update (releases June 8th) will further reduce the gap in sound quality . I’ve since decided to return the bluesound equipment and use the 30% Sonos upgrade discount to update my setup.

First impressions of the unit were just how tiny it is. The photo shows it dwarfed by my turntable. Setup of the unit was fairly straightforward. Wire up the speaker cables, turn it on and wait. Download the BlueOS app to your phone or tablet and you are walked through the setup procedure. Once you have entered your Wi-fi password, the unit downloads an update that takes a while to install. The BluOS app identifies your unit automatically.20 minutes after turning it on, I was listening to Radio Paradise! The hi-res feed from this Internet radio station comes ready installed.Links to access audio streaming services such as Tidal and Amazon Music HD plus Tunein and many more are also there in the Music Service list.I have an Amazon HD subscription so it was easy to enter my login credentials and have all the functionality of the Amazon Music app within BluOS. I expect setting up will be equally straightforward with other providers.I was pleasantly surprised to find that the BluOS app identified my Linux based NAS/Music Server and can play music from it, even though the Blurb from Blusound only mentions Windows and Apple network shares.The box comes with two 3.5mm mini jack inputs that can be either analogue or digital. If you wish to connect more than 2 analogue audio sources, then maybe consider using a passive preamp/switching unit. TOSLINK to 3.5mm adapters are included. Note that the analogue inputs are line level, so if you wish to connect a turntable, you will need a preamplifier.The sound quality is way above that would be expected at this price point. The Powernode is £300 dearer than their DAC and most £300 amplifiers would struggle to compete with this device on sound quality.Of course, many of you would like to play output from the BBC through your system, but since the Beeb abandoned Tunein you are basically stuffed! A workaround is to use the Bluetooth input of the amplifier to stream BBC Sounds from your phone or tablet.If you, like many others now use streaming services to listen to audio, I can highly recommend the Bluesound Powernode 2i.

This sounds pretty good. I did think about returning it but I don’t know what else I’d get. Audiolab maybe 🤔I’ve enjoyed using KEF LSX for a couple of years and recently paired the bluesound with some KEF LS50. It’s an improvement but it’s not massively better. I guess that’s the problem - diminishing returns to be found over a grand.The app isn’t as good as bluesound think it is. The player is often missing from the WiFi network, or loses connection to the app - even when Spotify is merrily playing away. Occasionally you have to power off the unit to get it sorted. Which is a frustration.Taking of Spotify - I find it just ridiculously loud - and I don’t mean powerful, but just only really using the bottom 25% of the volume slider on the bluesound. I’ve not experience this with other products and spotify. To make this worse, you have to watch movies at almost full volume via HDMI / so then you move back to music a bit later in the day and BOOM!It’s definitely an issue that bluesound need to work on. I’d like to have had separate gain sensitivity controls per input.Overall it’s not as “amazing” as the reviews say, but it probably is the best product for the money that does this sort of stuff. Particularly if you’re looking for HDMI.

It was great for the first two months however the latest firmware has introduced bugs one of which randomly changed the volume to deafening levels making it unusable with no option to roll back the "upgrade".The support experience has been none existent. I have logged a ticket on their helpdesk last week but it has not even been looked at despite being told it would be "escalated" when I complained on their user forum.I judge a company on how they put things right and because of this I am unable to recommend Bluesound products to anyone. Spend your money with a company that treats its customers better.