Drop by drop is falling outside the window and when I look at my dog like that, I quite understand the proverb about the weather in which you wouldn't even let your dog out. It's exactly the kind of day when you want to make hot tea and crawl into bed, and that's exactly what I'm doing, but I'm taking the Riva Arena speaker into the bedroom, which I've had at home for the past few days to review. Even before I connect the washing machine to my Wi-Fi network, I wonder how difficult it will be for the poor guy. It's dark outside, completely quiet at home, and the dog is sleeping and sleeping. That way, I will focus much more on the only subject in the area, and that will be the music, the music emanating from the Riva Arena. I myself am curious what will come of it, the speaker is played out, so all that remains is to test it thoroughly.
As soon as I connect it, several options catch my eye as to how you can connect the heavy and massive metal body to your device in order to transfer your favorite music to it. There is basically no connection option that would be missing. You can choose from AirPlay, Bluetooth, 3,5mm jack connector, USB to Spotify Connect or Wi-Fi connection. In addition, Riva can work within your network either as part of an AirPlay system or if you have to for some special reason Android, then just set everything as Chromecast. The speaker is primarily connected to a Wi-Fi network, where it works both via AirPlay and ChromCast. The advantage of connecting via Chromecast (using the GoogleHome APP) is the ability to pair speakers into groups and play to these groups using applications that support ChromeCast, such as Spotifi, Deezer, and the like. Using the Riva Wand application, you can even listen to music directly from your DLNA server. At the same time, the speaker can play music up to Hi-Res 24-bit/192kHz quality, which is not exactly standard for compact speakers with an integrated amplifier.
What may be essential for some is the fact that the Riva Arena is a Multi-Room speaker, which means that you can place several speakers around the apartment and easily switch between them, while listening to the song on the speakers in individual rooms, or if you have a house party, just turn on music streaming from your iPhone or Mac to all speakers at once. If you would like to change your home party to a party by the pool where you don't have an outlet at the moment, just buy an external battery that connects to the bottom of the Riva Arena so that the speaker and battery form one piece that can play music for up to twenty hours. If, on the other hand, you want to charge your device directly from the speaker, you have the option, both when you use it plugged into an outlet or with an external battery. You can charge your device via the integrated USB in both cases. Not to mention, while we're at the pool, the speaker is splash-proof, so even if the party goes awry, you don't have to worry about the speaker.
The design of the speaker certainly does not offend, but it does not fascinate in any significant way at first glance. It is a relatively modest design that fits into your home, no matter what style you have furnished it in. The body of the speaker itself consists of an upper plastic part with control elements and a metal casing under which there are six separate speakers. The lower part is quite massive and the speaker is built on a large rubber pad that suppresses resonances, even if you put the speaker on a bedside table or something that is not made of solid material. The speaker is quite heavy for its dimensions, it weighs 1,36 kg and at first glance it is very massive and the construction gives a quality impression.
A year ago I went to see Roger Waters rebuilding the wall with my dad and a few days ago I went to the cinema with him to see David Gilmour strumming the most legendary guitar riffs in history for himself in the middle of Pompeii. Apart from Pink Floyd, both of these men have one more thing in common, they both love music, they love it so much that they are able to record at three in the morning in the middle of an abandoned church just because it has perfect acoustics. And because I love their music, we decided that Pink Floyd would be the first to play Riva in my bedroom. I don't listen to Floyds, especially from the car, where Naim for Bentley plays and I'm in a complete trance all the way from Prague to Bratislava. Of course, I didn't expect that from a wireless compact washing machine, but we still got something that I wouldn't have thought of even in my dreams.
Riva plays exactly how Pink Floyd should sound. Nothing is artificial, nothing is obscured and the sound is dense and unusually balanced. Of course, when evaluating the sound, as always, I take into account the price, size and purpose of the speaker. If audio for €15 had the same sound, I probably wouldn't be so upset, but we really expected the same from a small compact speaker as from all the previous ones. But the Riva Arena is different, thanks to its six speakers distributed on three sides at an angle of ninety degrees, on the one hand, the fact that the sound does not come from two but only one speaker is partially lost, which I have a fundamental problem with in most common Bluetooth and Multiroom speakers, but the sound can also fill the entire room thanks to Trillium technology. This indicates that the speaker has a left and right channel, which are always taken care of by a pair of speakers on the right and left side, respectively, and also a mono channel that plays from the center, i.e. facing you. As a result, a virtual stereo can be created in the space, which fills the entire room.
The sound is extremely dense, the bass, mids and highs are balanced, and if you switch from Pink Floy to Awolnation, Moob Deep, Rick Ross or just for fun play Adele or the old Madonna, who had an incredible mastering, you will not be disappointed. Everything sounds the way the artists wanted it to and that's what I really like about speakers, because they don't have to play anything and they don't artificially enhance the music.
Personally, I think that the Riva Arena is for people who are interested in really high-quality listening in a very compact body. We had the opportunity to test speakers of the same size for tens of Euros, but also for tens of thousands of crowns, and honestly, I can't think of any that have such a balanced and, above all, dense sound. There's a pretty strong story behind the Riva of people who love music, people who want music to play the way the artists recorded it, and frankly, the fact that this bunch decided to make ordinary speakers that you can buy for a couple of thousand doesn't bother them. it's doing really well. Riva speakers require you to be mature, not to use an equalizer, but to love the music as recorded by those you listen to. Riva does not offer speakers for people who first look for the huge SUPER BASS logo on the packaging, but for people who have something to listen to and want something for the office, workshop or bedroom in addition to their stereo in the living room. The Riva Arena is a speaker you will love if you love music in its purest form.
- Even the best review in the world can't convey the real listening experience, you can come hear the Riva speakers right here.
- You can buy Riva Arena directly here or at your favorite retailer.
