Qlearsoul HiFire X Review

Price

The Qlearsoul HiFire X sells for £340 all in. It’s positioned above Qlearsoul’s £260 SoulBox S1, another all-in-one, but adds a more substantial build, greater amplification and improved functionality. In the US, you’ll pay $380 for the HiFire X. It’s not yet available in Australia…

Design

• Bookshelf speakers
• Illuminated VU Meters
• No remote control

In terms of design, the HiFire X hits exactly the right note. It’s retro-inflected but avoids outright pastiche.

The system comprises a central turntable and amplifier unit, with two separate bookshelf speakers. The enclosures are finished in a rather tasty walnut veneer, and sport black, non-removable grilles, which cover a 38mm silk dome tweeter and 5.3-inch woofer.

The main unit uses matching wood veneer coupled to a rose-gold (or is it champagne?) fascia. A pair of illuminated VU meters dominate, measuring peak power into four ohms.

A mode dial on the right selects between the phono stage, line input and Bluetooth sources. Beneath are three physical buttons for Play/Stop and 33rpm and 45rpm selection.

The system measures a tidy 450 x 490 x 500mm. Keeping everything stable are prominent anti-vibration rubber isolation feet.

The package also includes a lid, slip mat, 45rpm adapter, and counterweight. But there’s no remote.

Connectivity

• Bluetooth input
• Analogue line in/out

Essentials are covered. There’s analogue line-in and line-out, spring clips for speaker cables, plus Bluetooth connectivity.

Pairing with a smartphone proves quick and simple. This means the HiFire X can also function as a wireless music system when you want to listen to Spotify et al.

Bluetooth is treated solely as an input for streaming music. There’s no transmit functionality, so you can’t output to wireless headphones (there’s no headphone jack on the front either, for that matter).

Set up is relatively painless. I found the supplied platter and belt-drive mechanism straightforward to install, and having a pre-installed Audio Technica cartridge removes one of the more fiddly jobs associated with setting up a record deck.

Features

• Audio Technica cartridge
• Manual turntable control

Don’t expect any great innovation on the features front. The focus here is on playing records, albeit with a few useful additions, it’s all pretty straightforward.

The system ships with a tried and tested Audio Technica cartridge. It’s a popular design and a good match for this particular system.

The illuminated VU meters are largely a visual flourish, something to stare at while your music is playing. They dance regardless of which source is engaged, and reinforce the HiFire X’s vintage appeal.

The HiFire X turntable itself is fully manual. Press Play to start the platter and position the stylus over the record, then drop the needle. At the end of the side, it’s up to you to return the tone arm to its cradle.

Sound Quality

• Bass heavy bias
• Spatially coherent

If the HiFire X knows anything, it’s how to entertain. Its (claimed) 100W amplifier provides plenty of punch, while the bookshelf speakers create the kind of physical stereo separation that single enclosures struggle to achieve.

What you see is very much what you hear. There’re no tone or balance controls to moderate, or manipulate. The character of the system hangs largely on the speaker design – and these enclosures favour bass.

Like Meatloaf, the system has a weighty middle. This gives rock, EDM and rhythm-heavy recordings plenty of presence. But there’s also a welcome level of clarity gifted by that AT cartridge.

The system has no problem producing room-filling dynamics at appropriate listening levels. Björk’s Greatest Hits provides a particularly useful test. The HiFire X handles the singer’s vocal gymnastics with confidence; Björk’s voice is always central, elevated above the rhythm.

The overall presentation is suitably energetic, never more so when streaming the pop-punk of Karen Dió (Amazon Music). The bookshelf speakers, stretched apart as far as the speaker cable would last, remain spatially coherent. There’s plenty of room for Dió to dance in between.

There’s also appropriate heft to speech when playing radio or podcasts. The system is never sibilant or scratchy.

That said, listeners looking for neutrality will find the lack of tone controls restrictive, but then the Hifire X isn’t trying to be a studio-monitor system. The tubby tuning is part of its appeal.

The key point is that this sounds like a small Hi-Fi system, rather than a record player with speakers bolted on. And that’s a win.

Should you buy it?