Setup and Audio Performance

The basic minimum wiring required to set up the TRETTITRE TreSound1 is the power supply itself, which in turn being external means you have two wires to connect. The AC mains cable fits into the 3-prong linear power supply/transformer unit which then feeds into the TreSound1 via a typical barrel jack. The advantage of going this route is the speaker can have an integrated power amplifier as discussed on the previous page, making it an active speaker and not needing a dedicated power amplifier. You also have more options when it comes to positioning the TreSound1 as a result of the longer overall cable length. There is a 3.5 mm AUX input for wired data connectivity if you so wish, so you can go from a 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm cable thus feeding the TreSound1 from your PC/laptop/multimedia NAS/Roon Core etc. I did not have one of those cables on hand here so just pretend that HIFIMAN cable has single 3.5 mm connectors on either side.

There is no on/off switch on the power supply or by the power input jack itself, with TRETTITRE choosing to use a combination power and volume control rotary encoder switch at the top where you have the solid steel accent. Rotate it clockwise slightly until it clicks and turns on the device. At this point you will see LEDs light up at the top as well as the bottom. The indicator LED at the top turns orange and goes into a breathing mode to help show the TreSound1 is now in pairing mode and it remains a solid orange when paired. The LEDs at the bottom are always on in a warm hue as long as the device is on, it's not overly bright or distracting and come off more as accent lighting which I would still have preferred to be allowed to toggle on or off. In wired AUX mode, the Bluetooth functionality is automatically turned off if there is a cable plugged in, although the LEDs once again remain on. The lack of any color choice may also not appeal to consumers and then there's the part where volume control is purely analog via the rotating knob again in a fixed range without any steps or numbers. You are better off using your source device for finer volume control here!


Wired mode does sound better for obvious reasons and yet I dare say the vast majority of end users are going to use the TreSound1 exclusively in Bluetooth connectivity mode. I can totally see people using this as a centerpiece on a table or desk with cable management cutouts/grommets to hide the power cable too. There is of course the logical extension here of people purchasing a longer AUX cable and hiding it alongside the power cable, but who is going to buy the TreSound1 rather than bookshelf/floor-standing speakers if they want to go with a high fidelity wired speaker experience and all the associated hassles, when everyone who's seen the TreSound1 at my place has immediately only thought of pairing it with their phone? TRETTITRE does not provide any information about the Bluetooth SoC used here except to say it features Bluetooth 5.1 with codec support in the form of SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX HD. It's probably a Qualcomm QCC30xx level chipset then, which is a shame given the speaker design team might feel let down by the lack of higher resolution codecs such as LDAC or LHDC. Bluetooth compression is absolutely a real thing here so you are compromising for the lower entry barrier and the design/form factor itself.


Given this is an active set of speakers, I figured I should see whether there are any thermal concerns during use. As expected, the wooden chassis doesn't make it easy to see much inside. The steel section is basically the same temperature as the wood too, and the only thing warmer on the outside is the power supply itself. At under 10 °C above ambient even there, you needn't worry about the TreSound1 becoming an unintended space heater.

The video here is simply to show how the TreSound1 works when music is being played through it. Please do not take it to be any sort of indicator of how well it reproduces said music since there are several external factors involved (the microphone of the recording device, YouTube compression, and your own playback device). It's not a sound demo thus, although you can perceive the general music reproduction and relative frequencies here. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Sadly, measuring speakers is far less trivial than headphones and earphones and far more expensive too, given it also depends on the location the speaker is in. So my own subjective impressions are the best I can do at this point.

Indeed, how a speaker or set of speakers sound to you will depend a lot not only on where it is placed with respect to your own location, but also the surrounding environment too. Room treatment is key for higher end speakers to actually sound good. TRETTITRE with the TreSound1 aims to get around that somewhat by going for 360° firing speakers courtesy the dual full-range and tweeter drivers at the top and then the larger subwoofer thumping bass at the bottom. If you have the TreSound1 on your desk with your hands resting nearby, you will most certainly feel the sub-bass emanating here. I could easily hear tones as low as 50 Hz consistently to where I am mightily impressed with the bass extension. Given a lot of people might be looking at the TreSound1 as a party trick for dance music and genres including EDM, this is certainly good news. Yet I should let you know that this tactile bass experience doesn't reach out far if you are not in contact with the surface the speaker is resting on, and ~2 m away in air is probably where you will only hear the sound but not feel it. The TreSound1 does get plenty loud to fill a large room though, so at least you have that going.

The mid-bass is detailed yet once again you'd ideally be closer to appreciate the dynamism of the speaker. I'd say there is a slight bass emphasis at 150-200 Hz and I did quite like how the TreSound1 handled bass guitars giving that twang on the strings a real impact. Drums and snares are well rendered too, but here a decent set of 2-channel monitor speakers will outperform the TreSound1 in adding weight to the notes as well handling how the bass gives way to the mids. The crossover in the TreSound1 could have been improved here as male vocals come off slightly recessed in the deeper tones but then everything else sounds crisp and natural. Instrument separation is excellent and I thought the TreSound1 makes for an excellent all rounder in this regard. Imaging can be slightly off with standing waves from the full-range speaker not actually going the full 360° and yet this makes for a wider soundstage to where it feels like a good enough compromise for those prioritizing a satisfying speaker experience as opposed to a more analytical one.

Female vocals are arguably the star of the show here and the crossover headed to the higher frequency feels near-perfect as I could not tell where the tweeter came in until well into the treble where harps suddenly had that air and presence that headphones and IEMs simply can't reproduce. The TreSound1 played my orchestral and jazz music like a champ too, although here I did end up going the wired route since Bluetooth was showing its compression weaknesses further. Given the lack of other speakers here, and certainly no such "surround sound" style products, I can't give you any meaningful comparisons. I will just repeat what I said before—a decent set of stereo monitors on your desk will give you a more detailed and impactful sound that is also consistent. Yet those can't do what the TreSound1 does and play music all around them. At the same time, this outperforms all Bluetooth speakers I have here in terms of clarity and bass reproduction.