Sound Impressions
Bass
The low end is quite magnificently clean and clear. Pristine even. I have two other speakers, for this price and one for a bit more, that do not offer bass that clean and pure feeling. But this is interesting because the tone and texture of the bass are sublimely clean, but also not clinical.
It remains natural, claiming 38Hz ~ 20KHz response. I’m not sure about that, but the bass is moderate in quantity in my testing. I don’t consider this a rumble machine, but it also isn’t bass light. It has some depth and punch, for sure.
What impresses me is that I have a set of $1999 Harman speakers that are bass canons, they can shake my entire condo. However, the TreSound 1 devastates them in clarity factor on the low end. It is almost unfair to make them compete.
Yes, I think the TreSound 1 also sounds cleaner than the Airpulse A300 speakers I’ve just recently reviewed too. Those Airpulse’s have way more bass, but the presentation is so more weighted and impactful on those than the natural flowing low end of the TreSound 1. Shame I cannot impart the TreSound 1 into a 2-1 bookshelf type, because the bass is really that good.
The bass response to EQ is shoulder-shrug-worthy, at best. It responds to a few extra dB if you want it, sure. However, it suddenly stops responding after about 3dB, so I cannot hear any difference between 3 dB and 6 dB.
After that, the quality severely drops off and that excellent moonlight-purified lake that you can see to the bottom just vanishes and it instantly became a washout. So, bass EQ, add a smidgen if you want, and be careful with it after a +3 dB dial-up.
Mids
The TreSound 1 is very mid-forward, with a bloom effect, which is interesting to hear no matter where you are in the room, (with proper placement).
The mids are lush, pure, and interesting. The upper mids are lacking bite and a sense of impact that I would consider engaging. So, the experience, to me, is reserved in physical strike factor and quite mellow.
Quality-wise, the raw fidelity factor is not on the level of those Airpulse speakers I just mentioned, but they are also mercilessly beyond the Riva Festival speaker that I reviewed some years ago, which at the time, was priced at $499.
There is a dual-layered haze over the Riva, but the Riva was also a very good speaker and still is. The TreSound 1 is just a better choice in terms of the fidelity factor for the price.
This TreSound 1 portrays mids almost the same way the Magnepan LRS, another speaker that I reviewed about a year ago. Lush, but not thick. Forward, but not blaring and not totally overshadowing the bass and treble around it.
Now with all that in mind, the mids feel underpowered and lacking the oomph and impact that I would want even in a very polite and reserved-sounding speaker.
Despite being forward and clean, the experience is lacking density. It is a rather thin feeling in texturing, which leads me and a few others who I asked to confirm this to believe the speaker just tends to feel lacking heft and weight at the $500 tier level.
Is it a big deal? Maybe, some people like the thin sound of the Drop Sennheiser HD 8XX, and others do not like it. Some people like a heft to their mids and vocals, and some don’t. Choose wisely.
Treble
The treble is where I ran into some issues with flow and dynamics. The top side is good enough for the price in quality and fidelity, but it’s the lacking dynamic kick that is required to compete with the bloomed mid-range (which means plentiful, forward, broad feeling).
The treble needs to be dialed up a few dB to feel like there is a sense of balance. But the stock sound is reserved, quiet, and humble, and gets lost in the excellent bass and mids.
In my opinion, the top side quality is overly out of place in quantity to merge with the stock sound of the rest of the experience. Is that a bad thing? Or negative? Nah, not really. It just means it is polite sounding and doesn’t slam.
The brightness factor is also lacking enough shimmer, again, to compete with the broad scope of what lay underneath the top side. While the speaker is designed like a peak, the treble is not peaky at all. And I consider that a good thing. I don’t want my guests to wince every 5 seconds.
This TreSound 1 is on the softer side up top, but you can squeeze a bit more with some EQ if you want it. Similarly, to the low end, the top side is also stubborn as a mule and won’t change much if you try to add or reduce via some EQ source.
Imaging
Staging is again dependent on how you place the speaker. If near a wall, that imaging will get obstructed, and the unit won’t sound as open.
Place it on the middle of a table in your living room, or something similar where no walls are, and you will get a much better-flowing sound out of it even when you walk around to the other side.
Is it a vast sound? No. Natural and vast are not terms that mix in this case. The TreSound 1 imaging size is just good and lacks the strong sense of width and separation that comes with a great bookshelf design (a 2.1 system).
With that in mind, I doubt anyone is buying a single-unit speaker like this for its vastness in imaging. You are probably buying it for naturalness and politeness in the sound field.
If that is the case, this is a great option for you. If you want huge imaging, look for a used set of Harman Tower Citations instead which are now discontinued, but can be found under $999. Otherwise, the TreSound 1 is just fine in spatial imaging.
Sound Field
The field itself on this speaker is very oddly shaped compared to a bookshelf design, which happens in every single unit speaker like this. It’s not the fault of the quality of the drivers or anything, it’s just that the speaker is one unit and not 2.
These relatively modest traits get lost though when you are talking to others and allowing the music to flow naturally through the living space it was placed in. That is where the magic happens. Ultimately, walls and large objects will, again, reduce the imaging field.
But don’t let that stop you if you don’t have that layout in your home. Even against a wall, the TreSound 1 sounds very good. Toss that sucker right between some modern art in your entertainment room, or again, in your kitchen, and it will just slink into nothingness and merge with the walls around it, as any good speaker should.
This type of sound doesn’t happen when I place the Riva Festival in the middle of the room. Walking to the other side of the area will dim the sound, of course. But not with the TreSound 1. That omnidirectional sound works nicely, as intended. But, if you are looking to place a speaker nearer to a wall, I’d go with some different options out there.
Scratch that entirely if you want an interesting piece of decor to go into the living space. If that is the case, I don’t know of a more interesting single-unit speaker than this one that will be a center point for conversations.
Noise
The grounding of the TreSound 1 is also very good, I can’t hear any static or noise even in Bluetooth mode. I can hear some noise on some other more expensive models I’ve had for review, which makes me shake my head.
This speaker is not even that expensive compared to many other products out there, yet it was properly designed with great noise suppression and grounding internally. Just another plus if you are asking me.
Select Comparisons
Harman Citation Towers
The Citations are huge mammoths that are Bluetooth only in design and do not even have a 3.5mm input, or any inputs other than BT.
Despite having a god-awful amount of bass potential, the TreSound 1 sounds much clearer and more focused, more resolving, and purer. The sound field of the Towers is titanic but has literally no naturalness to it that is abundant on the TreSound 1.
Riva Festival
Another $500-ish solo unit that I found to be quite nice for the price, but nothing on the Riva can compare to the TreSound 1.
What does that Riva have that bests it? Density factory, wooly thick sound, and an insane physical weight and strike factor. You can shake the room with the Riva, you can give others peace of mind and relaxing naturalness in the TreSound 1.
Texturally different speakers. The TreSound 1 has a clearer experience from top to bottom and pushes a much more natural image. However, the Riva sounds physically larger in height and width by a small margin.
Airpulse 3000
The Airpulse’s low end is beaten by the TreSound 1 in purity factor. While everything else is superior on the Airpulse, which again has its own Bluetooth wireless mode, it also has a ton of inputs, everything under the sun, while the TreSound 1 only has 3.5mm and Bluetooth.
The Airpulse is fun, thick, impacting, and has a brighter treble that can get fatiguing if not EQ’ed right. The TreSound 1 doesn’t need to be changed at all and is very stubborn with what it takes to change the sound.
Our Verdict
The Trettitre TreSound 1 is a solid speaker with excellent build quality at $699. The bass is among the best I’ve heard for the type of speaker design this product uses, and it can compete in fidelity with speakers double the price.
It is art. It is a relaxing and natural feeling. It has a very polite treble. It also has a lacking midrange for vocals that needs more heft to the tone to make it interesting and enjoyable. Sometimes, being too reserved in heft doesn’t mesh.
But despite that, the experience is enjoyable, and it was marvelous to have a speaker that was the center of attention for weeks, while people were in and out of my place to hear products, the TreSound 1 was the winner that got the most interest.
Trettitre TreSound 1 Specification
- Input DC 24V 2.7A
- Output Power 2x15W + 1x30W
- Frequency Response 38Hz ~ 20KHz
- Bluetooth CSR 5.1 aptX
- Tweeter 25-core silk film tweeter x2
- Full-frequency 25″ full-frequency speaker x2
- Subwoofer 25″ subwoofer x1
- AUX Port 5mm audio interface
- Power Amplifier Chip Class D power amplifier / ST chip
- Size 8 ”× 11.8”× 16.9”
- Net Weight: 2 pounds
