These cool looking speakers are so much better than the small, rechargeable bluetooth speakers which are the trend now.Firstly, it so much nicer to have actual stereo separation, something you don't get with smaller speakers. They are pretty bassy, I found I had to turn the bass down to allow some of the higher frequencies to shine, but that can be adjusted to your taste with the controls on the back of the active speaker.They're mains powered, there's no need to recharge them. The have an on/off rocker switch which means you can turn them on at the wall without having to press a button on the speaker.There's three inputs, one bluetooth and two phono line-in. This works great, my Macbook connects using bluetooth and I have a Chromecast Audio plugged in to one of the line-ins.The only downside is that to switch input source you need to press the volume button in which is on the back of the active speaker so mean reaching around, if these came with a remote control they'd be perfect.Admittedly these might not be the best bookcase speakers in the world, but they're pretty good and they sound way better than any portable bluetooth speaker in this price range.