Audio Pro Addon C5A with Alexa built-in, Wireless, Bluetooth, Smart Speaker with Multi-room – Black

Product Information

The C5A is designed for a normal-sized living room or bedroom. Pumping out volume loud enough to fill that area without having to push volumes above 80%, where distortion will start to occur. The styling is reminiscent of old transistor radios but manages to blend modern and retro design aspects using high-quality materials. The cabinets are made from a high, relatively dense wood, which accounts for the weight, and they all have an aesthetically pleasing driver configuration on the front to bring cohesion to the speaker line that also includes a smaller battery-powered C3 and larger, more powerful C10.

Best Sonos alternatives 2023: multi-room music systems

On top of the sub is the second part of the Drumfire’s set-up, containing two 11cm woofers and a 25mm tweeter. This box has an RCA input for an external analogue source, as well as an ethernet port and 3.5mm input. Bluesound's current line-up includes the 2022 Award-winning Bluesound Node, Pulse 2i, Pulse Flex 2i, Node 2i, Powernode 2i and Pulse Soundbar 2i. You can add older Bluesound models into the mix, too. Most importantly for this particular speaker, though, is the question of how well Audio Pro has integrated its voice control abilities, and whether there is enough reason to pay the extra over a regular Addon C5. We have an inkling the Addon C5’s sound might be decent, so we set ourselves up for a party with The Rapture’s Echoes.Sized and shaped like an ashtray, the Link 1’s duties are to collect song selections from the app, connecting to your home network via either wi-fi or its ethernet input, and dispense via whichever output you have selected. It’s difficult to imagine a less stressful set-up procedure. The Audio Pro app seeks out all available products connected to the home network (with the option of adding those not already tethered manually), and they are then all there to manipulate as you wish. Remember, the Addon range is a system meant for you to combine the different speakers in the range depending on where you are listening. If it was my money, I would go with a C10 in the living room, C5A in the kitchen and bedrooms, and perhaps a C5A set up in the garage and study. That would be a really nice setup for an average family home. Final Thoughts It’s rare to find these apps being difficult to navigate - we aren’t surprised to find Audio Pro’s logically laid out, with no real searching required to find tabs for the major streaming services and any external NAS drives.

Audio Pro Addon C5A with Alexa built-in, Wireless, Bluetooth

Much like your Gran, however, the Swedish manufacturer could tell you how it’s managed just fine all these years without it. Removing a service requires that service's ID and passcode - yet the reason I want to remove a service is because it's outdated and I don't have the login info! Updating, sure. But removing???? The bugs are neither constant nor devastating, but the odd stutter and hang – particularly when pairing or splitting speakers – gets annoying in a short time. So let it be known the C5s most obvious talents – expressive dynamics and low-end stability – are entirely transferable. These are limited to optical and analogue auxiliary - though with a 3.5mm-to-RCA cable included, connecting to pretty much any existing set up could hardly be easier.

Audio Pro Addon C5A: The Verdict

Multi-Room Audio: Yes, provided you buy more than one Audiopro Addon or Drumfire speaker they can connect via the app The C5A has the same great Hi-Fi sound as the original Addon C5, but with an extra twist; the possibility to control your speaker simply by your voice. Living with the app is a slightly different proposition, though. In some ways it’s simple –‘drag and drop’ to partner or separate speakers, either in stereo pairs or multi-room zones, and tweak the bass and treble at your leisure. But it can be a little buggy, and is certainly limited compared to most rival systems. Generic settings for each Audio Pro device. Some settings may differ depending on what devices you have. On the front panel, you’ll find buttons for source selection – wi-fi, Bluetooth, aux and line-in – volume control, four presets and the 3.5mm analogue input.

Product Support - Audio Pro - Play Nice Product Support - Audio Pro - Play Nice

The sound quality applied to Audio Pro can be felt in every tune played on the Addon C5A. Feel and hear every detail, with a consistently powerful performance and punchy delivery.This includes a clever process where the speaker uses in-built sensors to optimise its sound settings for its position in the room. Testing the feature by moving it closer to a wall in our listening room, our reviewers could hear the HomePod 2 adjusting its sound in real-time. Very impressive. In front of the handle is the control panel. The panel is well laid out and provides users with additional functionality beyond the App that we will discuss in the next section. Centrally located, you find the volume up and down toggle switch to the left power, source, play/pause, and pairing. On the right are buttons numbered 1-4, which can be used for presets.

Audio Pro Control App - Audio Pro - Play Nice Audio Pro Control App - Audio Pro - Play Nice

In terms of features, both the Sonos One and the Audio Pro Addon C5A are fairly evenly matched. They both come with built-in voice controls via Alexa (the Sonos One also supports Google Assistant too), which definitely makes them a lot easier to use. Simply ask the speaker to start playing something, whether that's a song, playlist, or even an internet radio station, and it will- simple! Treble is present and done well via the two tweeters. They did a nice job of delivering a sparkle but not delving into the sibilant territory.You will need the Audio Pro Control App to have full functionality, linking your speakers, controlling where music is playing, and connecting them to a wireless streaming service.