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

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It goes loud, too. From the moment we start playing music, it’s clear that the HomePod Mini comfortably outperforms its size and price, quite frankly embarrassing its direct competition with the sophistication and maturity of its sound.

Audio Pro Addon C5 review | What Hi-Fi?

In this review, it’s even less of a surprise, given that the Audio Pro Addon C5A is almost identical to the Addon C5, which was our wireless speaker Product of the Year in 2017.The increased power and driver and cabinet size predictably ushers a grander performance each step you take up the chain, with the Addon C10 particularly able to rattle trinkets from the mantelpiece or twist our insides with its low-end authority. 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. Each comprises the 'koala bear' driver configuration that has become these speakers’ distinguishing feature, with a pair of 2cm soft dome tweeters and mid/bass drivers (and reflex ports, incidentally) growing in line with the cabinet. Is there a multi room music system that can receive a stream from a local PC over Wifi in multicast ? Sonos devices can't (although they can receive AirPlay from a Mac), and all I see on other systems is Bluetooth input (which is good but not as good as multicast for range and quality). Of course, it helps that Sonos' app is first class, as is its sound quality. Is Bose or Sonos better?

Audio Pro C5-A multi room speaker with Alexa Audio Pro C5-A multi room speaker with Alexa

Unsurprisingly, that’s one of the first things that jumps out when we switch the A10 on. We love the directness of its siblings, but the versatility and sheer spread of sound here is to be admired. It doesn’t have quite the unwavering focus, nor the sheer weight in the low end, but we can move around our test room and still be treated to the same high quality sound. There aren’t many wireless speakers we’d want throughout the house as much as these, and we’d put a modest bet on you feeling the same way. 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. Another Award for Audio Pro is barely news anymore, but the fact this year the Drumfire displaced the Naim Mu-so – a product almost double the price we once heralded as the nearest to hi-fi we’d heard from a wireless speaker – as our most expensive champion in 2018 is proof it is operating on a different level to anything else around it. At What Hi-Fi? we comprehensively test and review every product we recommend, from soundbars to speakers, headphones and TVs. And it's no different for Sonos alternatives.All the controls for the speaker are located on a metal panel on the top. These are all clearly labelled, so it doesn't take long to get to grips with them. They also have a satisfying "clunk" to them when pressed; they are a world away from the cheap plastic buttons you find on many other speakers. There's also a separate panel for the built-in Alexa feature, with an LED strip to tell you when the C5A is listening and a button to manually mute the microphone. Over the years it's also built up a portfolio of products that covers every need, from portable speakers ( Sonos Roam), to soundbars ( Sonos Ray), and everything in between. So whatever kind of system you're building, there's a Sonos speaker (or three) for every room in the home. Have a speaker in every room and play to one or all at the same time, listen where you want and how you want. Enjoy high quality streaming or play music from your computer: the choice is yours.