Audio Pro Addon C3 Portable Multiroom Speaker - Grey

Product Information

Set-up is a painless process whether you choose a Bluetooth or wi-fi connection. When setting up a multi-room system, the app searches for other Audio Pro speakers in the vicinity on the same network, and you can then drag-and-drop from here to group or separate speakers, either in stereo pairs or multi-room zones, or else make manual adjustments to bass and treble. When you move from T3 to C3, the dimensions are similar, and they all have the sophisticated interface touches we’ve come to expect from Audio Pro. For a wireless speaker at this price, the textured surfaces and embossed leather carry handle are rather sophisticated. Each speaker looks like the face of a ‘koala bear’ from the front. It is a distinguishable body design which is also the driver configuration. Equipped with a pair of 2cm soft dome tweeters and mid/bass drivers (and reflex ports, incidentally) growing in line with the cabinet. The Addon C3 has a 9cm woofer, the Addon C5 and Addon C5A have a 10cm woofer, and the Addon C10 has the highest at 13cm. The Class D optical amplification’s power output increases in equal increments: 15W, 40W, and 80W, respectively.

It's at the pricey end of the market, yes, but the Dali Katch is a stone cold stunner, delivering excellent clarity, impressive bass weight and good looks in spades – so much so that we handed it a What Hi-Fi? Award in 2021 and 2022. If you've got the money, we'd struggle to recommend anything else at the same price. They time with metronomic precision, but temper it with the kind of dynamic sense that captures rhythmic emphasis nicely. And that dynamic expression is a strong positive over the speakers’ entire performance, able to reflect lavish shifts and subtle nuance alike. It simply does everything right, and without fuss. The Audio Pro Addon C5 not only has excellent sound but also has a lot of useful features. The Audio Pro Addon C5 is first and foremost a multiroom speaker. That means it can connect to other Audio Pro speakers and be controlled by a smartphone app. We considered the software to be very user-friendly, and while it can be a little sluggish at times, it performs admirably overall. Since the individual music is managed by your favorite listening service, you won’t waste much time in the Audio Pro app. It boasts similar dimensions to a large floury bap, but that's where any comparisons with baked goods end. The new A1 supports Qualcomm’s latest aptX AdaptiveBluetooth 5.1 codec, and of course, Alexa is built-in.As you'd expect, Bluetooth speakers are wireless in that they don't require a wire to connect to an audio source; they use a Bluetooth codec. However, they don't necessarily also support wi-fi, which is a necessary feature of what we term 'wireless speakers'. A wireless speaker can connect to an audio source via the internet (i.e. wi-fi) – by way of Apple AirPlay or Google Chromecast, for example – whether or not it also has Bluetooth. It makes it much easier to appreciate not only the detail on offer here but also the space in the mix that helps the Addon T3+ avoid becoming crowded or muddled when it is fed denser recordings. 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. Wireless music in all your rooms with real HIFI sound quality. That’s what this multiroom addon lineup brings to you. Play whatever you want from your whole house. The Audio pro multiroom speakers deliver a full HIFI experience to enhance all your music. With great audio quality the Audio Pro Addon C3 vs C5 vs C10, and drumfire speakers deliver your music in style. It is the use of a BMR, or Balanced Mode Radiator, tweeter that is most canny, however. Among its many benefits, this flatter-faced driver has the ability to offer wider dispersion than a traditional tweeter – up to 180º in fact – and so can make the most of the A10’s cylindrical form, making it far less fussy when it comes to positioning.

Increasing the size of speakers even further, both of these models are the largest speaker among their brands. 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.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. Audio Pro A10 is a fairer model to compare with Sonos One as they both have the same cylindrical design, none like the usual designs of the Audio Pro C series. It has the nearly priced same as Sonos one as well. About the size of a burrito and weighing just 550g, JBL's Flip 6 is the one to go for if you're looking for a reliable, super-sounding speaker to take on your travels. 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???? However, selecting the two of them would be a tough call as both are good at providing what they are built for i.e., superb sound quality. Final Verdict

Sonos is rumoured to be working on a pair of wireless headphones, so who knows, there might be less to separate these two brands in future...

The experts' verdict on the Audio Pro Addon C3 wireless speaker

Though there is a pair of unknown quantities in the Audio Pro line-up as far as we’re concerned – the Addon C-Sub can help those smaller speakers delve deeper into the low frequencies, while the A40 is set to receive a wider release following its design for the company’s 40th anniversary– our time spent with the rest of the company’s speakers allows us to confidently celebrate it as the best-sounding multi-room suite available for the money.

The headline-grabber here is that you now get three options for multi-room connectivity: aside from Audio Pro’s app, there's both Google Chromecast and AirPlay 2. We set two C10 MkIIs up with Audio Pro’s app (we name one 'White' and one 'Grey' for easy identification) and it’s surprisingly easy to get audio to play through one, both, or as a stereo pair.

This big-sounding, versatile speaker is too good to miss

For the ultimate in speaker control, each drive unit is driven by a dedicated digital amplifier. With 15 watts for the bass unit and 5 watts to each tweeter, a total power output of 25 watts is on hand to give generous, room-filling sound. But it’s important to point out the Audio Pro is far from the most limited multi-room app out there, and its occasional bug and rudimentary nature is forgivable when you consider the price and sound quality of the speakers it's controlling. Sound, of course, should play a huge part in your decision, because there's absolutely no guarantee that two models of a similar price will end up sounding the same in terms of quality, audio presentation and general timbre. Some Bluetooth speakers will be peppy and exciting, while others will prioritise pulsating bass to get the party started. Bluetooth is like a short-range, low-powered, low-bandwidth version of wi-fi used to connect compatible devices together rather than to the internet. Bluetooth uses radio waves like wi-fi does but at a different scale. 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.