Audio Professional A15 Water Resistant Wi-Fi & Bluetooth Multi-Room Speaker Overview – How does it evaluate vs Sonos Transfer

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I’ve beforehand reviewed the enticing Audio Professional C5 MKII and the very good Audio Professional A48 floor-standing audio system.

I’ve now been despatched the Audio Professional A15. This is among the few transportable audio system in the marketplace that makes use of each Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Additionally it is IP-rated, making it appropriate for outside use. It’s a beautiful speaker, and it’s a very good different to the favored Sonos Transfer.

Specification

• Amplifier: Digital Class D – 10 W + 30 W
• Tweeter: 1″ textile dome
• Woofer : 1 x 4.5″
• Frequency: 45-22000 Hz
• Codecs: Apple Lossless, MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC
• Streaming Compatibility: Spotify & Tidal
• Multiroom: Audio Professional, AirPlay2, Google Solid
• Inputs:
• Outputs: RCA Sub
• Battery Life: as much as 11h
• Dimensions: 206mm (h) x 286mm (w) x 137 mm (d)
• Weight: 3.4kg
• IP score: IPX2
• Colors: Darkish gray, Mild gray

Audio Professional A15 vs Sonos Transfer

As I’ve lined in my different Audio Professional critiques, they’re competing immediately towards Sonos. The product vary is a bit totally different, however Audio Professional appear to be among the finest different choices to Sonos.

Audio Professional promote this as a waterproof speaker, and it, due to this fact, goes up towards the superb Sonos Transfer.

There may be one important distinction within the specification that’s in favour of Sonos. The Sonos Transfer has an IP score of IP56. Which means you possibly can, in principle, spray the speaker with sturdy jets of water.

The Audio Professional A15 is on IPX2. It’s protected towards dripping water.

I’m not the form of particular person that’s going to sit down exterior within the rain listening to my music, however in case you take the Audio Professional A15 exterior, I actually wouldn’t suggest forgetting about it, leaving it uncovered to the rain. You don’t really want to fret about this with the Sonos.

They’re each rated for 11 hours of playback. The Sonos Transfer has a superior charging answer. It has a charging base which is way more handy than the ability lead of the A15. The Sonos additionally has a USB-C PC enter, permitting you to increase the battery if wanted with a PD energy financial institution.

Like most Sonos merchandise, the Transfer is ugly. It’s a bit black tube form. And, like most Audio Professional merchandise, the A15 is comparatively enticing so far as a speaker will be.

The Sonos ecosystem is a bit higher; you could have an enormous vary of streaming companies that’s incomparable with some other model. That being stated, Audio Professional has every little thing I would like, I primarily use Spotify, and I can use Chromecast for many different issues. You even have choices for Amazon Music, TuneIn, Deezer and extra.

Many Sonos audio system lack Bluetooth, which provides Audio Professional a bonus, however the Sonos Transfer consists of it. Nevertheless, the A15 has a 3.5mm enter port and an RCA sub-output. Sonos sells a subwoofer, however you’re restricted to that sub, whereas an RCA out lets you use any subwoofer (or one of many Audio Professional choices).

Sonos doesn’t give a lot element on the speaker association. They simply state that there are two class D amplifiers with one tweeter and one mid-woofer.

The Audio Professional A15 has the next RRP than the Transfer, priced at £450 vs £399. Nevertheless, most websites promote it nicely beneath this. For those who store round, you may get it for £299.

Design

Like all of the Audio Professional audio system, that is extra enticing than your common speaker.

It’s nonetheless only a cuboid like most audio system, however they’ve spruced it up with a beautiful gray or white colourway and mesh cowl.

On the highest of the speaker, you could have the standard controls for pause, skip, energy, Bluetooth and so forth. Nevertheless, you even have preset buttons which let you program your favorite playlists, web radio stations or different audio content material.

This isn’t the smallest or lightest of transportable audio system, however I believe it is a good factor, small audio system are all the time underpowered for me to take pleasure in them correctly.

There’s a handy carry deal with constructed into the again of the speaker, and it’s straightforward sufficient to hold round.

In Use / Sound High quality

The speaker has a 10W and 30W amplifier with a 1-inch textile dome tweeter and a 4.5-inch woofer.

The out of field efficiency is much less bassy than the Sonos Transfer. I’d say the Sonos is a bit an excessive amount of, however I wished a bit extra from this.

My kitchen acoustics will not be one of the best and appeared to kill the bass fairly a bit, however in my workplace, on a cushioned floor, the speaker was capable of shine.

Throughout the app, there’s an EQ which lets you dial up the treble and bass. This made the speaker extra satisfying for me.

With the bass dialled all the best way up, it does grow to be fairly bassy, and it avoids including any important distortion. With the bass at max on some tracks I discover it a bit a lot, so I believe most patrons will discover a setting that fits them.

With the bass at 75% I used to be fairly completely happy. Mids and vocals have been nonetheless capable of come by means of with loads of readability, and the extra bass took out the sharpness of the highs (I’m delicate to highs and customarily don’t like pure audio system due to this).

The speaker goes fairly loud, greater than sufficient for my workplace and positively loud sufficient to harass any neighbours ought to I crack it up outdoor. It appears to deal with larger volumes fairly nicely; like most audio system, the sound high quality tapers off the nearer to the utmost quantity you get, however it has greater than sufficient energy for my wants.

Battery

This could final about 11 hours with the amount at 50% or 8 hours with it at full. I haven’t drained the battery totally but. I not often use a conveyable speaker for prolonged durations, and I’m a recurring charger of gadgets.

It annoys me that this makes use of a standard energy lead with no USB-C choices. It makes it a lot much less versatile in comparison with different transportable audio system.

Worth and Different Choices

Audio Professional checklist the A15 at £450, however no different web site on the Web cost this, and so they all appear to checklist the RRP as £350, making it £50 lower than the Sonos Transfer.

On the time of writing, I can discover the A15 for £279.20 vs Maze Dwelling. Audio Affair has it for £295.

That’s considerably cheaper than the Sonos Transfer with an RRP of £350. Amazon has some market itemizing with it priced at £349.

The Bose Moveable Sensible Speaker is among the few different choices which have each Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It seems like a very good different possibility, priced at £329. It has a 12-hour battery life, USB-C charging (permitting you to increase the battery), and it has an IPX4 score.

General

The Audio Professional A15 is a superb transportable speaker that has a fundamental IP score permitting you to take it outdoor with out an excessive amount of concern.

Like all Audio Professional merchandise, it’s attractively designed, and I’d say that is the primary purpose why I’d purchase this over the Sonos Transfer.

It should make an excellent addition to any current house utilizing Audio Professional gear.

Personally, if I wasn’t dedicated to both model and simply wished a very good outside Wi-Fi speaker, I’d be inclined to get the Sonos Transfer. The IP score and charging make it higher as a conveyable speaker.

Nevertheless, that ignores the worth, on the time of writing, I can get the Audio Professional A15 for £100 lower than the Transfer, which might seemingly swing my desire the opposite manner.

I’d additionally say the Audio Professional A15 is a perfect possibility in case you simply need a superb indoor speaker however need the flexibleness to make use of it often as a conveyable speaker.

Initially posted on Mighty Gadget

Final replace on 2023-03-08 / Affiliate hyperlinks / Pictures from Amazon Product Promoting API