One minute review
Audio Pro now has an art. With the A36 comes two solid, attractive, and (rather) well-designed wireless speakers that require no pains to set up, work with, or otherwise integrate into a larger Pro Audio system.
Connect the left powered speaker to the right passive speaker, plug the powered speaker into the mains and then make the necessary connections. Wireless if you prefer, or using physical inputs including HDMI ARC so you can easily connect your TV to the Pro Audio ecosystem. And then buckle up while the A36 makes your audio full, large-scale, and totally energetic.
No, these stereo speakers aren't the last word when it comes to loyalty, and they're constantly on the verge of giving way when it comes to low frequencies. But if it's the excitement and fun he craved as well as much of the comfort, he's invited to give the Audio Pro A36 a full review.
Audio Pro A36 price and release date
- Available now
- €1,195/€XNUMX/AU$XNUMX
The Audio Pro A36 Wireless Floorstanding Speakers are on sale now, and in the UK they'll set you back €XNUMX for a pair. In the US you are looking for €XNUMX, while if you a) fancy a pair and b) live in Australia, you should expect to give AU€XNUMX.
Obviously, there is no shortage of stereo speakers with built-in amplification and streaming intelligence in the world; now, KEF's LSX stanchions (€36) are setting the standard. But at this price, the AXNUMX doesn't have much opposition on the ground, it's multi-room capable...so perhaps that little gap in the market is about to be filled.
Integrated
- Solid and ornamental wardrobe
- Lots of control possibilities, including a really nice app.
- Many connectivity options
This is not the first time that Audio Pro has offered a product that manages to be reserved, useful and very elegant at the same time. The A36 columns are compact (a dwarf size of XNUMX x XNUMX x XNUMXmm), look rather untestable (there are matt white or matt black finishes available free) and prove usefully flexible for positioning, despite to a fairly heavy rear-firing bass reflex port.
This isn't the first time Audio Pro has (partially speaking) been in town when it comes to specs. Both speakers feature a XNUMXmm textile dome tweeter on top of two XNUMXmm mid/bass drivers, for which Audio Pro claims a frequency response of XNUMXHz to XNUMXkHz. The pair's passive speaker also has two speaker cable binding posts on its rear panel, just below the bass reflex port. This is where a connection is made with your empowered partner.
The powered speaker is, naturally, where most of the action is. It forms the left channel of the system and houses 2 channels of seventy-five watt Class D amplification as well as any and all wired and wireless connections. Wireless connectivity is handled via Wi-Fi and aptX accommodating Bluetooth connectivity, while the physical sockets extend to HDMI ARC, XNUMXmm analog input, digital optical, and a front output for a subwoofer. Aside from a plug for mains power, of course, and two matching speaker binding posts.
Control options for the A36 are extensive and universally well incorporated. There's a little metal and plastic touchscreen remote, with all the major functions managed, plus 5 "preset" buttons for saving favorite radio stations and playlists. Or, you may prefer to use Amazon Alexa.
Probably best of all, there's the Audio Pro Control app, which puts a host of features at your fingertips. This is where you can engage your favorite streaming services (top artists include Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Amazon Music, Qobuz, vTuner, TuneIn and much more), set up an Audio Pro multi-room system, choose your source, adjust bass and treble , and set an alarm. It's not quite as clean or instinctive as Sonos' all-conquering controller app, but it's no slouch either, which is as big of a compliment as it gets these days.
Audio performance
- Energetic and energetic presentation
- Incredible and sociable media
- It can be a bit overwhelming in volume
An HDMI ARC connector is a great idea, naturally enough, and there's no 2 ways: route your TV through the A36 and it'll sound quite a bit bigger, beefier, more detailed and more intoxicating than it is. It has no hope of dreaming by itself. . But if you really want to know what two floorstanding speakers are capable of, don't give them a newscast to manage. Instead, let them play music.
With a TIDAL account integrated into the control app and a sixteen-bit / forty-four with one kHz stream of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' game Nature Boy, the A36 soon reveals itself. If you prefer punching, driving and assault as an attitude over direct perception or fidelity, read on. Audio Pro has two wireless speakers to captivate you.
To be fair, it's not fair to suggest that the A36 doesn't have insight or fidelity, it's just that they don't see these attributes as essential as energy, emotion, or all the others. These are attributes that do a lot. From the bottom of the frequency range to the top, the A36 must see with fun.
They control the top end of the frequency range quite well; In extremis, it's not beyond a bit of grit or edginess, but at realistic volumes and with comprehensive equipment, the Audio Pro achieves a rock'n'roll. Careful balance between substance and attack.
It's a fairly related story on the other end; bass sounds have the right texture and detail, but that's secondary to their sheer presence. Control of the input and output of individual bass sounds is reasonably disciplined, but the A36's power and weight are more than simple. So, despite its fairly simple location, it is convenient to find some free space in your room to do the same. Or at least try to avoid backing up near a wall.
In between there is a lot of detail squeezed out of the mids, and despite this full bass presence, the vocals manage to exist safely in a small pocket of space. There's enough information in it for a vocalist like Cave to sound as proper, sensitive, and harsh as possible in his tone. Integration between the 3 speakers is allowable and, despite its enthusiasm at both ends of the frequency range, the A36 manages to sound quite unified when it comes to tone.
In all other respects too, the Audio Pro proves to be simple and efficient. The active headroom is enough to let the peaks and valleys of Metronomy's love letters express themselves while still capturing the most subtle harmonic alterations during the exact same song. They also have an acceptable rhythmic expression, so listeners preferably on the dance floor should have no qualms.
All this assumes an EQ adjustment that has been left well, naturally. It's possible to suppress that low-end presence, naturally, but at the same time it takes a lot of the punch out of the A36 sound. Similarly, it can mitigate the slight excess of high-frequency reproduction, but this causes the overall presentation to be quite inconclusive.
No, the Audio Pros aren't the last word when it comes to sound neutrality or accuracy, but by the looks of it, neither is it. They came to get off and, let's not beat around the bush, to jump.
Should I get the Audio Pro A36?
