Audio Professional C10 MKII W overview: compact AirPlay speaker with nice sound high quality

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Ranking

Professionals

• Glorious sound high quality
• Compact, minimalist design
• Versatile app
• Good connectivity 

Cons

• Costly
• No USB-C audio enter
• Deep bass could possibly be stronger 

Our Verdict

It’s barely costlier than Apple’s HomePod, however the C10 MKII W scores higher on sound high quality and connectivity. Regardless of its compact design, it’s highly effective sufficient to behave as your principal music system at house, and its help for AirPlay 2 is good to be used with Apple gadgets.

Worth When Reviewed

This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined

Greatest Pricing At this time

Worth When Reviewed

$480

Greatest Costs At this time: Audio Professional C10 MKII W

$480

Audio Professional’s A10 held a spot on our listing of finest AirPlay audio system a few years in the past, however after a little bit of a quiet interval the Swedish firm not too long ago got here again with a bang and up to date its complete vary of audio system all of sudden. The A10 continues to be round – at a lowered worth when you’re in search of a cut price – however for this new era of audio system we favor the marginally bigger, one-piece C10 MKII W, which prices $480/£350.

Audio Professional’s mannequin numbers are a bit untidy – the most recent fashions all have that ‘W’ suffix however, as talked about, a few of its older fashions are nonetheless on sale on-line, so be sure you purchase the right mannequin. However, fortunately, the Swedish firm takes a extra elegant and minimalist method to its product designs, with the C10 MKII W consisting of little greater than a easy rectangular field that measures 166mm excessive, 320mm huge and 180mm deep. It’s sturdily constructed although, weighing in at simply over 4kg, and it packs rather a lot into that unassuming design.

Audio Professional

There’s a sensible cloth grille on the entrance panel of the speaker, however you’ll be able to simply take away this when you favor a extra retro look with the speaker drivers uncovered. Audio Professional’s consideration to element even means that you can fine-tune the sound relying on whether or not you like to take away the grille or hold it on. Eradicating the grille reveals a big woofer within the centre of the speaker to offer a deep, full sound for mid-range and decrease frequencies, with smaller tweeters situated on both aspect to deal with the upper frequencies.

This mix gives a complete output of 80W, so the C10 MKII W has sufficient energy to perform as your principal speaker system in your entrance room or lounge. It does require mains energy provide, although, and the burden of the speaker implies that it’s in all probability going to spend most of its time simply sitting in a single room at house. 

It’s properly related, although, with help for Bluetooth and Apple’s AAC codec, in addition to dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz). The Audio Professional app has been up to date too, and now works with all kinds of streaming companies, together with Spotify, Amazon Music, and SoundCloud. It additionally helps AirPlay 2, permitting you to stream audio from any apps in your Apple gadgets, and permitting the C10 MKII W to work as a part of a multi-room music system with Apple’s HomePods or any AirPlay 2 audio system from different producers.

Android customers could also be disillusioned that there’s no help for aptX with Bluetooth, however that’s not an issue for Apple gadgets, and the C10 MKII W does help Google Forged for Android gadgets.

Lastly, there’s a set of RCA connectors on the again of the speaker to offer an excellent old style wired connection for gadgets equivalent to a CD participant or vinyl turntable. There are not any audio cables included although, so that you’ll want to offer these for your self. And, at this worth, we’d have appreciated to have seen a USB-C interface to offer a wired audio connection for computer systems and cellular gadgets as properly.

Audio Professional

The C10 MKII W delivers the great relating to sound high quality, although, and it really works a deal with listening to the lossless model of Madonna’s Frozen on Apple Music through AirPlay on my iPad. It exhibits a fragile contact on the strings and delicate digital chimes that open the observe, however then wakes you up with the sharp crack of percussion that leads into the refrain. Madonna’s multi-tracked vocals are silky easy, however the C10 MKII W handles the distinction properly because the jangling guitar and percussion add a sharper tone that drives the music ahead.

It handles more durable rock sounds properly too, as I flip to Sing Alongside by Sturgill Simpson. It’s a dense observe, with a mash-up of heavy rock guitar and fizzing digital keyboards, however the C10 MKII W is ready to pull all of the element out of the high-res model of the music on Apple Music. It finds room for the thick, fuzzy sound of the guitars that type the bedrock of the music, whereas the keyboards wail like sirens and get you dancing.

My solely minor grievance is that, as with many compact one-piece audio system, the deep bass could possibly be a little bit firmer, and the bass drop in direction of the top of the observe doesn’t fairly have the affect that I’m used to. Nonetheless, one final characteristic is the inclusion of an additional RCA connector on the again of the speaker that may permit you to add an exterior sub-woofer when you actually need to pump up the bass.

Ought to You Purchase The C10 MKII W?

It’s a little bit costlier than one-piece rivals equivalent to Apple’s HomePod at $299/£299, however the C10 MKII W wins hands-down on the readability and precision of its sound, particularly when enjoying high-res music on Apple Music and different streaming companies. It gives higher connectivity than the HomePod too, with help for a variety of computer systems, cellular gadgets and streaming companies, whereas its help for AirPlay makes it a fantastic choice to be used with Apple gadgets.