Audio Pro C20

Verdict

The C20 is similar to the C10 MkII but offers an even more powerful, energetic, and rich performance for those that want to step up or have a big-sounding speaker in their home. Its wireless connectivity is very good, and its turntable and TV support makes it a flexible wireless speaker. It’s another very entertaining speaker from Audio Pro.

Introduction

Audio Pro’s latest speaker is the C20, and it’s built to be the only speaker you’ll ever need for your home.

It’s designed to cater to various needs thanks to its connectivity options. You could have it as a standard wireless speaker, or connect it to your turntable to act as a speaker for it; or you could hook it up to your TV as an alternative to a soundbar.

If you have other Audio Pro speakers in the home, you could link them up as one multi-room system.

On paper, the Audio Pro C20 looks to be a jack of all trades. Is it a master of any of them?

Design

• Big dimensions
• Features bass reflex port
• Detachable mesh grille

The C10 MkII I tested was big by wireless speaker standards and the C20 is even bigger, wider and taller. It weighs somewhere in the region of 6kg, so this is a speaker you’ll want sturdy support for and a dedicated space for wherever it goes in your home.

Like the C10 MkII model, its size and weight do contribute to a favourable impression of its build quality – it’s more likely to break something than something breaking it. It’s available in grey, white, and black versions that add to its minimalist Scandi feel. The speaker’s feet are positioned in such a way that it angles up, fire audio a little higher than is usual.

There’s a removable baffle – I prefer to keep it on – and when taken off you’ll see the distinctive koala face that’s present on several other Audio Pro speakers. On top of the speaker is an array of gold-styled buttons that cover source inputs, playback, presets, volume and LED lights for the various inputs. Those LED lights can’t be spotted from a seated position though.

Around the rear is a bass port, so placing the C20 next to a wall will help boost its bass performance, and then there’s an array of connections that includes phono MM, line in, optical, HDMI ARC, phono GND (grounding wire), and a sub out for more bass. Audio Pro also offers a subwoofer if you want to keep it in the family with the SW-5 and SW10.

Features

• Apple, Google and Audio Pro multi-room support
• Bluetooth 5
• Built-in RIAA amplifier

Not much has changed in terms of features. You’ve got a host of multi-room options in Apple’s AirPlay 2, Google Cast and Audio Pro’s own wireless solution that brings together Audio Pro speakers to form a multi-room set-up. The Connect versions of Spotify and Tidal are present and there is Bluetooth 5 support for streaming from a device that doesn’t have the above streaming functionality.

Compare the Audio Pro C20 to a similarly priced system like the Pure Classic Stereo, and the C20 has so many more connectivity options.

Another means of streaming music directly to the C20 is through the Audio Pro Control app, which has several music services integrated. There’s Tidal, Qobuz, iHeart Radio, Napster, vTuner internet radio, Deezer, Amazon Music, and general internet radio. Sign into your account and you can tee up your playlists and favourite albums from one app instead of many.

There’s Google Home, which puts the C20 into a Google-connected smart system with other devices in the home, and also makes for an easy way to set the speaker up and get it connected to the Internet.

Back to the app and you’ve got customisation options in the six presets, as well as adjusting bass and treble (-5 to +5). You can even use the C20 as a wake-up call by setting it as an alarm.

Its built-in RIAA amplifier means you can connect and play sound straight from a turntable without the need for a separate amplifier as a go-between. There’s no mention of file audio support for the speaker on the (refreshed) website, but I do remember seeing it as MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, Apple Lossless, WAV, AIFF.

Sound Quality

• Big bass output
• Clear midrange sound
• Loses a little balance with bass heavy tracks

With an enormous 190W of power flowing to its two 1-inch tweeters and 6.5-inch woofer, the Audio Pro C20 produces a sound that’s full-bodied and direct. There’s power and weight to its bass, and the midrange is clear and warm. There’s a proper sense of big bass to this speaker, with more depth and reach than the C10 MkII model is capable of.

It can go very loud, and though the width of the soundstage is no more than the width of the speaker itself, the Audio Pro 20 is a speaker that sounds big – it’s quite easily a room-filling speaker. I never got the impression the soundstage was congested as it was on a speaker such as the JBL Authentics 300.

With Carmille Yarbrough’s Take Yo Praise, there’s a rich, warm feel to its bass output, while Paramore’s This Is Why benefits from its assertive low end. The midrange clarity is strikingly clear for such a rich-sounding speaker, and there’s a decent sense of dynamism and rhythm carried through the song once it kicks into gear.

Tracks such as Kamasi Washington’s Fists of Fury provide plenty of energy and force, although similar to the C10 MkII, it’s not the most detailed or defined performer, with a broad sense of definition. There’s more of a smoothness to its performance than the utmost sense of separation and definition – it can be hard at times to pick out instruments in busy tracks. Fun over fidelity seems to be the priority.

It’s a consistently fun and musical sound without much concern for analysis, which makes it a great speaker for parties. Treble sounds bright and clear – it avoids sounding too coarse or sharp, with a nice varied reproduction of high frequency notes with Chick Corea’s Spain. But treble can feel a little lost in the mix when big bass is present – you can adjust the balance in the app if you find this to be the case.

Compared to a Sonos Five, the Audio Pro is the bolder-sounding of the two, with its emphasis on bass showing up the Five’s limitations.

Its Bluetooth performance is more confident as the volume rises with good clarity and detail married to a strong bass response – it still keeps that sense of musicality that some speakers lose in their Bluetooth mode, but music over Wi-Fi still sounds cleaner, louder and clearer than it does on Bluetooth.

With regards to its TV performance, the C20 puts in a good showing. It’s clear and detailed though not as rich as it sounds with music. Voices are positioned in the right place on screen, and there’s a sense of space that matches the 65-inch screen I partnered the speaker with. The bass is good but not as strong as it would be if the speaker was set next to a wall, which is an issue with using a speaker as big as the Audio Pro with a TV.

The TV ought to be wall-mounted as that would allow the C20 to sit next to a wall, and it would also avoid blocking the screen and the IR receiver. I wouldn’t necessarily use the Audio Pro C20 as an alternative to a soundbar if I had a big screen, but for smaller wall-mounted TVs, I could see it being a good solution.

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