B&W A5 and A7 auditioned
A5,
+
Small, like a table top radio
-
Midband a bit constrained
More like a table top radio sound wise, which can be found cheaper
A7,
+
Bass
Never stressed
-
Not quite 2 separate speakers
A little bit big
Actually ordered one A7!
?I'll tell you later this week. I am going to be trying out a couple of 'next system' ideas including the A7.
WHF seems to rate A7 as the current Airplay leader.
Have also auditioned the B&O (even more expensive) Airplay. Not quite as impressive as the A7, B&O did sound very class D.
IMO the A7 has a very natural sound. Does not sound digital at all.
Have also auditioned Focal Bird 2.1, the sound was uneven. Some passages of the music did fit great while others not. Also, at low volume level, the very tiny left/right speakers did not impress.
Design wise, I believe the A7 hints to old Klipsch speakers (although not equal in size).
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/blog/2012/11/21/review-bowers-wilkins-a7-airplay-speaker
Their reviewer didn't find the mini Toslink connection. (It doubles up with the analogue 3.5mm input.)
Interested in what you're thinking of for your next system ideas Chebby?
As you'll know from chats on other threads about the MCR603, I'm looking at this area myself. I love B&W sound, and still like my ancient DM601 speakers, but I can't help thinking £700 is a lot of money for what is, essentially, an airplay speaker with a couple of aux input.
I need something with a network streaming option because I can't fit much of my lossless collection on my iPhone for beaming across, and buying a nettop or something to stream my main collection from a NAS would only add to the A7's cost.
I like the look of the Denon Ceol from that point of view, and wonder how something like Ceol+Q Acoustics 2020i would compare to the A7 in terms of sound.
All very interesting anyway. May trial the A7 just to see.
Carried the box home yesterday. Felt reassuringly heavy. Our home is being rebuilt, will unpack it in a weeks time. Have installed iTunes 11 and are ripping classic CD's in the meantime.
Just got it working!
Not for the inexperienced computer user!
Had to
* reset the A7 like 7 times, really
* try both with a computer and iPad to register the A7 on the home network
* re configure the firewall, otherwise error message -15000, really
I had this for about a week:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Altec-Lansing-Airplay-Speaker-System/dp/B0061JQ0RG
Sold it for 2 reasons:
1) Sound kept dropping even when connected via Ethernet to the router.
2) Didn't want to get stuck with AirPlay which is Apple proprietary. This has allowed me to not get restricted with iDevices only in the future.
Chopin in CD quality, perfect for a Friday evening!
Airplay wasn't as easy as I'd thought.
Do you like the sound NHL ?
Some people don't hear it but IMO there's a big difference between the A5 and the A7. The A7 should be better (more expensive) and it is.
@cypher: the sound is very dynamic, not the most forward speakers, more balanced. Makes a good complement to the Rega combination in the living room. The A7 is the one to go for, skip the A5.
One more setup thing: if using a guest network, then communication between devices has to be enabled, otherwise the device pairing will get stuck (no error message, of course).
Do you reckon this to be Hi-Fi
?
Will actually stream my 30 classic CD's.
Will probably get an iMac as the streaming hub. With iTunes 11 all pieces will fall into place.