Sonos has long been the leading choice in the wireless multi-room speaker market, thanks to its easy-to-use app and its extensive support of streaming services. Its line-up has just got even better, with the addition of the Era 300 and Era 100 speakers (the Sonos Move 2 is also rumoured to launch soon). But it's not the only game in town – there are now plenty of excellent Sonos alternatives on the market for multi-room music.

Audio Pro Addon C5A with Alexa built-in, Wireless, Bluetooth

Generic settings for each Audio Pro device. Some settings may differ depending on what devices you have.

The Addon C5A has impressed me for a couple of years. I love the speaker's look and think it’s one of the best looking on the market. The multi-room wireless audio works great, but Audio Pro does need to improve its app to keep it up to date with Sonos etc.

Audio Pro Addon C5A Multiroom Smart Speaker with Built In

Multi-Room Audio: Yes, provided you buy more than one Audiopro Addon or Drumfire speaker they can connect via the app Sound quality is subjective. Ask even two audiophiles to compare the same speaker, and they will probably have very different opinions. At their price point, both of these multiroom speakers massively outperform the competition. If we had to choose between them, though, we would have to give the edge to the Addon C5A. For one thing, it's much more comfortable producing truly room-filling sound. With twin 3/4" tweeters and a 4" long-throw tweeter, all powered by a 40W Class D digital amplifier, it produces truly hi-fi quality sound. The Sonos One is slightly less expressive, whereas the speaker tech and layout of the Addon C5A means music of all genres has enough space to really shine. Features Both Bose and Sonos offer speakers and soundbars that can talk to each other wirelessly to create a multi-room system. Our tests have shown Sonos' devices have come out on top overall, thanks to the reasons listed above. But Bose does make some excellent speakers, while its noise-cancelling headphones are some of the best in the business. It’s an excellent speaker with a very clean and pure sound, even more than Sonos, which sounds a bit heavier when side by side. I think the tuning leans towards audio enthusiasts and even though I wouldn’t consider this an Audiophile-grade speaker it is extremely pleasing. Comparison with the Audio Pro C3 and C10 Speakers

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Each comprises the 'koala bear' driver configuration that has become these speakers’ distinguishing feature, with a pair of 2cm soft dome tweeters and mid/bass drivers (and reflex ports, incidentally) growing in line with the cabinet. Overall it’s a great product with numerous features, good build quality, and lovely design. It works well and has good sound for its size. Moving up to a Drumfire would be the next step, but that is a significantly bigger and more expensive offering. Audio Pro is starting to flex its muscles now and is showing the audio world that it can compete with companies who dominated this space for so long. The increased power and driver and cabinet size predictably ushers a grander performance each step you take up the chain, with the Addon C10 particularly able to rattle trinkets from the mantelpiece or twist our insides with its low-end authority. Yes, but if they had a hub, even an internet outage wouldn't affect it. I have cheap smart outlet plugs, several Lutron switches and recently added an AppleTV so I can access HomeKit when I'm away. When our internet goes down, unless our router blew up, we still have our home network - we just have no connection to the world. Our printers work. Our lights and outlets work. Sonos works. Apple speakers work. Other speakers work. You can't get streaming services, nor access to your music in the cloud, so I'm not sure what the point would be since no content is stored locally that I know of? Unless you use cellular data, in which case ANY Wifi connected speaker system would work. Remember, the Addon range is a system meant for you to combine the different speakers in the range depending on where you are listening. If it was my money, I would go with a C10 in the living room, C5A in the kitchen and bedrooms, and perhaps a C5A set up in the garage and study. That would be a really nice setup for an average family home. Final Thoughts