Review: Audio Pro A38

Floorstanding speakers have an undeserved reputation for being large, impractical – and associated with permanent bachelor status. Which is a shame, as floorstanding speakers often actually take up less space than compact speakers on stands.

The Audio Pro A38 is a floorstander so humble in scale and design that it should be able to fit into almost any interior. The slender columns take up almost no floor space, and the silky white or black lacquer finish is discretion itself.

We recently tested the Audio Pro A28, but now we’ve moved up the ladder to the floorstanding Audio Pro A38. The kinship with the compact model is unmistakable. Apart from the larger cabinet and an extra bass/midrange unit, they’re identical.

That is, we are dealing with a stereo speaker set with a built-in 2 x 75 watt class D amplifier, 1″ dome tweeter and not one, but two 4.5″ midwooefers. The speaker is not ‘true’ active as there is only one in-built amplifier per side and the sharing between the drivers is passive. In this case at 2,900 Hz.

All the electronics are built into the left speaker. The right speaker is connected to it with a standard speaker cable.

The design is a fairly traditional bass reflex cabinet with a port on the back, but thanks to the larger cabinet volume, the A38 reaches a few Hz deeper in the bass than the A28.

As with the A28, the grey upholstery fabric front panel is attached with invisible magnets.

Plenty of connections

The Audio Pro A38 has an impressive number of connectivity options for the price. There are inputs for analogue stereo RCA, optical TosLink and HDMI. And an RCA output for subwoofer.

Most overwhelming, however, are the wireless connections. AirPlay and Google Cast are supported for lossless streaming from your mobile phone. With Tidal Connect and Spotify Connect, you can play music from your favourite streaming service directly on the speaker. And finally, there’s also Bluetooth capability. But only Bluetooth 4.2.

Double multi-room

And then the Audio Pro A38 has a choice of two multi-room standards. Firstly, Audio Pro’s own, with its own app and support for all relevant and irrelevant music services. But as an added bonus, the A38 (and the other speakers in the same series) supports Google Cast. This means that the speaker can be part of a multi-room system with other Google-compatible speakers. For example, from Harman. So you are not tied to one manufacturer, as you are with most others.

Placement

As the Audio Pro A38 is a floorstanding speaker, that part of the placement consideration is decided in advance. But including the base, each speaker takes up less floor space than an A4 sheet of paper.

Under ideal conditions, the speakers should be placed at least half a metre away from the back and side walls. Unfortunately, there’s no switch to adjust the frequency response of the bass according to placement, as seen on some (slightly more expensive) speakers. But the height of the cabinet does at least mean that the units are at roughly ear level, no matter what else is going on.

The sound quality

Having tested the Audio Pro A28 a short time ago, the experience of the A38 was familiar. In many ways, it sounds like its little brother – but with a little more of everything.

Also on the larger model, the soundstage is pleasantly warm and rounded in a way that is easy to be attracted to – and still doesn’t seem too bass-heavy in the long run.

The smaller model didn’t lack bass, but it struggled to play loud enough. Here, the A38 has more power, and it was able to play my 25 square metre living room just fine. Also in the bass range, where the organ voices on Philip Glass’ Koyaanisqatsi gave a certain physical feel.

The midrange is fine for the price range. Voices seem relatively free and there is a certain sense of air around the instruments. But the nuance – that is, the ability to reproduce the timbral details that make the difference between a million-dollar Stradivarius and a €120 mail-order violin – is not top-notch.

The treble range, like on the smaller model, lacks a little air and freedom.

A bargain for the price

The Audio Pro A38s aren’t perfect. But let’s be honest: these speakers really don’t cost that much. Most similarly priced speakers are wireless desktop speakers, but here you get two real floorstanders. The only competitor that can match it is the Argon Audio Forte A55. And with the A38, you get wireless multi-room streaming, which is quite a find!

They’re not made for critical listening of complex orchestral music, but for delivering a soundtrack of pop music to whatever else you do with your time. And to take flat-screen TV sound quality to a whole new level.

Conclusion

The Audio Pro A38 is one of the smallest floorstanding speakers you can find. The slender speakers deliver a rich and pleasing soundstage, and have enough power to play up a medium-sized living room. The full range of wired and wireless connectivity options – and double up on multi-room – are their strongest points. The fact that we’re at the very cheap end of the price scale is noticeable. But you still get so much value for money.