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• Robert says:

  April 18, 2016 at 1:22 am

  25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

  
  Great sound with one caveat, November 3, 2013

  By 

  Robert –

  This review is from: BeoPlay A9 – White and Beech (Electronics)

  Excellent and very unusual speaker. I needed something I could place in a corner without putting up shelves or stands and the Beoplay seemed to be the only serious choice. It can be wall-mounted, but it would somehow miss the point – in my opinion it looks best as a freestanding unit. In this form it is unique because it looks as a piece of furniture and the exchangeable covers make it possible to either adopt it to the colours you have in your room or make it stand out even more. In Europe there is a company called Skiniplay that provides such covers (the ones you can buy from B&O are simply different colours or the so-called Nordic Sky editions; Skiniplay offer other patterns and also the option to have the photo of your choice put on the front). Obviously looks are a matter of taste but the A9 is rather special and will draw attention (especially because its function is not apparent to people who do not know what it is). A9 is however relatively expensive (I say relatively because among B&O equipment it is actually one of the least expensive products) and therefore it would be hard to justify its purchase if it did not sound great. As far as the sonic abilities of this system are concerned I have a slight problem how to rate it. It has a number of positives and one drawback. To start with it offers surprisingly good sound quality. It is very detailed and reveals things cheaper systems cannot. The sound is very natural; there is no bass enhancement for example. It does not have a problem with any kind of music. It can play subtle jazz trios, pop, rock, R&B and hip-hop and even classical. In my opinion one of the reasons nothing seems to faze it is the sheer power. It has 5 speakers inside with the total of 480 watt so it can go extremely loud (window shattering loud in fact) and without any distortion (I was not able to hear any but perhaps because I was afraid to go even louder and lose my hearing). So when you want to listen to a piano jazz trio, it will beautifully render all sounds, and you will hear the cymbals or brushes clearly. If you change to a bass heavy track it doesn’t need any artificial enhancement – you will hear it and you will literally feel it. One thing that is worth highlighting is how the A9 handles lower resolution files (such as iTunes purchases or streaming via Spotify). It simply does a great job with them. There are systems that can offer sensational sound but when fed lower resolution files (below the CD standard) utterly fail to deliver a listenable experience. This is not the case here. All the above are of course my impressions but I can make a comparison with a marantz system with Bowers & Wilkins speakers I have in my other apartment and as regards detail, power, dynamics, etc. I would say the Beoplay is superior. I also have the B&W Zeppelin and the Beoplay is in a different league (in all fairness the price itself says it should be). Unfortunately there is one caveat I cannot avoid mentioning: as impressive as the system sounds it does not create a proper stereo soundstage. Of course it is one unit (although not small) and it would be absurd to expect a perfect stereo soundstage placing all instruments in their intended positions, but still the `mono’ quality of the sound may spoil the listening experience. It even seems to be aggravated by the level of detail the system is capable of because all these very detailed and excellently rendered sounds come from exactly one place, which is uncanny. Now, perhaps the seriousness of this problem may depend on where you put the speaker (mine is in the corner) and how large the room is (mine rather medium-sized). Also the louder you listen, the more the sound fills the entire room and the `mono’ effect is not so pronounced. This however it is something I would consider (and therefore arrange for a proper demo). I have no regrets because where I have it I could not put a pair of speakers so of all the available options this still might have been the best.
  I should also mention the setup is simple and I have not encountered any problems. It is probably worth mentioning the A9 does not only rely on airplay. It has DLNA and you can plug in your iDevice (there is a USB port for that at the back). It should also soon receive a software update enabling the Spotify Connect feature.

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• Cru says:

  April 18, 2016 at 2:03 am

  16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

  
  B&O delivers, with some caveats, February 5, 2013

  By 

  Cru (Baltimore, MD USA) –

  Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

  This review is from: BeoPlay A9 – White and Beech (Electronics)

  The bottom line: The Beoplay A9 has great if not perfect midrange. The bass is very decent (I’m a little biased as I prefer a bass heavy sound) and perfect upper range to fill a room that is at least 900 – 1200 square feet. I can listen to this comfortably from any of the 3 levels in my townhome (regardless of what level the A9 is on) without a problem.

  I own both the Beosound A8/Beoplay A8 (~210 watts) and the Beoplay A9 (~480 watts) and played them side by side. Surprisingly, the Beosound A8/Beoplay A8 held it’s own; both never developed distortion at the highest volume settings. I feel that the A8 is a bit more bass dominant at the lower volume levels, but this evens out as both devices are maxed out. Up close, both are very comparable. At a distance, the A9 is clearly pumping out much more sound. Just wish that there was an option to further improve on the A9’s bass output (one 8-inch bass unit when compard to two 5-inch, custom made bass/mid-range combo units on the A8).

  Setup with my ipad was very easy; I just downloaded the B&O app and followed the directions. Setup with a “plug and play” 5th generation ipod nano was also pretty simple. The touch controls on the A9 are pretty intuitive, just wish it came with a remote ala the A8 and the ability to skip tracks via touch controls. Of note, if the ipad/iphone/ipod is directly linked to the A9, it will be charged as it plays, that’s a major plus in my book. One major caveat to using airplay, is that signals can be dropped, almost precipitously the further you are away from the A9, so your apple device and the A9 need to be within 10-12 feet of one another for optimal use. This may be a function of signal intensity from your home network as well as distance. In comparison to other wireless devices, such as the Parrot Zik, I can walk around with these wireless headphones for up to 30 feet away from the same iPad without a change in sound or dropped signals whatsoever, so I’m not sure if the fault lies entirely with Apple’s airplay.

  Just an opinion, for any basshead out there, the A9 sounds best in the “free” position vs. the corner or wall settings (even if against a wall or in a corner); I think the bass comes out a bit cleaner and punchier. To me, these setting changes are quite palpable in contrast.

  Am I glad that I have this product? Yes…I needed something that could fill larger rooms better than my A8 and that looks great with my furniture and decorations. Is it worth the extra $$$? Arguably not if an A8 will do, but I’ll keep my A9 nonetheless. I purchased the optional red cover with teak legs…there’s some serious swagger factor with this combo.

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• Quark says:

  April 18, 2016 at 2:59 am

  5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

  
  Extraordinary & amazing richness of sound from this piece of art, August 10, 2014

  By 

  Quark (Camas, WA) –

  This review is from: BeoPlay A9 – Black and Walnut (Electronics)

  This speaker is quite awesome. I have mine connected via ethernet wire for best reception and quality. The sound that comes out of the BeoPlay A9 Black is extra-ordinary. It should be for that price, right? You will not be disappointed. The only thing to consider, as with almost all Airplay speakers, is that they are designed to be single units of sound; therefore, due to its nature, the stereo separation isn’t great. But, again, that applies to almost all Airplay speakers. If stereo separation is an issue for you, then you should consider something else.

  For me, I like to keep technology hidden and this piece of art does just that. It looks like art to people that don’t know what it is. And it sends a statement for those that do know what it is. People are always found to be in awe once they hear the amazing sound and richness that emanates from it.

  I bought 3 additional colors for the cover/felt-like material. I change the color every 4 months or so.

  Setup was really easy. Placement was really easy. Upgrading the firmware was easy. Changing the grill color is a little tricky. A third arm/hand would be most helpful in this task. Zaphod had no problem with it though.

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