The Audio Pro Addon T14s are a charming pair of speakers with a Scandinavian sense of style and a lively performance.
They’re not the most refined and subtle listen, but we like how energetic, warm and full-bodied they sound.
Sound
Songhoy Blues’ Soubour sounds upbeat and bouncy, with a deep, rich bass that’s pleasing to the ears. You’ll find yourself tapping your foot and maybe even singing along to the Addon T14s’ lively, solid and full-bodied performance, which puts excitement over precision and clarity.
True, it’s not the clearest and subtlest of sounds – instruments and voices tend to emerge as though from a slight haze – but that smooth, warm character is comfortable and easy to listen to. This is a pleasant-sounding pair of speakers.
The bass is overdone at times, though. Tom Waits’ characteristic growling vocals on God’s Away on Business lose a bit of their rough edge amid the unsubtle and tubby low-end performance.
The Addon T14s have a claimed 50W of amplification, and there’s certainly a powerful oomph to the sound when you crank the volume up. We could do with a more open soundfield though, allowing instruments to breathe, stop and start with greater accuracy.
Voices could be conveyed with more nuance and expression if only there were a bit more clarity to the presentation.
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Build and design
The Audio Pro Addon T14s have a pristine finish in keeping with their Swedish origins. With smooth edges, a clean fascia and starkly monochromatic design, this is a smart-looking pair of speakers.
The finely built cabinets are sturdy, and they come in either black or white finishes. They’re a bit bigger than their younger siblings – the four-star Audio Pro Addon T8s that are more apt at being small desktop speakers – but the T14s wouldn’t look out of place next to your laptop or TV.
Make sure you don’t push them too close to a wall, though, or that thick bass will become even more exaggerated and suffocating.
The remote control is similarly well made. Unlike the usual flimsy, plastic remotes you get with Bluetooth speakers, this one is milled out of aluminium, feels reassuringly hefty in the hand, and the shallow buttons respond instantly.
Features and connectivity
A single LED light hidden behind the right speaker’s tweeter grille changes colour according to which input you’re using – 3.5mm (green), either of the two optical inputs (red, white) and Bluetooth streaming (blue).
It’s a decent selection of inputs, making the T14s flexible to use with laptops, smartphones, non-Bluetooth music players and a TV.
There’s even a subwoofer output in case you want more oomph, but with the T14s’ rich bass, you really don’t need it. The Bluetooth is of the higher quality aptX variety, but we’re more excited about the addition of a USB charging port.
It’s a handy feature that’s been popping up on portable Bluetooth speakers, and while the T14s aren’t portable, it’s still useful to be able to juice up your smartphone’s battery if you’ve run out of power sockets.
Verdict
The Audio Pro Addon T14s are a well designed, clean-looking pair of speakers with a winning sense of fun.
Unfortunately, that tubby sound in the lower register prevents them from getting full marks at this price, but we like their enthusiasm. Definitely worth an audition.
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