Pioneer SMA3 review

Once connected to our network, we had no problem selecting the SMA3 on our iOS device and streaming audio to it. It worked well with iTunes, the YouTube website, BBC iPlayer and Sky Go, as well as other apps. We also had no problem streaming audio to it from iTunes and Windows Media Player on our PC, which was fantastic.

The SMA3’s sound quality is better suited to modern, bass-heavy music than rock and folk music, and that produced more than 25 years ago. Beats International’s Dub Be Good To Me sounded fantastic, as did DJ Fresh’s Gold Dust, although some of Ms Dynamite’s vocals and the horn section sounded slightly tinny in places. Indeed, this tinny quality was very much evident when we played folk and rock music.

Eric Clapton’s gravelly voice sounded way too harsh in Tears In Heaven, as did the bass instruments, and it was almost painful to hear at higher volumes. Layla sounded muffled and the bassline of The Levellers’ What Wonderful Day also had a muffled quality while the top end and mid-range sounded a little thin.

Tone controls would have helped, but the SMA3 doesn’t have any. This is a serious omission and we’re sure Pioneer could have included some without ruining the SMA3’s design. At 10W, it’s also not very loud, and audio distorted at 70 per cent of full volume. Even though it suits bass-heavy music, it doesn’t have the brute force power output of a classic ghettoblaster, which is a shame.

We like the SMA3, especially the ability to stream music to it wirelessly while away from the mains, but the sound quality, although good, could still be better and we’d prefer tone controls. Even so, if you’re looking for a good, truly portable Airplay-compatible speaker system, the SMA3 is a good buy.