by Pioneer’s $399 A3 XW-SMA3-K, known to its friends—OK, referred to by me—as simply the A3, is an impressive AirPlay speaker system. The all-black, rounded-rectangular prism is 12.6 inches wide, 7.1 inches tall, and 5.8 inches deep, and it weighs 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
On the front base of the unit are, on the left, several status LEDs, with a strip of touch-sensitive controls to the right. It’s a bit silly that the LEDs for On, Input, Network, and battery level sit on the left, while the buttons to toggle some of those those statuses (Standby/On and Input) sit on the opposite side. Why not put each of those LEDs next to the corresponding button? The only other touch controls, which sit next to Standby/On and Input, are Volume Up and Down.
The A3 includes a tiny, wireless remote control. The remote includes a Standby/On button, along with play/pause, previous, next, and volume buttons.
The rear of the A3 sports a built-in handle for toting the speaker around. There’s also a rotatable Wi-Fi antenna, a USB port, an ethernet port, and a 1/8-inch (3.5mm) auxiliary input. Those ports are covered with stiff, rubber flaps, because the A3 is water-resistant. Specifically, it’s IPX2 rated, which means that it can sustain vertically dripping water when tilted up to 15-degrees; Pioneer warns you not to place the unit in water, splash it, expose it to rain, or use it in a humid environment (like a bathroom). So it can get wet, in theory, but it probably shouldn’t.
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