Pioneer XW-SMA4-K Wi-Fi Speaker featuring AirPlay, DLNA, HTC Connect and Wireless Direct (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I rarely write reviews, but I do read them often for helpful advice. With that said, I am writing one in this case to help others... I like this speaker, and want it to work. The problem is it doesn't work reliably. About once every other song the sound drops out for a few seconds (sometimes longer, sometimes shorter). For various reasons I don't want to get into, I do not believe it's my network - suffice it to say all my other wireless streaming devices work fine. Also, I have seen some other reviews that speak to the same exact problem.The reason it gets one star is that if this is the way the product works, it is unusable. I've contacted their tech support, and I will update my review to 5 stars if they can resolve this problem. This will also be a good opportunity to see how well they can support their product. If they cannot help, or if this is the way it will be, I'll be returning it. Definitely not ready for prime time as of now.UPDATE: Well, it's been one day and customer support did not contact me back - that's bad. But, on a good note, I discovered the problem WAS NOT THE PIONEER SPEAKER! So, I've updated the review and given 5 stars because I really like this product nonetheless. As it turns out my problem was not the network (as I thought), nor as I said was it the speaker... the problem was the source! My iPhone (4). Also my wife's iPhone (4S) had the same problem. So, here's what I know - streaming from the iPhone to AirPlay is buggy. When I stream directly from iTunes to AirPlay everything works fine. Apple's website says it may be the proximity of the phone to the wireless router - I guess that's possible, but would be unfortunate since I have an access point not too far away. So a good work around is to use Apple's remote app on my iphone to control iTunes and play from that. Not too inconvenient just so long as my laptop running iTunes is on (which it almost always is)UPDATE #2: it's been a couple of years now and we still love this speaker. It helps to set a great mood in our kitchen as it plays music while we hang out in and around that area. The streaming "issues" between our iPhones and the speaker have long ago worked themselves out - probably via an iPhone OS upgrade from Apple. We succesfully stream to it directly from the iPhone ALL THE TIME - no work arounds needed anymore. I'm really glad we stuck with it. I love this speaker, I really do - it sounds and functions great.

The SMA4 has lots of features, and the sound is great for the price.I bought it to use as an Air-Play speaker, and I figured that having everything in one unit would be a little more compact and attractive compared to having to use an airport-express box. However, the unit goes to sleep after 20 minutes of not being used. If it would wake up quickly, it would not be a problem. However, you need to press the stand-by button and then wait for over a minute for the thing to get reconnected to the network. With my Airport Express boxes, the network is always there, and music plays almost instantly when I need it. If you don't care about this delay, the speakers are a great deal.I'm not sure why the unit needs to go to sleep. I appreciate "green" devices, but I don't think my Airport Express units take up much power and they are always on.For some people, this may be a feature. For me, it is a drawback. Not enough that I'll send it back, but I'll end up moving the speakers to a location that I use less frequently and won't be so bothered by the start-up delay.

If you're looking for sound to fill a good-sized room, look no further. I bought one for my bedroom and then bought another one for my office.Setting up on a network can be a little tricky and required manual configuration at home. At work, I plug my phone directly into the speaker via the USB port on the back of the speaker and play that way. One can also set up a "wireless network" between the speaker and your music device and stream wirelessly that way as well.The unit doesn't have Bluetooth, but it supports AirPlay which was a primary consideration for me. I have AirPlay output devices throughout my home and can stream to all of the simultaneously without the expense of a Sonos system or hard wiring.The speaker can be a bit boomy, but I've adjusted the EQ on my phone and I'm very pleased with the sound.The only downsides were the issues I had setting it up and the slight boomy-ness. Other than that, this is a five-star product at a great price!

Great sounding wireless speaker!

This is a beautiful sounding wifi stereo speaker. Very cool that it had different wifi methods of connectivity as well as cable connecting. With the Apple iPhone, and AirPlay, connections were easy, but I gave up trying to connect to my existing network. Wish it had a radio built in. This is a great speaker to take with you to a cottage as well as have in your home to push the tunes.

Really nice sound, works well, Only Wish it had Blue tooth, Could be why they are upgrading this model But Nice sound!