Skip to main content

Boston Acoustics’ Mc200air Airplay speaker sports room-suffusing audio

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Check out our full review of the Boston Acoustics MC200Air speaker.

Yesterday, Boston Acoustics held a press event in NYC to announce its new MC200air. The AirPlay-enabled, DLNA-certified, Wi-Fi-ready MC200air is one of the latest in what has become a very long line of speaker docks, but Boston Acoustics has managed to create something that stands out. You can control the unit via an included IR remote, or an associated smartphone app, but however you choose to direct your content, this speaker sounds spectacular.

Recommended Videos

The first thing that struck us about its sound signature was that it felt deep, rich – layered if you will. Background and foreground tones are distinct, resulting in a ubiquitous sound which stands in stark contrast to the directional delivery of lower-end speakers. The goal of this sound isn’t enormity, but rather immersion. Boston Acoustics’ team says it  accomplished that end – in part – via a subtle and barely noticeable design feature. Citing the fact that most people tend to place their speakers below ear level, they tilted the MC200air’s face upward, so that the sound from the two 3.5-inch full-range woofers travels upwards and outwards. This gives the music an elevated, ear-level feel, almost as if you were cozied up right next to the speaker.  

The frequency response sits at 70Hz-20KHz, which stands to reason given its size. It is capable of delivering some low end,  but bottom-dwelling deep-bass lows aren’t this speaker’s forte. USB, Aux, Ethernet, and AC ins line the back panel of the simple, flexible, gloss-black (or white) unit and though yesterday was the MC200air’s official coming out party, it’s on the market already in select stores. Its $400 price point isn’t an easy pill to swallow, but if you’re in the market for a high-end AirPlay option, we think it’s worth that kind of cash.

We should also note that -as an added bonus – the speaker can simultaneously play and charge all recent iOS devices via a 30-pin apple USB cable (or a lightning adapter for the iPhone 5).

Adam Poltrack
Former Contributor
Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…
Topics
How to use Apple AirPlay
Apple HomePod 2023

There’s a good possibility that you own an Apple device, like an iPhone, iPad, or and Apple TV 4K. There's also an excellent chance that if you do have one of those devices, then you've heard of Apple AirPlay, but maybe aren't sure what it is or how to use it.

AirPlay is a wireless standard that Apple created to allow users to wirelessly transmit audio and video content from popular devices like the iPhone to AirPlay-compatible devices, like smart TVs, wireless speakers, or Apple devices such as HomePods or Apple TVs. How exactly do you get AirPlay up and running, though, and what are its limitations? Let’s find out!

Read more
Chromecast vs. Apple AirPlay 2
Woman with her phone using her Chromecast on her TV.

Google and Apple have two very similar services for beaming media from your mobile device over to your TV for a shared experience. Google uses Chromecast with its Google Cast streaming technology, and Apple uses AirPlay 2 to do the same.

So, if you like switching content from your phone to your TV whenever you want, you’ve got a choice to make -- and we’re here to make that choice easier. Let’s take a look at the ins and outs of Chromecast and AirPlay 2, and which may be a better fit for you.

Read more
DTS Play-Fi wants to eliminate the speaker wires in your 5.1 home theater setup
DTS Play-Fi Home Theater.

Despite having been around for more than a decade, DTS Play-Fi simply doesn't enjoy the same kind of brand recognition as Apple's AirPlay or Google's Chromecast, even though Play-Fi performs a very similar function: It lets you stream very high-quality audio over Wi-Fi to any Play-Fi-compatible speakers. But that might be about to change. Today, the company that is probably best known for its DTS and DTS:X movie theater surround sound formats, is announcing a new generation of its Play-Fi technology that expands the system into multichannel home theaters.

The new platform is called, somewhat obviously, Play-Fi Home Theater. It achieves the same goal as a wireless soundbar package or a WiSA speaker system in that it can eliminate all of your speaker cables, making the setup and positioning of your home theater speakers way easier. But Play-Fi Home Theater is considerably more sophisticated and expandable than either of those other options.
 A major asset
Play-Fi Home Theater's biggest asset is that it works over your existing Wi-Fi network. So there's no need for a specialized dongle or transmitter (which you'd need with a WiSA-based system), and you won't even need an HDMI cable to connect your TV to a soundbar or another control module as is the case with virtually all of today's batch of multispeaker soundbar systems.

Read more