Now THIS is a must-have accessory

[PWNkake]

Wow lots of hate here...

I had been looking for something to replce my jbl audio 3.5 on tour speakers which served me well but sadly last summer experienced a battery meltdown due to old batteries left in storage.

Fast forward to today.. Happened to find one open box at bb for $100 and took the plunge.

I don't know what you guys expect for a speaker with this size, but I think it sounds great. I definitely wouldn't call it bad by any measure. Given, i probably wouldn't have even given it a second thought for $200.

The setup and use is flawless. Everyone who acme into my office today was impressed.

Say what you will, these things rock. My wife paired it with her blackberry when I got home and immediately said she wanted one for her office. LoL. She asked if it came in pink.

 

[3goldens]

call the design police and report these people for designing ugly products!

 

[MacDaddy08]

For $200 this is a no go, especially if the reviews are questioning the sound quality. I know it's a small speaker but it is possible to get high quality sound out of small speakers, ie. Bose.

If this had a Bose tag on it I might consider it, I love my Bose Dock for my iPod/iPhone, and I would even be willing to pay a little more for it.

 

[whiskeyred]

anyone have the Soundmatters Foxl V2? Read nothing but great things about it for best wireless speakers

 

[whiskeyred]

Wow lots of hate here...

I had been looking for something to replce my jbl audio 3.5 on tour speakers which served me well but sadly last summer experienced a battery meltdown due to old batteries left in storage.

Fast forward to today.. Happened to find one open box at bb for $100 and took the plunge.

I don't know what you guys expect for a speaker with this size, but I think it sounds great. I definitely wouldn't call it bad by any measure. Given, i probably wouldn't have even given it a second thought for $200.

The setup and use is flawless. Everyone who acme into my office today was impressed.

Say what you will, these things rock. My wife paired it with her blackberry when I got home and immediately said she wanted one for her office. LoL. She asked if it came in pink.

I think at that price point I'd be completely willing to go for it, how does it handle bass (low-end)?

 

[boshii]

You can get it for $170 on ebay. $165 if you make an offer.

 

[danrel]

Just bought the red one from the Apple store yesterday and I'm loving it so far. If you haven't tried one out for yourself in person, you shouldn't bash it. I didn't believe that it could produce so much sound and especially so much bass from such a small unit. But it does... It won't replace your home stereo system by any stretch on the imagination, but as a personal, portable, wireless speaker solution(which it was mainly designed for) you can't beat the sound.

Check out this video on it's design, what materials were used, etc and you'll start to understand(if you're not a close-minded ass/Troll) why such a thing cost what it does. If you go into the purchase knowing that you're buying a tiny portable, wireless system I think you'll be very pleased with it's size and feature-set. That being said, it's not going to be for everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSd1qaEci3Y

 

[TheUndertow]

PCMag...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372036,00.asp

Pros

Solid, unique design. Easy to use. Supports apps.
Cons

Poor sound quality.
Bottom Line

The Aliph Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker's great pedigree and solid feature set can't make up for the fact that it simply sounds bad.

------------------------

This is enough for me...as well as feedback on here from actual buyers which is hardly "effusive."

High-priced junk where form trumps function.

Next!

Just what I want in "expensive" speakers....POOR sound quality.....

 

[Jazwire]

$200+ is ok , but it better have decent sound quality and from the sound of it it doesn't.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Wow lots of hate here...

In the words of a wise man, differing opinions do no constitute "hate".

 

[danrel]

Buying $$$ speakers becuase they look cool, may not be the best option.
(Bose comes to mind), all though they may sound great.

For small speakers "Soundmatters" probably are the best (by far even).

From what I've read, the internals and acoustic design are almost identical to that of the Soundmatters FoxL v2 loudspeaker.

Here's a quote from Engadget's side-by-side comparison:

"Staring at the outside of both speaker shells, it's a little hard to believe that they're practically the same -- the Jambox appears to be a solid pastel brick of colored rubber and metal, while the foxL, covered in glossy black , is obviously a speaker. Peel back the Jambox's stainless steel grille, however, and take a close look at the drivers inside, and you can see both they and the "BassBattery" not only look like those in the foxL, they're the exact same size and placed in precisely the same spots too. In fact, putting the units side by side, it's not hard to imagine a foxL completely fitting inside a Jambox case, although Jawbone claims to have stiffened the internals somewhat with a glass-infused polycarbonate frame."

Source Link: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/28/jawbone-jambox-vs-soundmatters-foxl-v2-fight/

Both the units(JamBox and FoxL v2) are the same price as well.

 

[whiskeyred]

I just got hands with a JAMBOX in BB today. I thought it's design was great but for the sound, at least in the set-up I heard was not worth the asking price. The sound was good but lacked depth to my ears, not that I had high hopes for mini-speakers but I felt for the price it could be a bit richer in sound. I think a different price point would put me over the top.

 

[sunetos]

I guess it's a matter of taste. I tend to be pretty picky about sound quality (and have a few medium-high end sets of headphones+amps), and I love my Jambox. Sword & Sworcery: EP sounds phenomenal. I can clearly distinguish lows, mids, and highs in music. Voices in audiobooks are particularly excellent. The bass is very impressive for its size when you put it on an appropriate hard surface. Stereo is obviously lacking; there's no virtual stereo/surround projection attempts that I can tell.

One thing to remember is that Bluetooth is not super high bandwidth, so I wonder if there is some sort of compression going on that is compounding with already low-bitrate music people are listening to. When I play music via MOG's iPhone app (over wifi) or my own 320Kbps rips, it sounds quite good (not as good as my $350 headphones with $100 amp, but comparable to a $50 desktop computer 2.1 system). When I listened with Rdio's iPhone app, however, it sounded atrocious. Rdio's streaming bitrate is notoriously bad and the music always sounds muffled, but it seemed like it might have been worse with the Jambox. I can't prove my Bluetooth compression theory, but I think it could explain why some reviewers think the Jambox is amazing and others think the quality is poor.

 

[danrel]

PCMag...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372036,00.asp

Pros

Solid, unique design. Easy to use. Supports apps.
Cons

Poor sound quality.
Bottom Line

The Aliph Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker's great pedigree and solid feature set can't make up for the fact that it simply sounds bad.

------------------------

This is enough for me...as well as feedback on here from actual buyers which is hardly "effusive."

High-priced junk where form trumps function.

Next!

Funny how you list the bold text as though it were actually in the review that you linked to. NO where in the article does it say that, certainly not in the Cons/Bottom Line...

In fact the only Cons are: "Middling sound quality still can't compare to most iPod docks of the same price."

And their bottom line states: "The Aliph Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker has a great feature set and packs a lot of punch for its size, but it's still pricey for what it is."

So that begs the question, are you an idiot or just a bored troll?

 

[GraphicsGeek]

Im not sure why everyone says this has poor sound quality. I dont think anyone will have a problem with this if you're using it for what it is, a portable speaker. Ive had one since Christmas and it sounds great to me. I use it every morning and take it with me when I travel. Its got a lot of bass to it; so much that it will walk across the counter top (or wherever you place it on a smooth surface). Obviously, the larger the room, the softer the sound will probably be. Its not meant to fill up a room with glorious sound. This is one of the best accessories Ive bought in a long time and definitely worth the $200 IMO. Remember, its a bluetooth portable speaker people, not a high end set of Marantz (sp?) speakers. You might not want to critique classical music on it but if you're looking to simply have something on while you get ready for work, working in the garage, etc, this is perfect...at least for me anyway.

 

[WhoDatWayne]

I have one since the first week it came out. I use it all the time especially while traveling. The sound is very solid with a nice range. I agree it is pricey but the quality is very good.

 

[Ferris23]

No, it is not.

 

[danrel]

No, it is not.

Not a 'must-have', but definitely a very 'nice-to-have'. Either way, it's a luxury item and won't fit everyone's taste, sound, price or design-wise.

 

[WhoDatWayne]

Not a 'must-have', but definitely a very 'nice-to-have'. Either way, it's a luxury item and won't fit everyone's taste, sound, price or design-wise.

Well said and totally agree.

 

[thibaulthalpern]

Expensive Leogs anyone?

that's my thinking too. I don't know why so many people rave about the design of Jawbone Jambox or even the original Jawbone or the Jawbone II. They're all very boxy looking and rather dull. I have an original Jawbone myself and don't think it's that particularly beautiful or well-designed.

Anyway, $200 for that speaker is too expensive. For what it is, I think it's only worth at most $80.

 

[Ferris23]

Not a 'must-have', but definitely a very 'nice-to-have'. Either way, it's a luxury item and won't fit everyone's taste, sound, price or design-wise.

Fair enough.

As far as I'm concerned the only MUST have accessory for an iPad is the charger.

 

[thibaulthalpern]

PCMag...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372036,00.asp

Pros

Solid, unique design. Easy to use. Supports apps.
Cons

Poor sound quality.
Bottom Line

The Aliph Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker's great pedigree and solid feature set can't make up for the fact that it simply sounds bad.

------------------------

This is enough for me...as well as feedback on here from actual buyers which is hardly "effusive."

High-priced junk where form trumps function.

Next!

This is sad. For an expensive speaker, the most basic criteria it needs to fulfill is to produce good sound and yet there is where it fails. Disappointing. Sure, it wins in connectivity and maybe looks for some people but what about the ultimate thing the device is supposed to do: produce sound? Shame.

 

[thibaulthalpern]

Wow lots of hate here...
I don't know what you guys expect for a speaker with this size, but I think it sounds great. I definitely wouldn't call it bad by any measure. Given, i probably wouldn't have even given it a second thought for $200.

I think most people's criticism about Jambox is in relation to the price that it is being sold at. That is fair.

At about $200 (and more sometimes), the Jambox needs to produce very good sound. Unfortunately, it doesn't. It it were being sold at say about $50 or $80, then sure, the sound it produces is very acceptable for the price range. But for $200, you get this kind of sound? I don't think so.

 

[thibaulthalpern]

Check out this video on it's design, what materials were used, etc and you'll start to understand(if you're not a close-minded ass/Troll) why such a thing cost what it does. If you go into the purchase knowing that you're buying a tiny portable, wireless system I think you'll be very pleased with it's size and feature-set. That being said, it's not going to be for everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSd1qaEci3Y

Marketing. You've bought into marketing, and that's exactly the place where marketing wants you.

Again, people are criticising the product because of its price point. If it were a $50 or $80 speaker then sure it performs great. But for $200 no, the sound it produces isn't acceptable.

 

[sotie]

I purchased one in January and it does what I need. I knew going in that it wasn't worth the price point but I really wanted to go with a portable speaker that was wireless. I feel the build quality is more than the $50-80 range that others have mentioned. More like $100-140.