News: Coming up next...

<p>First of all thanks to anyone who still finds it worthy to donate, I really appreciate any kind of contribution that allows me to cover my expenses.<br />Due to the strong interest I finally ordered the <a href="http://amzn.to/1KXEFyd" target="_blank">Brookstone Big Blue Party</a>, which I only managed thanks to some income from the amazon-links you can see here. I still had to pay nearly as much for shipping and taxes to get the speaker here, just to let you know that I don't get this stuff for free.<br /><br />Next I would like to excuse the lack of new posts, but I am a bit behind with my reviews because I got so many interesting speakers that I still have to cover including the Teufel Boomster, the BenQ Trevolo, but also the Aiwa Exos-9. In the meantime I had the chance to test out some further new speakers including the Canton Musicbox XS and the Audio Pro Addon T3 or the Denon Heos-1 and a promising low-budget tip: the <a href="http://amzn.to/1KXEFyd" target="_blank">Anker Premium Bluetooth speaker</a>.<br />Now it seems as if I will even get some more soon like the long awaited RIVA S, the interesting KEF Muo and hopefully the Fugoo XL. Therefore it is hard for me to keep up with all the reviews. Writing a detailed review takes quite a long time, therefore I am considering to shorten my upcoming reviews a bit, in order to be able to finish more of them.<br /><br />If you are interested in the latest news, please also check out my <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/clavinetjunkie" target="_blank">Youtube channel</a> regurarly, as I keep that more up-to-date. I have more viewers and subscribers on Youtube, therefore I mostly concentrate on doing videos because these manage to generate 10 times more revenue than my site, otherwise I won't be able to do all this. Although my videos are maybe not best quality, they should nevertheless give you a pretty realistic idea of how the speakers sound as I really set a high value on audio quality. I already prepared some videos of the Teufel Boomster, of the BenQ Trevolo and also several videos covering the Aiwa Exos-9, including a funny loudness test if the Aiwa manages to annoy the whole neighbourhood:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dKDpffAgzXk?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> </div><br />You will also find a very recent sound comparison for the Canton Musicbox XS: <a href="https://youtu.be/FOxKLmGR8TI" target="_blank">(english)</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/-sckvARcH8g" target="_blank">(german)</a>, and I am currently uploading a video for the Audio Pro Addon T3. <br />Although my <a href="http://switcher.oluvsgadgets.net/" target="_blank">speaker database</a> is still in works and far from ready I am nevertheless trying to add new and new speakers. I just added the Canton Musicbox XS and the Brookstone Big Blue Party and I will add the Addon T3 and the Heos-1 next, but still need some time for additional recordings.<br /><br />So coming up next I will hopefully manage to offer you some new reviews bit by bit. I will try to concentrate on the most newsworthy products that are still hardly covered anywhere yet, and then work off all the rest.<br /><br />Please be patient and thanks for all your support!</p>

First of all thanks to anyone who still finds it worthy to donate, I really appreciate any kind of contribution that allows me to cover my e...

News: IFA - best portable speakers

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK0qhI-EongHBxKikH2AP7j0q0ukogECxWWbt45-R34rcsoxfZRd_7MBXxY8E41u2ePt_hFfBizDzvicHkNK_rTB3aFI0uJrrH6bsJ6O3EoLYblz336paP0BtOPi7Ou_3ud7fAfwbFukz/s1600/ifa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXK0qhI-EongHBxKikH2AP7j0q0ukogECxWWbt45-R34rcsoxfZRd_7MBXxY8E41u2ePt_hFfBizDzvicHkNK_rTB3aFI0uJrrH6bsJ6O3EoLYblz336paP0BtOPi7Ou_3ud7fAfwbFukz/s640/ifa.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I could not attend the IFA and I think all the hullabaloo wouldn't be the right place for me. But I read lots of announcements during my holidays and needed some time to sort everything before finally posting some summary. So here you have some late news about the IFA including some afterparty latecomers.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br />First of all the <a href="http://rivaaudio.com/products/riva-s/" target="_blank">RIVA S</a> is finally close to being production ready. RIVA managed to sort out all software bugs, and they are still fine tuning the speaker to bring it to the market in mid-October. I had a meeting with RIVA's main engineer Donald North and managed to record a short interview about the current status:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5acLQQdeYuw?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br /><br />Another interesting and comparable portable speaker comes from German speaker company Canton. They announced both the <b>Musicbox XS</b> which is quite similar to the Bose Soundlink Mini, and the larger <b>Musicbox S</b> which will be released later this year. The <a href="http://www.canton.de/de/wireless-hifi/musicbox-xs" target="_blank">Musicbox XS</a> is already available and I will hopefully be able to check out soon how this compares against the Bose and some other speakers in its class.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoM4Cba-owNVkYpMIS1RwUh4hF5Ocwfe8JWinwBV8LtAWJM7rZTHU98cQbIJRXGfNpTNrDeCKAReFj3WvUZPujwa2KOJHzRdCTE9Hcza0olpZd9kndf_WCw08jMgl37Q-qZGxOi1cIJYu/s1600/canton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoM4Cba-owNVkYpMIS1RwUh4hF5Ocwfe8JWinwBV8LtAWJM7rZTHU98cQbIJRXGfNpTNrDeCKAReFj3WvUZPujwa2KOJHzRdCTE9Hcza0olpZd9kndf_WCw08jMgl37Q-qZGxOi1cIJYu/s1600/canton.jpg" /></a></div>Onkyo has announced 5 different speakers starting with the high resolution X3, <b>X6</b> and <b>X9</b> but also more travel-friendly T3 and T1 speakers. So far only the X6 and the larger X9 have been shown on the show, although the X3 already managed to appear in the media <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7wunX_Z4Kk" target="_blank">earlier this year</a>. I have not seen any images of the X3 and T3/T1 speakers yet, but all of them could be pretty promising.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRrAyBwvjBdUdVWbDtzogEKCU1A3YrkpLppu7Fx79YmDcDIHDzHpjw7EhqcR3pejBnYm1uJONYjP6mbXEqxgNbQurs5RwHvJPcNMOIzviilsZ4CP9yY_0XWiJ4akgpG8mXHV6GDtLlR6S/s1600/Onkyo-X6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRrAyBwvjBdUdVWbDtzogEKCU1A3YrkpLppu7Fx79YmDcDIHDzHpjw7EhqcR3pejBnYm1uJONYjP6mbXEqxgNbQurs5RwHvJPcNMOIzviilsZ4CP9yY_0XWiJ4akgpG8mXHV6GDtLlR6S/s400/Onkyo-X6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHMgLIN7sMX0vNP9ALBPd-sFw08mas0mg4dewrTO-ta-YheQFwX0Ydl6fhbjbVPWaEKQ_AOZ4ljMrjf2V4cLojeJKQP-cq7_5tdsQ_WCYJwgvAj8gp6fAIB9FAtePbAbgHDpQ52DPcIIB/s1600/Onkyo-X9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHMgLIN7sMX0vNP9ALBPd-sFw08mas0mg4dewrTO-ta-YheQFwX0Ydl6fhbjbVPWaEKQ_AOZ4ljMrjf2V4cLojeJKQP-cq7_5tdsQ_WCYJwgvAj8gp6fAIB9FAtePbAbgHDpQ52DPcIIB/s400/Onkyo-X9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />After the Kilburn, Marshall showed with the upcoming <b>Stockwell</b> that they really take the portable speakers market seriously. The <a href="https://www.marshallheadphones.com/mh_asia_en/openroad/stockwell?___store=mh_asia_en" target="_blank">Stockwell</a> is much smaller and rather resembles the first generation of the Bose Soundlink, especially when equipped with the optional foldable leather-cover which also acts as a stand, if you like retro-design this is definitely the perfect speaker for you, I am sure it will sound great as well after having heard the Kilburn:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9doSYGZ7hdquCcPMwOaMAmiuSVIDQjNg1-Oguj_V4j82atM5szHNTXUlnoWrSHTzrniTAlLm7pRExwBMiBn2sHiYljzEejvUXS4pJsE4qTZkM_SxfhCLNDtHBklwB_HCij5D2ducIJ9_/s1600/marshall-stockwell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU9doSYGZ7hdquCcPMwOaMAmiuSVIDQjNg1-Oguj_V4j82atM5szHNTXUlnoWrSHTzrniTAlLm7pRExwBMiBn2sHiYljzEejvUXS4pJsE4qTZkM_SxfhCLNDtHBklwB_HCij5D2ducIJ9_/s640/marshall-stockwell.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><b>AudioPro Addon T3</b> is a new portable speaker from the swedish company, which claim to allow 12 hours of battery life at maximum volume for the <a href="http://www.audiopro.com/products/addon-t3" target="_blank">Addon T3</a>. This would be definitely class-leading. According to some chat with a swedish owner, the Addon T3 should sound considerably more mature and refined than the comparable <a href="http://www.oluvsgadgets.net/2015/07/review-jbl-xtreme-how-much-bass-can-you-handle.html" target="_blank">JBL Xtreme</a>. Would be interesting to hear the Addon T3 in person.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBe6TBqfMznlo1YSQceOE-J-Qrh-CVLFRc0ktzvgII91QnvV5nremUnrWrT0c22SeXmFpNQTxajxUx53v60-MDsZRbjW2cDdJ-8lDjDVQoeFDrF9sOs1GqJye6j_UrNNa7A0O9IJSksHI/s1600/addonT3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBe6TBqfMznlo1YSQceOE-J-Qrh-CVLFRc0ktzvgII91QnvV5nremUnrWrT0c22SeXmFpNQTxajxUx53v60-MDsZRbjW2cDdJ-8lDjDVQoeFDrF9sOs1GqJye6j_UrNNa7A0O9IJSksHI/s640/addonT3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Teufel from Berlin announced several different portable speakers starting from the smallest <b>Bamster XS</b> to the new <b>Bamster Pro</b> and <b>Rockster XS</b>, also interesting could be the upcoming <b>Boomster XL</b>, which is already available for preorder in contrast to the other new Teufel announcements. The <a href="http://www.teufel.de/kopfhoerer/boomster-xl-p15634.html" target="_blank">Boomster XL</a> is a blown up heavy-weight version of the normal Boomster, which I already showed in some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2EyXeV5Uo8" target="_blank">videos</a> and that I will review soon. I hope to get the Boomster XL as well to see how much sound you can get out of 10kg.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDGhtgujiPKE6adtIgLfYZw7Frb7X5yOBijab3M2QEt1LOl2JjB1tNnnKOpG4KqDkz5u9fSyjNkSbqHEwgNbqGYrmO8DOXoYESLfJ-bPj9S3sMl9l6giDCUjSIgOZjrU_2fmVUPnSIDUf/s1600/Teufel-Boomster-XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDGhtgujiPKE6adtIgLfYZw7Frb7X5yOBijab3M2QEt1LOl2JjB1tNnnKOpG4KqDkz5u9fSyjNkSbqHEwgNbqGYrmO8DOXoYESLfJ-bPj9S3sMl9l6giDCUjSIgOZjrU_2fmVUPnSIDUf/s640/Teufel-Boomster-XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><a href="http://www.kef.com/html/gb/showroom/digital_music_solutions/muo/overview/#.VgFF_UY_bhU" target="_blank">KEF</a> seem to have been late to the party and announced their first portable bluetooth speaker <b>KEF Muo</b> after the IFA, maybe to gain even more attention and not get lost completely unheard. The Muo could be a promising little speaker with stereo pairing to another one, but equipped with 2 drivers and one passive radiators it doesn't seem to improve much on all the existing designs that already exist on the market. But it will be definitely one of the most expensive ones, this is for sure!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0XLXqPR_QMb-O4tYUS8xbVPBU0pP5NMLgwd9j_RSfL1s9h_AzZRqJtY3SeeKKNvqv4eDaH17Pd1SWM_rDnej1orGPvquuD9GPmW9iM3yaF5JM5lho8wWVvZ1zzJA6pUm3eVoaOyKXaO0/s1600/KEF-Muo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN0XLXqPR_QMb-O4tYUS8xbVPBU0pP5NMLgwd9j_RSfL1s9h_AzZRqJtY3SeeKKNvqv4eDaH17Pd1SWM_rDnej1orGPvquuD9GPmW9iM3yaF5JM5lho8wWVvZ1zzJA6pUm3eVoaOyKXaO0/s640/KEF-Muo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />There were some other promising appearences which I would just like to mention, e.g. the <b>Trendwoo "Kraken"</b> seemed to be a pretty decent sounding mini-speaker, Philips showed the new<b> BT6600</b> which sounded much more serious than its predecessor the BT6000 and the <b>Fugoo XL</b> should finally be available soon, after I write this. I hope to get the chance to hear this on as well.<br /><br />PS. yes, I am aware of the new <b>UE Boom 2</b>, but I doubt anyone wants to hear it being even louder but still sounding the same as before?<br /><br />If you discovered some other interesting "Boombas" at the IFA please let me know ;-)<br /><br /><br /></p>

I could not attend the IFA and I think all the hullabaloo wouldn't be the right place for me. But I read lots of announcements during my...

News: JBL Charge 2 firmwareupdate 1.4.1 - do it yourself

<p>Thanks to this great community here, some anonymous contributor has published a way how to update the JBL Charge 2 on your own. The necessary firmware file was already posted by someone else some time ago, but so far there was no way how to perform the update without the right software. As many still seem to fight with JBL-support who is taking their customers for fools  claiming that there is no firmware update available for the JBL Charge 2 I think we have to thank our unknown hero for posting this. He provided an archive including the 1.4.1 firmware-file, an installation manual and the CSR BlueSuiteNow.<br />Of course I cannot provide any warranty that you will not brick your device, but acoording to many owners they were able to successfully update his Charge 2 from 1.3.8 to 1.4.1: <br /><br />Here are some alternate download-links:<br /><a href="http://putit.ru/download/MjMxNjU3OTYyMTUzOA==" target="_blank">http://putit.ru/download/MjMxNjU3OTYyMTUzOA== </a><br /><a href="http://my-files.ru/d58uuf.JBL_CHARGE_2.7z">http://my-files.ru/d58uuf.JBL_CHARGE_2.7z</a><br /><a href="http://rghost.net/89c8X5SPh">http://rghost.net/89c8X5SPh</a><br /><br />Please let us know if your update was successful!<br /><br /><b>WARNING: Some already managed to brick their speakers, so apply on your own risk! </b></p>

Thanks to this great community here, some anonymous contributor has published a way how to update the JBL Charge 2 on your own. The necessar...

News: oluvsgadgets.net and speaker comparison tool (beta)

<p>Dear readers&friends,<br /><br />Maybe some have already noticed, but oluvsgadgets is now reachable through its own domain:<br /><h2><b><a href="http://www.oluvsgadgets.net/">http://www.oluvsgadgets.net/</a></b></h2>I would also like to give my trusty readers the ability to try out my speaker comparison tool.<br />There is still some work to be done with this speaker audio database, but many will hopefully appreciate the ability to test it already now in an unfinished state. There are some bugs, and some features like "real volume" is not working properly yet, as well as "volume guide". The tutorial links at the top "how to use the tool" and details about the "recording setup" are also just placeholders so far and when everything is finished there will be an introduction video published on Youtube to make it really official.<br /><br />There are currently more than 30 different speakers added, I also have measurements for nearly all of these speakers, but I have to edit and prepare them first before being able to add them to the database. I will also work on the description for each speaker, but as I am continuously adding more and more speakers (next will be the Marshall Kilburn for example and the JBL Xtreme shortly after), I have little time to work on all the small details now, therefore I would like you to try everything out as is.<br />The tool only works on desktop systems so far, as there seems to be a limitation with Android and iOS which are not able to play 2 videos simultaneously. <br /><br />I hope you will enjoy it, feel free to play with it. I am not really sure yet, how good the tool will work and how much acceptance it will gain. But I hope it will become helpful at some point.<br /><br />Here you go:<br /><h2><a href="http://switcher.oluvsgadgets.net/" target="_blank">http://switcher.oluvsgadgets.net/</a></h2><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">yours, Oluv</span><br /><h2></h2></p>

Dear readers&friends, Maybe some have already noticed, but oluvsgadgets is now reachable through its own domain: http://www.oluvsgadgets...

News: Class A speakers - Braven BRV-PRO, UE Roll...

<p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj117lvX8WYnGZ0FO52_-vPXVrO5DX8peG2V0pOXIAzBnJvQXssTzUGeWuVbr1Rvu3am8ESfSUw4HVLfmmmHOFHDxnwv6BuPJUjHvzCqJIEjbdlgHSxLZ4toxhq7a_J4OtPeq3VSwrUB0M-/s1600/braven-brv-pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj117lvX8WYnGZ0FO52_-vPXVrO5DX8peG2V0pOXIAzBnJvQXssTzUGeWuVbr1Rvu3am8ESfSUw4HVLfmmmHOFHDxnwv6BuPJUjHvzCqJIEjbdlgHSxLZ4toxhq7a_J4OtPeq3VSwrUB0M-/s640/braven-brv-pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />It is quite rare that iLounge gives an "A"-mark for a speaker, which according to them would mean "highly recommended". Now 2 recent releases got an A with the <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/braven-brv-pro-bluetooth-speaker" target="_blank">Braven BRV-PRO</a> which got a straight flat A, the highest mark for any portable speaker (only some few other portable speakers received an A from them so far, like the <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/jbl-flip-portable-wireless-loudspeaker" target="_blank">JBL Flip</a>, the <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/g-project-g-boom-wireless-bluetooth-boombox" target="_blank">G-Project G-Boom</a>, <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/soundfreaq-sound-kick-sfq-04" target="_blank">Soundfreaq Sound Kick</a>, <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/id-america-touchtone-portable-bluetooth-wireless-speaker" target="_blank">id America TouchTone</a> and the <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/soundfreaq-pocket-kick-sfq-10-wireless-speaker" target="_blank">Soundfreaq Pocket Kick</a> (you can find my own review of the Pocket Kick <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2014/08/review-soundfreaq-pocket-kick-more.html" target="_blank">here</a> btw). The other one being the <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/ultimate-ears-ue-roll-portable-bluetooth-speaker" target="_blank">UE Roll</a>, which although just an A- is still highly recommended and impressive.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpfXLfqJorucRa36mdNbOn0PJcGWnKGvLO8ucXfgG4UAiHv46d9sOY-0iN8trXHN0Eo38HUFMeS5I9IJeFn1K0y2r00_72n5zIH1dAkBjYDAMBtYttWFTIYbhzm70Fa9gNupnjXHJ7ypa/s1600/ue-roll.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpfXLfqJorucRa36mdNbOn0PJcGWnKGvLO8ucXfgG4UAiHv46d9sOY-0iN8trXHN0Eo38HUFMeS5I9IJeFn1K0y2r00_72n5zIH1dAkBjYDAMBtYttWFTIYbhzm70Fa9gNupnjXHJ7ypa/s640/ue-roll.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Of course I would like to test both speakers and give you some real unbiased opinion on them, but the Braven BRV-PRO costs <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Braven-drahtloser-tragbarer-Lautsprecher-schwarz/dp/B00UVQ7PRY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434637743&sr=8-1&keywords=braven+brv-pro" target="_blank">178�</a> here in Europe, when I could get two JBL Charge 2 for the same price with the recent offer from <a href="https://www.t-mobile.de/zubehoer-alle-artikel/0,23185,10198-_402450-0---0,00.html" target="_blank">Deutsche Telekom</a>. The UE Roll costs even <a href="http://www.ultimateears.com/de-de/roll" target="_blank">129�</a> in Europe and given that this is a European product, I find it questionable that it should only cost <a href="http://www.ultimateears.com/en-us/roll" target="_blank">99$</a> in the US. In this case I would definitely rather choose another <a href="http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00NBXJ9NW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1638&creative=6742&creativeASIN=B00NBXJ9NW&linkCode=as2&tag=oluv-21&linkId=XRB2POQACMTZSL3M" target="_blank">Denon Envaya Mini</a> instead.<br /><br />Therefore folks, probably no review from me on these highly recommended speakers as I am not going to spend 300� for these toys, but will rather invest the money in something more serious like the new <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2015/06/news-jbl-xtreme-available-for-preorder.html" target="_blank">JBL Xtreme</a>, which in fact is already on order... This one will probably get a "C" on iLounge btw, just like the JBL Charge 2 which only got a <a href="http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/jbl-charge-2-bluetooth-wireless-speaker" target="_blank">"B+"</a> from them. But I want to hear real music, not <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp7nsKVI_Zk" target="_blank">play lasso</a> with my speaker or fetch it with my dog!<br /><br />Of course any first hands-on experience on these is highly appreciated, feel free to comment if you already heard them and find them really that great!<br /><br /></p>

It is quite rare that iLounge gives an "A"-mark for a speaker, which according to them would mean "highly recommended". ...

News: JBL Xtreme available for preorder for 299�

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVIc01ZLYaI7rffEd5vkcbdiBI2ftR_P0DJzWxr2JfbrsJSe9SFAO38krluoX4WdPlLzrsfTlx3TItxHnMa90ZmBA7SRbwcaKOtfe_7EFGAFUUTgBLv664mdoVe7XqxQJhCGgy9R4IX6T/s1600/xtreme.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVIc01ZLYaI7rffEd5vkcbdiBI2ftR_P0DJzWxr2JfbrsJSe9SFAO38krluoX4WdPlLzrsfTlx3TItxHnMa90ZmBA7SRbwcaKOtfe_7EFGAFUUTgBLv664mdoVe7XqxQJhCGgy9R4IX6T/s1600/xtreme.png" /></a></div>The JBL Xtreme is already listed for preorder on the European <a href="http://de.jbl.com/jbl_product_detail_de/jbl-xtreme-black.html" target="_blank">JBL Site</a> and should be available from 25.6.<br />There are new details regarding power and battery, and this Xtreme thing will have a 10.000mAh battery built in, which is obviously necessary to power the 40Watts amp.<br />The battery indicator is similar to the one on the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2014/10/review-infinity-one-premium-wireless.html" target="_blank">Infinity One</a>, but it was moved to the front now (clever!) As visible from the other product images the JBL Xtreme has an own kind of zipper to protect the ports. They finally seem to take water protection more serious with the Xtreme than with the Charge 2+, which has the ports completely unprotected.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsCUwieu_PMQlKOPOtRNVdKZjJ08l55rAiyh7jV7U9stk0uYvwYHaQZd-20ViH410nWoXqYt-ysefMLxdKuH4ZZFD6jOrKL2XjaRxJuCSM9E6vUUshohaSVbo-vhmEBuCfylMi2PrRR_1/s1600/zipp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsCUwieu_PMQlKOPOtRNVdKZjJ08l55rAiyh7jV7U9stk0uYvwYHaQZd-20ViH410nWoXqYt-ysefMLxdKuH4ZZFD6jOrKL2XjaRxJuCSM9E6vUUshohaSVbo-vhmEBuCfylMi2PrRR_1/s1600/zipp.png" /></a></div><br />Could be a real beast of a speaker, making the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.comt/2015/01/review-ue-megaboom-too-much-boom-to-be.html" target="_blank">UE Megaboom</a> sound funny...</p>

The JBL Xtreme is already listed for preorder on the European JBL Site and should be available from 25.6. There are new details regarding p...

News: JBL Xtreme coming soon - blown up JBL Charge 2?

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYRNPf10HhqvyTr-0foPboNh0aU87IEB0D5Ld-fz2cl9TjAgRoboVHkZtWChNZm4j0Lgk4gFATuMnIgt45pFQggI39nULKx7aUGCofSqK62M4G3Mqd-R83NO8wgtkJedE1Iiztq7kJI6qv/s640/jbl-xtreme.jpg" width="640" /></div><br />Mediamarkt Netherlands posted another interesting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENJe7FKMtiU" target="_blank">video</a> showing a supposedly new speaker similar to the JBL Charge 2 or rather Infinity One: the JBL "Xtreme". Similar to the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2015/05/news-jbl-flip-3-coming-soon.html" target="_blank">JBL Flip 3</a> the JBL Xtreme will be water proof and have the ability to connect with multiple speakers wirelessly thanks to JBL connect, but what makes it extreme, is either the extreme sound quality as claimed in the video, or the fact that it can charge 2 devices at once!<br /><br />It looks a bit as if this model was indeed based on the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2014/10/review-infinity-one-premium-wireless.html" target="_blank">Infinity One</a> with quite a similar form-factor and the same carrying lugs at the top. Instead of the useless rear drivers from the Infinity One JBL/Harman seem to have included tweeters this time as the blueprint rendering below would suggest. Maybe they finally noticed the overly strong intermodulation distortion of the Infinity One as well? This is what you get when little fullrange drivers are pushed too hard to deliver both high and low-end at the same time!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuikBQ2VGccKtYir5GB-3Jz45-gny1smrDmsvzfGcQ8eWdLwKUaGASEa66w76EK0u4PHGQfF1aYpBsghyphenhyphenUZW8ZESwJIiAlvaQgBedvN9dxJm744z00MzMAQ6GmA76wy_f51gmv_EOU2M0/s1600/jbl-xtreme-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuikBQ2VGccKtYir5GB-3Jz45-gny1smrDmsvzfGcQ8eWdLwKUaGASEa66w76EK0u4PHGQfF1aYpBsghyphenhyphenUZW8ZESwJIiAlvaQgBedvN9dxJm744z00MzMAQ6GmA76wy_f51gmv_EOU2M0/s640/jbl-xtreme-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />With all those new releases this is going to become a pretty interesting summer if all these videos are not fake but really showing leaked upcoming JBL products. No price nor availabilty yet, but the JBL Xtreme could be a new benchmark even outperforming the Infinity One among most other contenders in its class.</p>

Mediamarkt Netherlands posted another interesting video showing a supposedly new speaker similar to the JBL Charge 2 or rather Infinity One...

News: Bose Soundlink Mini II released

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnjOLIkpeqgPVTJqlEcX10COOKpYYkFJqvZBQU700AatXCsf5WLrYQ-H91kDtZov-K44i2tVCmWgSQvemWNZi4W5w4tUcD0jDHb43K5I43EnoGaKyreUNyJ2doN-sKloAgytqpeejiSJ-/s1600/Bose-Soundlink-Mini-II.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnjOLIkpeqgPVTJqlEcX10COOKpYYkFJqvZBQU700AatXCsf5WLrYQ-H91kDtZov-K44i2tVCmWgSQvemWNZi4W5w4tUcD0jDHb43K5I43EnoGaKyreUNyJ2doN-sKloAgytqpeejiSJ-/s1600/Bose-Soundlink-Mini-II.jpg" /></a></div>Not quite surprising 2 years after the announcement of the original Soundlink Mini, Bose just revealed the new <a href="https://www.bose.de/DE/de/home-and-personal-audio/bluetooth-ipod-speakers/bluetooth-speakers/soundlink-mini-bluetooth-speaker/" target="_blank">Bose Soundlink Mini II</a>, sucessor of the maybe most popular portable speaker worldwide that I reviewed <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/review-bose-soundlink-mini-die-erste.html" target="_blank">here</a> (although in German). According to some rumors the Soundlink Mini managed to sell about 10 million times, quite impressive for a little battery driven speaker.<br />Interestingly it seems as the Soundlink Mini II just appeared in some European Bose-stores so far and can be ordered from there immediately,<strike> but it is not listed in the US-store yet and they don't seem to know even any release-date</strike>. In the meantime it has appeared on the <a href="http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/digital_music_systems/bluetooth_speakers/soundlink_mini_speaker_II/index.jsp&intcmp=HPPANEL1" target="_blank">US-site</a> for preorder as well.<br /><br />The new model looks just like the old one, but it is available in black or white now. It gained some new features like speakerphone that was missing on the original model, voice prompts (probably the same as on the Soundlink Colour), it can finally be charged through MicroUSB and battery life seems to have been slightly improved, but no other obvious changes so far. I am not sure if the new one will really sound much different, there is not a single word about changes in sound etc.<br /><br />To tell the truth I was expecting something completely new, more rugged maybe, water proof or whatever, but it seems as if Bose just tries to sell the same speaker again only with some new added features that were simply lacking from the original.<br />As soon as I can get my hands on a unit, I will check out if the sonic qualities have indeed improved over the old Soundlink Mini, if not the Soundlink Mini II will have to fight against some strong competition with the JBL Charge 2+, Denon Envaya Mini or the upcoming RIVA S.</p>

Not quite surprising 2 years after the announcement of the original Soundlink Mini, Bose just revealed the new Bose Soundlink Mini II , suce...

News: Finally! JBL Charge 2 - 1.4.1 firmwarefix

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixGZfVIvgbzQ__k-Fk1qtbCPOFndRkQ5WLZItgXEy2sUwTeqgBHuJKXWpQAS70yQ3sJc-NlPyotLPMHPySrNEv6ARGoETwPZhDtGnh9P0yhb10KyOsfVYFwAdtQvLM0crbAJ6g1JZScH7j/s1600/firmware-grip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixGZfVIvgbzQ__k-Fk1qtbCPOFndRkQ5WLZItgXEy2sUwTeqgBHuJKXWpQAS70yQ3sJc-NlPyotLPMHPySrNEv6ARGoETwPZhDtGnh9P0yhb10KyOsfVYFwAdtQvLM0crbAJ6g1JZScH7j/s640/firmware-grip.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Finally with the latest firmware the JBL Charge 2 manages to be what it should have been from the very beginning back in September, when it still suffered from <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2014/09/first-impressions-jbl-charge-2-new-king.html" target="_blank">teething troubles</a>.<br />Until now I couldn't fully recommend the JBL Charge 2 without reservations, as the issues were too disturbing and it remained rather a "also-ran" speaker among all the others.<br />In the meantime there was lots of discussion on Youtube regarding all those problems with many users complaining about their units still to distort, while others claimed to have no problems at all. There were theories established about serial-numbers which would indicate when the unit was manufactured and when it would be without issues. I was enjoying all this similar to reading a crime thriller.<br />Then finally someone from Japan came up with an undocumented trick to check the currently installed firmware on his JBL Charge 2. He finally claimed that only the latest firmware "1.4.1" would fix all problems, while all firmwares below suffered from this or that DSP-issue.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a>To check your firmware you have to power on your JBL Charge 2 and be sure that it won't connect to any nearby Bluetooth-device. Now press the Bluetooth button and volume + button simultaneously and keep them pressed for some seconds to finally hear a nice female voice that will tell you the firmware number, something like that: "one four one".<br /><br />If you don't hear "one four one", you should get your device updated. I own a "refurbished" version that I bought back in December after returning my very first unit from September, and while my current unit didn't have all these distortion problems of the very first unit, it was still close to unsable at lower levels during the first 4-5 volume steps. After checking my firmware it said: 1.4.0, therefore I decided to update my model as soon as possible.<br />Unfortunately Harman never planned to make the devices user-upgradeable, thus you should contact an authorised service center. I contacted Harman directly to ask them how to proceed and 2 days later I got their response where they told me the responsible center in my area. I already knew <a href="http://www.decservice.at/" target="_blank">DEC Service Center</a> in Vienna, as they are also responsible for Panasonic repairs and I had some repeated issues with my Lumix cameras or lenses. The next day I took my JBL Charge 2 and left it there for an update. After 10 minutes I already got it back with 1.4.1-firmware installed and had a chat with the responsible technician who was well aware of the problems.<br />According to him this whole thing was getting quite fuzzy, as there were many users who complained about the problems, but at the very beginning even the technician wouldn't acknowledge them. There was no statement from Harman either until January where they finally issued an official update-service. A special updater-software for 1.4.1 version was provided to all service centers with a time-limit of 1 week to be downloaded, otherwise a permission for a new download had to be requested again. Login has still to be done through some Harman server etc, so this whole thing still sounds a bit "obscured" for me and I don't understand that Harman didn 't even care to contact their customers to inform them about the update. I had contacted Harman several times about this, at the very beginning they suggested to return the speaker, when I asked afterwards if there would be any update, they could have at least responded now. Given the fact that the update was already out nearly half a year, while some new owners checking their firmware are still hearing "one three eight", this is really annyoing! They could have at least communicated it in one way or the other.<br /><u>Update:</u> Check out how you can upgrade the firmware on your own <a href="http://www.oluvsgadgets.net/2015/07/news-jbl-charge-2-firmwareupdate-141-do.html" target="_blank">here</a>!<br /><br />But the most important fact is, that the JBL Charge 2 is completely issue-free now. I measured the JBL Charge 2 with my previous 1.4.0 firmware and measured it again after the update to 1.4.1, and what you can see from the measurements is that the first 3 steps were entirely screwed up with the old firmware (green) that was incapable of producing and clean output below 150Hz while with the new firmware (blue) it measures ok. Unfortunately the very rough volume-steps that were already present with the previous versions became even stronger now. The first volume step is louder now than it was before and the 3rd volume step is nearly as loud as the 4th step from the old version. So if you intend using your JBL Charge 2 at low levels, it might be a hassle to achieve the correct loudness as the first step might be too soft, while the second one too loud already especially when using an iOS device where volume control is mirrored between speaker and player:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DOaD__32-_AA3S5ZjL7Qkgd445E1CzZ-3Wy9XSvKOWwf4W0OKNN4yVOQT-j_QmThvCryYiya_h-wzvTe_1Bl01k4HNgqs12FhWDbhVX2jwQP03PL8p1v8Xu9ezo8xeSVk9bBqZM2B6gI/s1600/jbl-charge-2-firmware-first-steps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7DOaD__32-_AA3S5ZjL7Qkgd445E1CzZ-3Wy9XSvKOWwf4W0OKNN4yVOQT-j_QmThvCryYiya_h-wzvTe_1Bl01k4HNgqs12FhWDbhVX2jwQP03PL8p1v8Xu9ezo8xeSVk9bBqZM2B6gI/s640/jbl-charge-2-firmware-first-steps.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The new firmware also seems to come with some minimal sound-adjustments. I matched the 5th volume step for both by pulling the old version some dB up, and as you can see the new firmware took away a little bass in the region up to 300Hz (the strong peak at around 75Hz remained exactly the same though) but usually you shouldn't notice any difference at all without having a direct comparison. The other slight deviations visible are probably measuring errors due to slightly different placement (again green firmware 1.4.0 and blue 1.4.1):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEI3CEQepGwqxQ56t57igpCqM_v3kn0896xFpARZAe_v96zfO2qwliwDAf6G7w27Y6Z4fIihc3JGrwlNwx0k04oa88Ad2QHbUguBu2acFaYaIxV2h77s4fCUFFRL8oMNWEdGnwJbDEdK0/s1600/jbl-140-141.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img adlesse_been_here="true" border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEI3CEQepGwqxQ56t57igpCqM_v3kn0896xFpARZAe_v96zfO2qwliwDAf6G7w27Y6Z4fIihc3JGrwlNwx0k04oa88Ad2QHbUguBu2acFaYaIxV2h77s4fCUFFRL8oMNWEdGnwJbDEdK0/s640/jbl-140-141.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />After the update I would say that the JBL Charge 2 is in the top-line of current portable speakers, with a great punchy sound at all volume levels, class-leasing battery life and a lower price tag than most competition, especially now after the new Charge 2+ has been issued. Thanks to the Charge 2+, the Charge 2 can be even found far below 100$/� which is quite a bargain. Grab one, if you were still undecided.<br />Many will ask if it is any better than the Denon Envaya Mini? I would say yes, if the total package is considered, as the Charge 2 makes more fun, has a much more solid battery which can also charge other devices and meanwhile it also cheaper, while the Denon became more expensive. The Denon might have a flatter and more true sound, but the JBL fares really well with its obvious bass and treble-peak that both make it more consumer oriented.<br /><br />If you want to know if the Charge 2+ sounds any better than the Charge 2, stay tuned as I will compare them both directly soon.</p>

Finally with the latest firmware the JBL Charge 2 manages to be what it should have been from the very beginning back in September, when it ...

News: JBL Flip 3 coming soon - shrinked JBL Charge 2?

<p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbCK9m38JN1fXCXVswx_4Wg42yDWM5tpDUK9LhNdAPY2LPbI-4Ll_o4f_r5FAF3uLkVhO5PE53HsRPW7r1ND04xGMBrpo8BWnOH9yYYCtB-ZHfCWLDga6w77A0MiSAGtYXCp9zTPZRllc/s1600/jbl-flip3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbCK9m38JN1fXCXVswx_4Wg42yDWM5tpDUK9LhNdAPY2LPbI-4Ll_o4f_r5FAF3uLkVhO5PE53HsRPW7r1ND04xGMBrpo8BWnOH9yYYCtB-ZHfCWLDga6w77A0MiSAGtYXCp9zTPZRllc/s1600/jbl-flip3.jpg" /></a></div><br />It seems Dutch Mediamarkt leaked a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfDJDz5Tx1g" target="_blank">video</a> of the upcoming JBL Flip 3, as there has been no official announcement yet.<br />In contrast to the farting bassreflex port of the previous versions that were not able to produce any bass worth mentioning, the Flip 3 uses the same dual passive radiator design of the Charge 2 and rather looks like a shrinked version of it, but the Flip 3 is claimed to be waterproof with support for wireless pairing of several speakers (maybe up to 3 as the video suggests). I am not quite sure if stereo pairing with 2 speakers is also possible, but this would be great. If the JBL Flip 3 manages to sound as serious as the JBL Charge 2 which is to be assumed as the acoustic design looks very familiar, then the JBL Flip 3 might become a very serious portable speaker and a much better alternative to all this UE junk out there.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxsvc0D9WsRdQOP4u8_z1Jg_BDE7cL3C4NZ_kWK_XiWfsz0UdrHHMtmIU2z-zdJzXD5MeFgov3MRZM9REm-Xw_kSv0zCBfiRjYckJIZ1faPMKsXwnZRHRs1w1y0uNLBecWYkEBikcoyKI/s1600/jbl-flip3-colors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxsvc0D9WsRdQOP4u8_z1Jg_BDE7cL3C4NZ_kWK_XiWfsz0UdrHHMtmIU2z-zdJzXD5MeFgov3MRZM9REm-Xw_kSv0zCBfiRjYckJIZ1faPMKsXwnZRHRs1w1y0uNLBecWYkEBikcoyKI/s1600/jbl-flip3-colors.jpg" /></a></div><br />It will be available in 8 colors and comes with a handy wrist strap. Of course no information about availability nor price yet, but I guess it will be announced soon and come to the stores this summer.</p>

It seems Dutch Mediamarkt leaked a video of the upcoming JBL Flip 3, as there has been no official announcement yet. In contrast to the far...

Coming soon: Oluv's speaker audio database

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudaxpAnD7yELZz67VCFJ0p9oC9atQikhHXz5KF0AL5XV8DcYTr5TpVbExXbrfaubgmQLrcVTbtckeYEbT8rV20QVf6Wq-R_qoBSIkRtwchaPxSrs_SumBOxm-0qvuHWeqwmvTh63dBer4/s1600/speaker+audio+database.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgudaxpAnD7yELZz67VCFJ0p9oC9atQikhHXz5KF0AL5XV8DcYTr5TpVbExXbrfaubgmQLrcVTbtckeYEbT8rV20QVf6Wq-R_qoBSIkRtwchaPxSrs_SumBOxm-0qvuHWeqwmvTh63dBer4/s640/speaker+audio+database.png" width="614" /></a></div>  <br />I would like to briefly introduce the upcoming speaker audio database. All programming work has been meanwhile finished. I also finished the first recordings of most speakers I currently have at home, it will still take some time until I have all the content put together to finally publish everything. Here I just want to give you some information about the idea behind this database and what you can expect from it.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a>With this database I wanted to create a ressource that would allow cross-reference comparisons for each portable speaker that is included on a consistent basis. I wanted to provide as much data as possible for each speaker including audio samples, along the way with measurements, additional notes and links to any of my detailed reviews if available.<br />But the most important part is probably the audio part I guess, as this will give you a very first idea what kind of audio quality you can expect from a given speaker. I really wanted the result to be as close to the real sound as possible, therefore I settled for binaural audio recordings and chose microphones with a very natural and flat frequency response that I edit further with some fixed equalization to bring the sound even closer to reality. I will post more details about the exact recording procedure as soon as the database is up and running. But I think with my recording setup you will get a very realistic impression of how the speakers will sound in the room where they were recorded. The playback of binaural recordings requires headphones for optimum results and the better and more neutral sounding the used headphone is, the more realistic it will sound. Therefore avoid using any sounded Beats-crap, but rather studioquality headphones tuned for a flat sound reproduction. In my case I am using the <a href="http://www.beoplay.com/products/beoplayh6" target="_blank">B&O Beoplay H6</a> headphones, which sound extremely close to the recorded speakers as if they were standing directly in front of me. I tried some other headphones models and although even with the cheapest ones you will always notice the relative differences between 2 speaker recordings, only high quality headphones will give you that kind of "real-life" experience with all the subtle details captured. I also added the original recording for reference, so that you will be able to switch between a particular speaker and the original music, this way a kind of indirect comparison to reveal any sound coloration of a speaker will also become possible, something I was already experimenting with for my <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2014/10/news-speaker-fidelity-tests.html" target="_blank">"speaker fidelity tests"</a>.<br /><br />For the audio part of the database I selected short excerpts of 8 different genres to be played through each speaker (you can read more about the music selection <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.com/2015/03/music-selection-for-upcoming-speaker.html" target="_blank">here</a>) which are recorded at 2 different loudness levels. One level is what I call "standard volume" and another one at each speaker's "maximum volume". "Standard volume" is a volume I settled for which is comfortable to listen to, without being too loud or too soft and one that even most smaller speakers can reach. To bring this into some context: this is about the highest volume level of a Jambox, although the Jambox will already distort heavily at this level many other speakers being not that close to their limit will still play fine, but even a Bose Soundlink Mini (playing at around 70%) or an Infinity One will already sound dirty at this particular level due to their overly pushed bass. It didn't make much sense to record the speakers at even lower levels as the results would not be representative.<br />Standard volume is recorded with the speakers standing about 1m away. For a situation closer to reality the speakers are about 5m away for the maximum volume recording, because nobody would probably turn the larger speakers to the maximum while sitting directly in front of them.<br />The maximum volume part is to give you an idea how loud a speaker can play compared to the other ones, but also how good it is able to fill the room with sound and last not least if it is usable at all at maximum volume because of too strong distortion etc.<br />As both standard and maximum volume recordings are recorded at different gains, there is also a "real volume" switch which will bring both into the same relation to each other again when activated. This together with an additional "volume guide" part will allow you to use my voice as rough guide in order to get the correct listening loudness thus you will be able to hear the recordings with the actual loudness the speakers were playing in reality.<br /><br />Of course this tool cannot replace the listening experience you get in real life, but I think this is as close as you can get in "virtual life".<br /><br />Please understand that as I wanted to make the database accessible for free, I have to rely on ads and affiliate links but also voluntary donations to keep it alive. Therfore so far everything is based on Youtube and their adsense service. I am not quite sure how helpful and successful this database may become in future, but for an even better experience and improved audio-quality I might switch everything to a subscription based offer because much features I wanted to include are not possible through the Youtube-solution. You have to know that this all not only takes lots of time to create, but also lots of money. So either I will have to try monetizing it in some way or the other, or I will have to stop doing it if I cannot afford it anymore.<br /><br />From what I can say now, I think this database will really become something quite uniqe, and I am enjoying playing with it a lot! I hope you will enjoy it too and hope you can still be patient a little bit!<br /><br />Thanks, your O.</p>

  I would like to briefly introduce the upcoming speaker audio database. All programming work has been meanwhile finished. I also finished t...

News: Minirig - now with Bluetooth!

<p>Yes, finally Minirigs brought us their great <a href="http://minirigs.co.uk/portable-speaker" target="_blank">Minirig with Bluetooth</a> included, something many owners were already asking for from the beginning.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://minirigs.co.uk/sites/default/files/products/mrbt-minirig-black_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://minirigs.co.uk/sites/default/files/products/mrbt-minirig-black_2.jpg" width="361" /></a></div>  <br />The great thing about the new one: it supports AptX for best streaming quality and 2 of them can be wirelessly paired for stereo sound! Apart from that it is as sturdy and great looking as the old one. It is water resistant and still has the impressive battery life of 8 hours at maximum volume or up to 50 hours at moderate levels! If I think about the UE Boom which dies after 2 hours on top volume, but hardly manages to sound as good as the Minirig...<br />You can check out how both compare at maximum volume from my video I did last summer, although I was still using the old non-Bluetooth Minirig. The new one is supposed to have even better sound especially at lower levels as according to the engineer there is some bassboost included now, which makes the sound even more full-bodied than before, which also shows up in the specs: while the old Minirig was only rated down to 100Hz the new one should play to 75Hz which is on par with the JBL Charge 2 now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kTJf9HdTJV8?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> </div><br />Let's hope I can get one of the new Bluetooth Minirigs for a test soon...<br /></p>

Yes, finally Minirigs brought us their great Minirig with Bluetooth included, something many owners were already asking for from the beginn...

News: Binaural speaker recordings

<p>When I had the idea of doing <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/news-speaker-fidelity-tests.html" target="_blank">"fidelity-tests"</a> of various speakers, I quickly noticed that it wouldn't be that easy to achieve really representative results.<br /><br />Apart from room acoustics etc. the microphones have a too strong self-sound, to really allow valid results. I had tested more than half dozen different handheld recorders, from Olympus to Yamaha and Zoom. And all of them sounded so different that I doubt they would allow any neutral results.<br />To give it another try, I lately ordered a <a href="https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-h5-handy-recorder" target="_blank">Zoom H5</a> and an optional <a href="https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/h6-handy-recorder/capsules#xy" target="_blank">XYH-6</a> capsule as I hoped these would give me significant improvements over the "cheap" Zoom H1 recorder that I am currently using, but in the end, the results were even worse. Not only did both mic-capsules emphasize treble too much, they did roll-off with low frequencies too strong, and there was a noticable divergency between left/right channel with the sound being not centered as it should be. Both microphones had a different bias towards left or right, therefore I sent both back totally disappointed.<br />Currently it seems as if I was still at the very beginning to find a better but still affordable recording solution which would allow the most neutral and flat recording.<br /><br />You can hear some of my previous test-recordings here. In this case the JBL Charge 2 was recorded with all recorder/microphone combinations in the same room with the same settings/distance etc. As the XYH-6 capsule supports 2 different directional patterns, I did recordings with both, you can also check out the original track for comparison:<br /><br />Excerpt of the original track:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/original.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H1:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H1.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H5:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H5.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H5+XYH-6 90�:<br /><audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H6-90.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> Your browser does not support this audio </audio><br /><br />Zoom H5+XYH-6 120�:<br /> <audio controls="controls"><source src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/893528/testfiles/recordertest/H6-120.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></source> <embed height="80px" width="100px"></embed> But in the meantime<br /><br /> </audio><br /><br />I think it is pretty obvious that all the used microphones have a different sound, there is even a noticeable sound-difference between the 90� and 120� setting of the XYH-6 capulse. I also tried a recording with my current measuring microphone the MiniDSP UMIK-1, but so far I am still in the process to include the calibration file into the recording procedure and will post it as soon as I managed.<br /><br />At the same time, I had also ordered a <a href="http://www.roland.com/products/en/CS-10EM/" target="_blank">Roland CS-10EM</a> binaural microphone. I wanted to try out something new and although these microphones are not really suitable for neutral direct recordings of a speaker, they seem perfectly suitable to record how a speaker would sound in a particular room thanks to a rather neutral sound. You have to wear headphones to hear how the sound was meant to be, or you can try playing it back through speakers with a crosstalk cancelling filter like "Liveaudio" from the Mini Jambox.<br /><br />To understand better how the listening situation was, what kind of room etc, I also did a photo of each listening position, so that you can see what I heard when I did those recordings wearing the microphones inside my ears. I am curious what you think about this kind of audio-demo, and if I should continue using it in future for further speaker comparisons too. I did not normalize the recordings, so the difference in loudness you hear is real and represents the real situation.<br /><br />Again I used the JBL Charge 2 (my current portable reference despite all the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/first-impressions-jbl-charge-2-new-king.html">distortion issues</a>, it is one of the best sounding portable speakers which can be already had for 129�) and recorded it in different rooms and positions from different distances, please have a look (and don't forget to listen through headphones):<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6i-OCgsyUXo?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7okQJlS21a8?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uzm66CYAbDw?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sqTam-tr5lY?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/fvc2T4qW5gI?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br /><br />Equally to the JBL I also tried recording some further speakers inside the shelf in the living room, I wonder if you can hear the difference in sound between all of them. I think that especially the increased stereo-separation of the EVA Blu and the Bose compared to the JBL Charge 2 and the mono Play:1 is pretty obvious:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OTk9KnWFblo?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/b6ne0Wk4rJ8?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0dxDnOmP1S4?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> <br /><br />Please let me know what you think about these recordings. Does the binaural effect work for you? Do these recordings sound more real than the previous ones I did? Which listening position does represent the most realistic situation for you?<br /><br />Please leave a comment if you have further ideas!</p>

When I had the idea of doing "fidelity-tests" of various speakers, I quickly noticed that it wouldn't be that easy to achieve...

News: Bluetooth speakers "play different" - BenQ eVolo and Mass Fidelity Core

<p>One might think "not another Bluetooth speaker" every time a new model is announced.<br />Indeed the whole Bluetooth speaker market started becoming quite a bit boring. There are units costing less than 20$, others costing close to 1000$ or even more, colorful ones, swimming ones etc.<br />But there is hardly any innovation visible. Some Bluetooth speakers still refuse any quick re-pairing to already known devices...<br /><br />But two recently announced Bluetooth speakers managed to catch my attention. They are both portable, which means they will run from a rechargeable battery, and they are both pretty compact to really deserve the term "portable".<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br />The first one is revolutionary in the Bluetooth speaker market because it is the first portable electrostatic speaker. It is called eVolo and comes from a company which is rather known for their video projectors: <a href="http://info.benq.us/benqevolo" target="_blank">BenQ</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq32arl37DNpjvLpPK_ebkuDewpuVl5KdZ-OgUGickm9uMXA4rQ_JYc8upCWlIks6Ee9lCledGaPe6C4l4Lna7iUBIyFSSIGuSs1_PiTqPI5oDJa5qpFu9WLbtGmGTkx2l1_WbjY7phtiK/s1600/evolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq32arl37DNpjvLpPK_ebkuDewpuVl5KdZ-OgUGickm9uMXA4rQ_JYc8upCWlIks6Ee9lCledGaPe6C4l4Lna7iUBIyFSSIGuSs1_PiTqPI5oDJa5qpFu9WLbtGmGTkx2l1_WbjY7phtiK/s1600/evolo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>If executed well, this might be a pretty good sounding speaker I guess. The "ears", which are the electrostatic drivers can be folded in for transport, or folded out for better sound dispersion. 2 bass drivers including 2 passive radiators are responsible for the lower frequencies and all drivers are driven by 4 amplifiers with additional DSP-processing delivering 40 Watts total.<br />The BenQ eVolo should become available in November for 299,- <br /><br />The other revolutionary speaker comes from <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-core-wireless-speaker-system" target="_blank">Mass Fidelity</a> and manages to include some pretty unique techniques to stand out of the crowd. It is currently still on Indiegogo but has already reached much more of the original goal. You can still pledge to get one for 389$, or wait until the unit reaches the market and will cost 599$ then. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTVzDJFGSlaRGPB1ylYgI0fMrkglRdW7kVyMbIyx8NKxxhyJ8bYytpJnZqlSCRrT_sRdCczn0qJGavX_ZjHXDgsTimG2TRAutzMWQniJ_nsD967h4bPbkKenWT4D5rQx_GiTdqAohfXpq/s1600/core.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTVzDJFGSlaRGPB1ylYgI0fMrkglRdW7kVyMbIyx8NKxxhyJ8bYytpJnZqlSCRrT_sRdCczn0qJGavX_ZjHXDgsTimG2TRAutzMWQniJ_nsD967h4bPbkKenWT4D5rQx_GiTdqAohfXpq/s1600/core.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />According to the manufacturer the Mass Fidelity Core applies "wave field synthesis" to be able to create a kind of acoustic holography for real stereo sound out of a single box which isn't tied to any sweet spot. I am not sure how much of these claims can be called Voodoo, but real specs indicate that this small speaker has 4 drivers inside and an additional down-firing subwoofer which should play down to 44Hz. The whole unit contains several DSPs and additional processors with an amplifier delivering 120 Watts. Quite impressive for such a unit that should also play for 12 hours from one single charge. Other features include wireless pairing of up to 9 Cores to allow multiroom without any hassle with network configurations. Thanks to the big success of the Indiegogo campaign Mass Fidelity meanwhile announced an additional wireless subwoofer too. <br />Some prototype units were already shown to various representatives and all seem to have remained impressed.<br /><br />I would really love to try out this little Voodoo-machine, if I had the chance!</p>

One might think "not another Bluetooth speaker" every time a new model is announced. Indeed the whole Bluetooth speaker market sta...

News: Speaker fidelity tests

<p>I wanted to try out something new to allow for an even better judgement of a speaker's sound quality. Please let me know if you have some further ideas suggestions or wishes, so that this test could evolve to something helpful maybe.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a>With this test, which I will simply call "fidelity test" I will try to focus purely on the fidelity of a speaker and how it sounds compared to the original recording. There are lots of speaker tests and speaker videos available on Youtube which will play you some song through a speaker to show off its sound qualities. Without any additional reference (another speaker or whatever), it is hard to tell if the shown speaker really sounds that bad, or if the used recording setup, microphone or even the room, where the recording was done is just that bad, so that it makes the speaker sound bad.<br />Other videos are trying to compare several speakers at the same time, similar to what I was doing until now, but when switching over to the next speaker, there is hardly any difference noticeable. Such tests are pretty useless and wasted time for the creation part and for the watching part if you ask me.<br /><br />I don't claim that my videos I did so far to be good, but it really took an effort to make my setup as solid as possible and allow for direct speaker comparisons without having them at home at the same time thanks to referenced volume levels and a standardized recording setup with exact distances etc.<br />Despite all the effort I meanwhile noticed that I might still get differences in sound when I try to record the same speaker another time. Despite the same setup both recordings might still sound a little bit different, probably because of slight differences in angle between microphone and speaker, slight differences in distance (although +/-1cm shouldn't really matter), maybe even slight differences in outfit of the room, if one shirt is hanging at the left side instead of right might have an influence hahaha...<br /><br />Instead of comparing 2 or more speakers against each other like I previously did, now I want to show how close a speaker manages to sound compared to the original source. This is not really easy to achieve, as my room is acoustically not perfect. It is not a typcial room with typical acoustics. But I noticed that recordings done in this room give purer results than recordings in bigger undampened rooms. I think that the best results might be achieved outdoors, due to missing interreflections with any walls (with expection of the ground), you will get an even purer sound. Unfortunately all my outdoor videos I did so far, were a real pain to do. Despite dead kittens and locations protected against wind, I always had to fight with wind noise, plane noise, etc...<br />An optimized room maybe even close to anechoic would be probably the best way to go, but currently I don't have ressources for such a thing, despite my wife who already thinks I got crazy with all those stupid speakers...<br /><br />My idea is to record a song through each speaker in my usual recording room at one single fixed level. This level should be set not too low and not too high to simulate a comfortable listening volume and which should give a representative result for a speaker's sound quality. I currently fixed this level to exactly half volume of the Sonos Play:1, this corresponds to about maximum volume of the Mini Jambox, or step 9/16 on the JBL Charge 2, 67% on the Soundlink Mini etc. To bring this into some measurable SPL readings the recorded music gives me the following values at a distance of 50cm:<br /><b>LAFmax: ~75dB</b><br /><b>LZpeak: ~95dB </b><br /><br />For some speakers this level might already be too loud causing distortion or introducing compression artefacts, noticeable bass reduction etc, other speakers might sound better at even higher levels. Thanks to the dynamic sound processing of many modern active speakers, the overall sound character can differ quite much between low or high levels, as you can see here from the example measuring of the Bose Soundlink III where I overlaid both frequency responses for a rather low level (~25% blue) and a higher level (~75% red):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGvApoUPOkkcbEK1g5ykKcHEdMwEsTcZ8b6dTToTHy5P5FYnK9d7wXMXKu3dnZoNWWEn_QZvxEsbnS5abYNe0Vvi5wjHVyJtpveRe-EmwiiQeV3m6RXGz2VK9q-ZBN7oBRIftREpNKZ2h/s1600/bose.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGvApoUPOkkcbEK1g5ykKcHEdMwEsTcZ8b6dTToTHy5P5FYnK9d7wXMXKu3dnZoNWWEn_QZvxEsbnS5abYNe0Vvi5wjHVyJtpveRe-EmwiiQeV3m6RXGz2VK9q-ZBN7oBRIftREpNKZ2h/s1600/bose.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Both would sound completely different if both were played back with the same loudness, with only the mids still resembling the same speaker. But due to equal loudness contours of the human hearing in reality the differences might not appear that obvious as the human ear hears low and high frequencies differently at different volume levels. Everything is not that easy, still the goal is to give the best representation of the speakers sound character and bring that into relation to the original recording.<br /><br />Of course with this test I cannot cover other aspects of a speaker's quality like directionality, loudness etc, as this would lead too far and make it too complicated. This fidelity test will only provide the soundquality exactly on-axis at optimum position which should give the best possible result for every speaker, I might vary the angle between speaker and microphone slightly if this gives a better result. Especially on Bose speakers the sound can change a lot if you turn them only a little bit. While many speakers might still sound good from higher above or from the side, I won't be able to give any statement on this like I already tried with some of my previous videos, where I also included sound recordings off-axis for comparison.  <br /><br />The used recorder and microphone will also have an influence on sound. My first preliminary tests are done with the Zoom H1, it is definitely not the most linear recorder, but I found it to record low frequencies better than the H2n, or the Olympus LS10 which I had also tried before. It seems to have some problems with treble though. It sounds too harsh and metallic compared to the original sound of the speaker.<br />I am in the process of trying out other recorders with a microphone that has hopefully a flatter overall response. Of course I am open for any suggestions. If other readers have more experience than me on this topic, please let me know. I really want realistic and representative results.<br /><br />So far I have chosen a funky recording from Fusion-bassist Gerald Veasley, I like this track and I think it is a pretty nice recording with good definition in both bass and treble, only mising some vocals. If you have better suggestions for a testtrack please let me know. It should be a rather non-commercial track to avoid copyright issues. Maybe there are even some real musicians among the readers who would like to contribute an own song, this could also be used as promotion for their own site etc. The premise is that it has to be a recording of high quality which allows conclusions to be drawn on a speaker's sound. When executed well, this could become a big database for sound quality of various (portable) speakers that I was thinking of from the beginning.<br /><br />Here you can find some first videos with speakers I currently had at hand. If you listen to them over headphones, you will immediately notice the lack of any stereo imaging from the speaker recordings compared to the original track. Maybe for better judgement I should also convert the original track to mono? When listening to these videos through speakers the lack of stereo is not as obvious though.<br />I am open to any suggestions, let me know if all this makes sense, and if the differences between all these speakers are noticeable at all. Please leave me a comment if you would like to contribute! Let's start with the Sonos Play:1 which is probably the most faithful speaker of the recorded ones:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sbgTj8QXFPE?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zhvyWSOKKoI?rel=0" width="853"></iframe> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2d5iiyjLPIM?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yfCK-lcFoow?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MsID79mme90?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/lgA_JvMztSA?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/j_TOz3WlkZs?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nHZCQoHXEqc?rel=0" width="853"></iframe></p>

I wanted to try out something new to allow for an even better judgement of a speaker's sound quality. Please let me know if you have som...

News: Bose Sounddock XT - the dock is dead, long live the dock!

<p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOJ6Oo9mQcqUmfJWpEnMtWrQGn8TwaJuRB1q1T1uuebzBde3Dtb0BCKUx3b3SA1OZTJyT1xLHfvaPCPvOXBCQEsWwhlL0Y1Eeb-rYPAMgZ-uGvWZu6ZthB7aPcCz2IbMqjihwdsIu1VjI/s1600/sounddock-xt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMOJ6Oo9mQcqUmfJWpEnMtWrQGn8TwaJuRB1q1T1uuebzBde3Dtb0BCKUx3b3SA1OZTJyT1xLHfvaPCPvOXBCQEsWwhlL0Y1Eeb-rYPAMgZ-uGvWZu6ZthB7aPcCz2IbMqjihwdsIu1VjI/s1600/sounddock-xt.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />So far I haven't even noticed any announcements about the new Sounddock XT, but today during my visit at the Bose store they already had one on display and I could have a look at it.<br /><br />The design is pretty funky, not that old school as the previous models. I couldn't have a listen unfortunately as I still have my old trusty Iphone 4, while my wife got her Iphone 5 with lightning-connector only. The Sounddock is not equipped with Bluetooth, with so many speakers currently supporting multiple connections through Bluetooth, Airplay and even dock or Micro-USB simultanously, I am pretty surprised to see the Sounddock XT being just equipped with a lightning connector. This limits the usage to Apple-devices only, which is a pity.<br />Overall I really like the looks of the Sounddock XT, at the same time it got pretty cheap compared to the old Sounddock models.<br /><br />According to the Bose salesman the new one is not as powerful in base, but to tell the truth, the old one was already a bit owerpowering, maybe the new one sounds more balanced now. I will have a listen next Thursday when I will be returning my review sample of the <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/news-new-bose-soundlink-colour-because.html">Soundlink Colour</a>.<br /><br /><br /></p>

So far I haven't even noticed any announcements about the new Sounddock XT, but today during my visit at the Bose store they already had...

News: The new Bose Soundlink Colour - because paint is beautiful!

<p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFNArNzrJ0Otf-t6ig8zzJ9-QyPxffE92-rw-v1vomY_w2i7C3ejTt6diHDMJWay4a1Vt8VDwB91W8tdpO7ZXtABA_yZipPPz_nM4AdDjNSdsoidZGM8DGcmBlmDelBUezJJeZJJiGKsD/s1600/soundlink+colour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFNArNzrJ0Otf-t6ig8zzJ9-QyPxffE92-rw-v1vomY_w2i7C3ejTt6diHDMJWay4a1Vt8VDwB91W8tdpO7ZXtABA_yZipPPz_nM4AdDjNSdsoidZGM8DGcmBlmDelBUezJJeZJJiGKsD/s1600/soundlink+colour.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Bose announced the new <a href="http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/digital_music_systems/bluetooth_speakers/soundlink_color/index.jsp&intcmp=hpmidpanel2">Soundlink Colour</a>, a completely new speaker with quite a different design than the Soundlink Mini but also cheaper and more colorful. It should become available worldwide during the next week(s). Biggest improvement seems to be charging through USB, it also seems to have track controls, at least it looks as if you could play/pause music, not sure how to skip tracks though. The Soundlink Colour supports multipoint pairing with 2 devices to quickly switch from one to the other. A pity it doesn't seem to support pairing with another speaker for wireless stereo as so many recent speakers already have this great feature included.<br /><br />I have no clue how the new one might sound, but it looks quite a bit more rugged and portable than the Soundlink Mini which rather looks good on the shelf at home, than on a sandy beach. The new one seems to be better suitable for transport due to its flat form factor it is also slightly lighter, but I have yet to see it in person to be able to judge the difference in size between both.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LdLHD8UNbZ8rr4o8FLf8DHnSfC6q8clTfaI832MEvNzMj-rT9u5jnqwmDFBgxlyPmcdfwY_RBOmCNHi7-NRUOKiXVgaPfJPac0aXFVZ8HDbXlu1TElvfngEzZdu_AnQShvDp_rxd28T7/s1600/soundlink+colour-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1LdLHD8UNbZ8rr4o8FLf8DHnSfC6q8clTfaI832MEvNzMj-rT9u5jnqwmDFBgxlyPmcdfwY_RBOmCNHi7-NRUOKiXVgaPfJPac0aXFVZ8HDbXlu1TElvfngEzZdu_AnQShvDp_rxd28T7/s1600/soundlink+colour-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Despite all the beautiful colors, I think I like the white one most. As soon as I can get my hands on one, I will of course compare it to the Soundlink Mini. Let's hope the new one is not just a cheaper trimmed down version, but will also have some ace up its sleeve especially regarding sound, maybe loudness, clarity etc...<br /><br />I prepared a simple and rough 3d-sketch according to the specs the Soundlink Colour is not that small. It is about 60% larger in overall capacity than the Soundlink Mini and already reaches more or less the size of the JBL Charge 2:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaO_faz707UmVK0z_6j9OU2sQgO92fKGu7qsdLPKwrAzslo6ofS_2GylIZout9XgJJNvh3LoWYR-2AOZUxMAiak8N6XdOR2k01MjkFtR41C-7MCvUFyXHC01_aRKXMWGymAfFK4kiqiZAW/s1600/soundlink+colour-size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaO_faz707UmVK0z_6j9OU2sQgO92fKGu7qsdLPKwrAzslo6ofS_2GylIZout9XgJJNvh3LoWYR-2AOZUxMAiak8N6XdOR2k01MjkFtR41C-7MCvUFyXHC01_aRKXMWGymAfFK4kiqiZAW/s1600/soundlink+colour-size.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></p>

Bose announced the new Soundlink Colour , a completely new speaker with quite a different design than the Soundlink Mini but also cheaper an...

Infinity One - the better Pill XL?

<p>Harman Kardon which meanwhile owns some known audio brands like AKG, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson and Revel will now also launch new products for their Infinity brand, one of them being the <a href="http://www.infinityspeakers.com/estore/inf/us/products/Infinity-One/INFINITY%20ONE_INF_US?skuId=INFINITYONEAM_INF_US" target="_blank">Infinity One Bluetooth</a> speaker.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF72gPvfo02gTE8xkPE5_qNeWWb_1q0DocxKCktfwrEuCUjiRaLtZI4ClGAuDE1A7vU24yOfNm6RM2VxEmmn1mBW4SbhhzcPXXaQi0_vkddOLX7XKn0-2jQonAu4Pkmawh-b_ZinLn6a73/s1600/infinity+one.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF72gPvfo02gTE8xkPE5_qNeWWb_1q0DocxKCktfwrEuCUjiRaLtZI4ClGAuDE1A7vU24yOfNm6RM2VxEmmn1mBW4SbhhzcPXXaQi0_vkddOLX7XKn0-2jQonAu4Pkmawh-b_ZinLn6a73/s1600/infinity+one.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><a name="more"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>It is probably no coincidence that the Infinity One looks like a blown up <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/08/jbl-charge-2-out-now.html" target="">JBL Charge 2</a>, which was also just launched.<br />Similar to the new JBL Charge 2 the Infinity One also houses 2 opposing passive radiators, one at each end. And the drivers face forwards and backwards, making the speaker emit sound to the front and back with bass to the sides. This is not a fully omnidirectional approach, but pretty close and could sound quite convincing when put somewhere in the center of a listening circle. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYUDLuSUZ4C_2UPMvCP8JClUgDqcNLedIoYlsKcnQCxu-l3MeN3skTp_YNvjPZXH7I9yN_XMHXkKVB1y3IW4Fhh2Pf7nCaTEQP2fHDZp0CZiYYfdJufi-SyskgQNYEKxDOrnonOg6NNAJ8/s1600/InfinityOneExploded.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYUDLuSUZ4C_2UPMvCP8JClUgDqcNLedIoYlsKcnQCxu-l3MeN3skTp_YNvjPZXH7I9yN_XMHXkKVB1y3IW4Fhh2Pf7nCaTEQP2fHDZp0CZiYYfdJufi-SyskgQNYEKxDOrnonOg6NNAJ8/s1600/InfinityOneExploded.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The Infinity One is quite large already, making it rather comparable to the Beats Pill XL, than to smaller speakers like the Soundlink Mini. But it is 10cm shorter than the Pill XL and slightly slimmer and lighter overall, weighting "only" 1.3kg.<br /><br /><a href="http://stereos.about.com/od/Compact-Portable-and-Wireless-Audio-System-Reviews/ss/Review-Infinity-One-Bluetooth-Speaker_4.htm" target="_blank">Brent Butterworth</a> already did some measurements of the Infinity One and the frequency response although not entirely flat looks quite impressive with some deeper bass that the Pill XL cannot reproduce at all. I overlaid both measurements scaled to the same size with the thin lines representing the Infinity One while the thick lines belong to the Pill XL, and I think you can see pretty well, that the Infinity One has much more lower bass than the Pill XL which rolls off below 100Hz already, while the Infinity One still has usable bass at 50Hz. Although both have boosted treble as well, the Infinity One looks smoother without that strong dips and humps from the Pill XL and will probably sound more natural too: <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NSgFk2bo9oT5mgMbh1HVJhnudvExJTPFyqHwv0Y618xBATGnPEUl2wwyXPNLQdd2PZSjIinTu2VXt1BpLlm1KgdUfgGbDc_HR_1qcmQqMM7CMO0OmrZlUpA-_p3MNPmeq3kU9BsLVj4-/s1600/infinity-one+frequency+response.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NSgFk2bo9oT5mgMbh1HVJhnudvExJTPFyqHwv0Y618xBATGnPEUl2wwyXPNLQdd2PZSjIinTu2VXt1BpLlm1KgdUfgGbDc_HR_1qcmQqMM7CMO0OmrZlUpA-_p3MNPmeq3kU9BsLVj4-/s1600/infinity-one+frequency+response.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(c) Brent Butterworth</td></tr></tbody></table><br />What we also know is that the Infinity One won't be able to reach the same impressive loudness of the Pill XL, which is a pity, because Brent measured 102dB for the Pill XL, while the Infinity One only reached 93dB, which is nearly half as loud and thus not much louder than most other current portable speakers like the Soundlink III, TDK A33 etc. The Pill XL will probably still remain the "king of loudness", however with a less than ideal sound.<br /><br />There's no word about availabiltiy yet, but as the first test-samples are already out, I guess it should be issued during the next weeks. It is already available for <a href="http://www.infinityspeakers.com/estore/inf/us/products/Infinity-One/INFINITY%20ONE_INF_US?skuId=INFINITYONEAM_INF_US#" target="_blank">preorder</a> on the Infinity site.<br /><br />I would have loved to check this speaker out and put it through some tests and comparisons, but I am afraid I am not important enough to deserve a test-unit <img alt="Zunge rausstreckender Smilie" border="0" src="http://www.hifi-forum.de/images/smilies/12.gif" /><br /><br />Thanks to a friend, I was finally able to test the Infinity One, you can find my final review <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/10/review-infinity-one-premium-wireless.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><br /></p>

Harman Kardon which meanwhile owns some known audio brands like AKG, JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson and Revel will now also launch new products...

JBL Charge 2 out now!

<p>JBL already offers the new Charge 2 speaker without making a song and dance about it.<br />It is not yet available in any other stores except <a href="http://www.jbl.com/estore/jbl/us/products/JBL-Charge-2/JBL%20CHARGE%20II_JBL_US?skuId=CHARGEIIBLKAM_JBL_US&searchMode=regularProductOnly&sCatId=cat240040" target="_blank">JBL's own online store</a> and <a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/p_109CHRGE2B/JBL-Charge-2-Black.html?tp=63331" target="_blank">Crutchfield</a>. There's no known availabilty for Europe either...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmkqpVHduXu2WH5YaGCbt4ThaCY2AjwD71KlpXsp3h5dtwHbMtOSAHbKW7IcERCcX0D1yuQLRX5whs3fo-IrT2hmZgW25Mt3o8cwHSszkPE9bjNIMJLC-rM1ZNVYBXR0xJ2pNl67ufpt-/s1600/charge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmkqpVHduXu2WH5YaGCbt4ThaCY2AjwD71KlpXsp3h5dtwHbMtOSAHbKW7IcERCcX0D1yuQLRX5whs3fo-IrT2hmZgW25Mt3o8cwHSszkPE9bjNIMJLC-rM1ZNVYBXR0xJ2pNl67ufpt-/s1600/charge2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The new Charge 2 has dual passive radiators to the sides, and it seems it has dual drivers facing to both the front and back of the speaker making it nearly omnidirectional. The bass-response is claimed to be 75Hz, which is quite a gain over the 150Hz of the original JBL Charge speaker.<br /><br />Now this could finally be the real contender for Bose's Soundlink Mini, with more features, better outdoor usability and hopefully better sound too? The old one was rather a <a href="http://youtu.be/369O58SIyFo" target="_blank">bad joke</a> to tell the truth.<br /><br /><u>Update:</u> You can find my final review of the JBL Charge 2 <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/review-jbl-charge-2-failed-new-benchmark.html">here</a>.<br /><br /></p>

JBL already offers the new Charge 2 speaker without making a song and dance about it. It is not yet available in any other stores except JBL...

Speaker news and rumors: BoLse, Audio Dynamix and Fugoo

<p>"BOLSE", yeah right, Bose but with an "L" contacted me recently, if I would like to test their <a href="http://www.hifi-forum.de/redirect/go.php?goURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDefinition-Bluetooth-Technology-Play-time-Speakerphone%2Fdp%2FB00LIADN96%2Fref%3Dsr_1_cc_1%3Fs%3Daps%26ie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1404421527%26sr%3D1-1-catcorr%26keywords%3Dbluetooth%2Bspeakers%2C%2BB00LIADN96" target="_blank">newest speaker</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8eNxwEUhip6Zp69CmUhyTYrycCl0xF-JUoPQkaZ2BM_eZsyJlE9V9gYBpelgt_3H5sjfUoICeFtw4_P02NtpAiDU1_AOBDbv5Jc_fKnU8K1nHIsw1dI-FW9wktUQuuYEaGFjpNXmg2pR/s1600/bolse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8eNxwEUhip6Zp69CmUhyTYrycCl0xF-JUoPQkaZ2BM_eZsyJlE9V9gYBpelgt_3H5sjfUoICeFtw4_P02NtpAiDU1_AOBDbv5Jc_fKnU8K1nHIsw1dI-FW9wktUQuuYEaGFjpNXmg2pR/s1600/bolse.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br />After some research and incidentally reading in a German HiFi-forum about a similar speaker which (according to the owner, who already ordered one from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-The-Rechargeable-Pulse-compatible-Silver/dp/B00JFD8D20" target="_blank">amazon.co.uk</a>) should sound better than the Soundlink Mini while being cheaper, I noticed that the Audio Dynamix Pulse, and the mysterious Bose-speaker but with an L seem both to be exactly the same thing (expect the different branding of course):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIhYEKnI_imMKp3wUhj0NKJqoWMJamwQfPOvkovdVc_8phBT_GGkioz1yfPC5tV1Phf3ky2vCJw01motB1J85o0C1VP1F-WC4s508YINgdUrRpDYiwWJc913lp8k69vuZ3sjYUsqScMT8/s1600/audiodynamix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIhYEKnI_imMKp3wUhj0NKJqoWMJamwQfPOvkovdVc_8phBT_GGkioz1yfPC5tV1Phf3ky2vCJw01motB1J85o0C1VP1F-WC4s508YINgdUrRpDYiwWJc913lp8k69vuZ3sjYUsqScMT8/s1600/audiodynamix.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />There is no single negative review on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B00JFD8D20/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1" target="_blank">amazon.co.uk</a> about the Audio Dynamix Pulse and many compare it to the Soundlink Mini prasing it for comparable or even better sound. Even Audio Dynamix introduce the speaker <a href="http://audiodynamix.co.uk/the-pulse-2" target="_blank">on their site</a> with the following phrase:<br /><b><i>"The Pulse is our answer to the Bose Soundlink mini"</i></b><br /><br />If the Bolse speaker is really the same it should be quite a bargain costing just 59$ thus making it probably the best all-around value among portable speakers, provided that the rumors about quality of sound are true at all. The British Audio Dynamix version costs quite a bit more and is listed with 90<span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">�, which would make it more than twice as expensive. Maybe Audio Dynamix tuned their version better, or included some more advanced DSP, or better drivers, I cannot say for certain without having heard both in person. </span></span><br /><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">I already replied to Bolse that I would willingly love to prepare a review of their speaker and do some audio comparisons as well, but I am not sure if they are really about to ship this speaker to Europe. I will keep you updated. </span></span><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">Meanwhile I also conacted Audio Dynamix, if they would like to provide me a review sample as shipping from Britain should be possible more easily. </span></span><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><b class="priceLarge"><br /></b></span><span id="actualPriceValue"><b class="priceLarge"><br /></b></span><span id="actualPriceValue"><b class="priceLarge"><br /></b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.androidheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Fugoo-Style-Cutaway-Labeled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.androidheadlines.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Fugoo-Style-Cutaway-Labeled.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">Another speaker worth mentioning, although in a higher price-range is the <a href="http://www.fugoo.com/" target="_blank">Fugoo Bluetooth</a> speaker. I was already following Fugoo since the beginning as their speaker seemed to include nearly all points of <a href="http://oluvsgadgets.blogspot.co.at/2013/01/der-perfekte-portable-lautsprecher-eine.html" target="_blank">my original wishlist for a perfect portable speaker</a> and I think this is one of the most interesting outdoor speakers on the market right now, have a look at <a href="http://youtu.be/tdpFDM16v24?t=2m52s" target="_blank">this video</a>, what the guy does to the poor little speaker. My Bose Soundlink Mini already got scratched without even having touched it!</span></span><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3k20EaKBKVcHusevtkzZpJVyB8kKiSCK-_cQKzoNlfO-5xIrfNNHZW0Kpetdy0TH-bOrAguGKDSP6VsJk7MiO_inXlkzwDGnsfdkPP7MDMAUxzWKxQ2R5qqA3zZI9KGPgZ2vCRiu645T0/s1600/fugoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3k20EaKBKVcHusevtkzZpJVyB8kKiSCK-_cQKzoNlfO-5xIrfNNHZW0Kpetdy0TH-bOrAguGKDSP6VsJk7MiO_inXlkzwDGnsfdkPP7MDMAUxzWKxQ2R5qqA3zZI9KGPgZ2vCRiu645T0/s1600/fugoo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge"><br /></span></span><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">The Fugoo is small, rugged, waterproof, has exchangeable "jackets", an incredible battery life of 40 hours, and thanks to its 6 drivers </span></span><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge"><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">spread to all sides</span></span> including 2 passive radiators it should provide a full-bodied omnidirectional 360� sound, something completely missing from most portable speakers, which are extremely directional most of the time.</span></span><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">Initially there seem to have been some problems with maximum volume, but with the latest firmware this should be sorted out according to Fugoo as the speaker has an additional new "loud"-mode now.</span></span><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">Currently Fugoo speakers are only available in the US, but the CEO of Fugoo recently mentioned their speakers should come to the European market within the next 3 months. </span><span class="priceLarge">As I didn't want to wait for that long, I felt free to contact him asking cheekily for a review sample. He actually already responded to think about it first...</span></span><br /><br /><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge"><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge">As you can probably see from this photo quite well, </span></span>I think the Fugoo is also one of the most esthetic speakers I have seen so far </span></span><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge"><img alt="Laut lachender Smilie " border="0" src="http://www.hifi-forum.de/images/smilies/4.gif" />:</span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gadgetmac.com/storage/product-images/Fugoo-Sport-Beach2.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1401353489796" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="http://www.gadgetmac.com/storage/product-images/Fugoo-Sport-Beach2.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1401353489796" width="640" /></a></div><span id="actualPriceValue"><span class="priceLarge"> </span><b class="priceLarge"><br /></b></span></p>

"BOLSE", yeah right, Bose but with an "L" contacted me recently, if I would like to test their newest speaker : After so...