advertisement


Best bluetooth speakers?

Accuphaseman said:
Try the Kef Muo.sounds excellent and has a rechargeable battery built in.
Click to expand...

Looking for Kef Muo into the Kitchen, Naim Muso Qb is simply too expensive even reduced recently (probably new version round corner)

Perhaps Muo is too old, development are fast forward, the Bose mentioned here not more expensive actually.

Other alternatives in max €200-250 range to look for ?
(Will use for internet radio via mobile only)
 
I’ve had an original Bose Soundlink mini from first release and love it. Then bought the Bose Soundlink mini II on first release. Probably use this more than anything. Not sure it can be bettered at the price.
 
What is important is the BT protocol they support
- at least AptX and better AptXHD. Both are built into modern Android OS. Sony has a competing scheme - LDAC - also in Android
 
I've not seen any mention of the appallingly named Jam Heavy Metal. Highly regarded and often compared to the Soundlink for half the price. Many who own both speakers prefer the Jam. I may try one out but reliability issues are putting me off. Audio Pro T3/C3 and the Riva S are also on my radar. I'm not sure any of them are a match for my dying Squeezebox Boom. The Boom speakers are a fantastic piece of design. Great sounding.

He records with a binaural microphone so you need headphones to listen.

 
I just bought an anker soundcore motion plus.
What caught my attention is their use of active crossovers and four separate amplifiers.

I can't compare it to much, only really the soundlink mini and a UE boom something. Sounds much better to my ears, for less money.

The bose sound surprisingly good for it's size, but keeps pushing out that one bass note it's tuned for. The anker sounds a lot more natural. To be fair, it's bigger than the bose, but still very portable. I always found the UE sound underwhelming.
 
Audio Pro Addon

C3 (with battery)
C5
C10

They all utterly wipe the floor with pretty much every speaker mentioned on this thread, and they have DLNA and Airplay.

The C10 I feel is actually better than my Naim Muso QB sound wise and the other two arent far behind. The C3 is great as it has a battery pack and is TINY but fills the room with controlled sound.

The Naim is more 'SS hifi' the Addon is more 'valve Hifi'.

wireless-multiroom-speaker-Addon-C10-grey-works-with-alexa-AudioPro-600x493.jpg
 
Addon gear seems nice and if used as a Non-BT speaker is probably great.

But OP specifically asked about Bluetooth. Addon is BT 4.0, apparently without even AptX. As such, its Bluetooth performance will be substantially compromised.

One should not be buying BT4.0 at these prices.
 
DimitryZ said:
Addon gear seems nice and if used as a Non-BT speaker is probably great.

But OP specifically asked about Bluetooth. Addon is BT 4.0, apparently without even AptX. As such, its Bluetooth performance will be substantially compromised.

One should not be buying BT4.0 at these prices.
Click to expand...

Not sure about that. Its why the Addon wins most of the market shoot outs..Bluetooth technology is inferior anyway, but how that data is processed can significantly show true performance. True Aptx and AptxHD can help improve it, but when this is 'relied' on more than designed around it, means an older Bluetooth device can sound better. No one 'listens' to Bluetooth, its merely for background noise.

I had one test over a month about 15 different small speakers, the Audio Pro was the best by far. I would be tempted to let the Muso's go for C5 and C10's but I feel Naim will always have the upper hand on software stability and support. For the price its a no brainer.

If the OP solely wants Bluetooth and not Airplay or DLNA, he can opt for the Addon 'T' series, which is AptX.

Same design, same sound, but withoutout the extra networking features, I think a bit cheaper also. I heard no difference in performance over Bluetooth between a C10 and T10. My suspicions are they are both APTX, Audio Pro arent the best at marketing, they don't even advertise the C series is DLNA/UPNP!

https://www.aptx.com/products/audio-pro-t10-addon-bluetoothr-speaker
 
About to order one of those after watching Oluv on YT declare it the best sub $100 speaker of 2019. I trust his ears and he owns every bluetooth speaker under the sun. Other reviews seem to back up what he says. It's fairly new on the market. It does sound very impressive and the app looks very good. Anker keep listening to owners and tweaking the firmware. Also has aptX and I can pair it with my aptX compatible Shanling M1 player. I also like Anker as a company and own a few of their products.

Stereo pairing is an option and looks to work well.

Yes the speaker design does seem similar to my SB Boom.

There's a £10 discount on this speaker on Amazon which expires this Friday

Another Oluv binaural recording. Listen on headphones!



cubastreet said:
I just bought an anker soundcore motion plus.
What caught my attention is their use of active crossovers and four separate amplifiers.

I can't compare it to much, only really the soundlink mini and a UE boom something. Sounds much better to my ears, for less money.

The bose sound surprisingly good for it's size, but keeps pushing out that one bass note it's tuned for. The anker sounds a lot more natural. To be fair, it's bigger than the bose, but still very portable. I always found the UE sound underwhelming.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
chipbutty said:
About to order one of those after watching Oluv on YT declare it the best sub $100 speaker of 2019. I trust his ears and he owns every bluetooth speaker under the sun. Other reviews seem to back up what he says. It's fairly new on the market. It does sound very impressive and the app looks very good. Anker keep listening to owners and tweaking the firmware. Also has aptX and I can pair it with my aptX compatible Shanling M1 player. I also like Anker as a company and own a few of their products.

Stereo pairing is an option and looks to work well.
Click to expand...

The app isn't great. It doesn't remember your speaker so you have to scroll through all their speakers and select your one before it connects.

You can then select from a list of EQs and create a custom one, but when you switch off the speaker it forgets and next time you have to start again.

The standard bass boost seems fine for low to medium volume, so I use that.

The rubberised surface is nice and grippy but as some amazon reviews noted it attracts fingerprints so if that's the kind of thing that bothers you it might drive you crazy.

I'm currently in the US for a year so I'm considering buying another one to use as my primary stereo.
 
A recent firmware update now stores your custom EQ setting in the speaker. Have you tried the update? Hopefully they will also update the app to keep your speaker as a default. Mine's arriving tomorrow.

cubastreet said:
The app isn't great. It doesn't remember your speaker so you have to scroll through all their speakers and select your one before it connects.

You can then select from a list of EQs and create a custom one, but when you switch off the speaker it forgets and next time you have to start again.

The standard bass boost seems fine for low to medium volume, so I use that.

The rubberised surface is nice and grippy but as some amazon reviews noted it attracts fingerprints so if that's the kind of thing that bothers you it might drive you crazy.

I'm currently in the US for a year so I'm considering buying another one to use as my primary stereo.
Click to expand...
 
chipbutty said:
A recent firmware update now stores your custom EQ setting in the speaker. Have you tried the update? Hopefully they will also update the app to keep your speaker as a default. Mine's arriving tomorrow.
Click to expand...

There was an app update today, and it now remembers your speaker(s).
The speaker now stores the custom eq when you turn it off, but if you press the eq button on the speaker, it goes to "normal" then if you press it again it goes to "bass up" rather than back to custom. Not that big a deal.
 
I bought a JBL Xtreme 2 for holiday use this year, it's waterproof, robust and sounds way better than I thought it would.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Mine has arrived today. Latest firmware is installed. I'm finding the custom EQ settings frustrating. My changes won't stick. I adjust the sliders to how I want them then tap 'back' to go to the main screen. If I then go back into my custom EQ a couple of the sliders have changed from where I last set them. Weird. Have you encountered this?

Actually it seems to do this if you set a couple of the sliders too closely to each other. It will automatically move them slightly. I'm guessing the DSP doesn't like it. So it will let you adjust the EQ but not so much that it feels it would mess up its algorithm. It saved Olav's settings fine. No big deal. Anyway, no time to test it properly until I get home from holiday. On a brief listen it sounded very impressive.


cubastreet said:
There was an app update today, and it now remembers your speaker(s).
The speaker now stores the custom eq when you turn it off, but if you press the eq button on the speaker, it goes to "normal" then if you press it again it goes to "bass up" rather than back to custom. Not that big a deal.
Click to expand...
 
Yes they look great. What's nice about these 360° speakers is the small footprint. Pair two up in stereo and you can have a nice system in the kitchen taking up very little room.

Rockmeister said:
The new Anker Soundcore Flare. Cheapest, best sound, 100% waterproof, very portable. Which magazine test results. No brainer.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soundcore-Bluetooth-All-Round-Fantastic-Waterproof/dp/B07BHP4W36/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3GUXBE5NXM2M1&keywords=anker+soundcore+flare+bluetooth+speaker&qid=1566378267&s=gateway&sprefix=anker+soundcore+flare,aps,255&sr=8-3

and you get a lightshow! :)
Click to expand...
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Got one of these for my teenage son from Anker which are very good - looks suspiciously similar to the Bose product

My little Ruark R1 DAB radio in the kitchen also works as an excellent Bluetooth speaker which goes surprisingly loud as teenage parties in the house have proved (god forbid they touch the hifi or any of my CDs or LPs!)
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top