Boombasstic Bluetooth Stereo Speaker - from Pama
It does what it says, although for £79.99 it is a little disappointing.
Whats in the box
The unit itself with removable front cover, a stereo 3.5mm male to male jack plug (1m long) and a four page instruction manual. The unit itself measures 380mm(l) x 160mm(h) x 190mm(d) (all approx - measured myself) with it's speaker grill on. It stands on four hard rubber conical feet.
There are two smaller speakers measuring 90mm in diameter and a larger middle sub-woofer at 115mm in the middle. The speakers look to be made from polypropylene. The case is hard shiny black plastic a la an
N95-2, "piano black". To it's rear there is input only for a stereo 3.5mm jack plug, the on off rocker switch and a 50mm port to improve(?) bass.
First Impressions
OK, it's a doddle to set up. Plug it in switch it on and the - and + volume keys flash to let you know it's looking for a Bluetooth device. Pair it to your phone using the pass code 0000 (cannot be changed) and your off. The - and + volume keys remain lit when it's paired.
First and foremost is it's on and off switch; why oh why is it in the back of the unit ? They put volume buttons on the front why not a simple push button on and off to the left ? Also line out and in as well as 3.5mm connections would have been good.
What it sounds like
For starters loud, I've no idea of the speakers sensitivity, but I would imagine its above 90db. They are rated at 7w for the small ones and 21w for the large one. They all sound louder but as you would imagine they have more volume with music player set at 100% volume. Distortion occurs only at very high volumes only.
Bass is deep, but turgid with the
N95's equalizer set to 'default' (Flat) New Order's True Faith has good bass tones that are little syruppy to these ears. Its deep enough but not as punchy as it could be. Treble is OK but cymbals are a little splashy and not as crisp as they could have been. Stereo separation is only apparent when stood directly in front of the unit. To be fair that aspect is not too bad given its a single unit. Mid range is not too good, it is hard to follow individual instruments Pete Hook's guitar often being swamped by the syruppy bass. Playing with the equalizer did make things different but not necessarily better. Mid range although audible and easy to pick out sounded brittle. While the Bass became a little boxy with little "oomph".
Playing Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake by the London Symphony Orchestra fared better. The bass sounded warm and unrushed the mid range confident in all but the busiest sections, but the treble still sounded a little messy.
Moving on to Metallica's Sandman it was apparent it couldn't cope well. The driving bass riff sounded almost lazy while the precise vocals sounded slightly garbled, at the end of the 'T' in night and light this was particularly noticeable.
Onwards and upwards to Annie Lennox's "Julia" I was pleasantly surprised. I expect lots of sibilance on Annie's vocals but there was none. The uncomplicated arrangement of the song sounded sweet and natural, the bass still a touch slow but the mid range sounded true and well rounded. Treble was OK but still a bit messy.
All in all it's OK. A speaker amp that can take A2DP Bluetooth, It's listenable but not Hi-Fi. I feel they have gone for warm silky bass when they should have gone for punchy in your face reproduction. Mid range can be made better by fiddling with
N95's equalizer, but treble is a let down sounding very messy at times.
Would I buy it ? Not for £80 no, for £50 yes possibly. I got it as an early birthday pressie so I can't really complain. I'll give it 5/10 as a party 'boom box' with your phone acting as a jukebox it will be loud enough and brash enough. I wouldn't recommend sitting down to listen to it though. Mine's living in the kitchen.
Linear Mode
