Wireless Portable Speaker Discussion

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by rhythmdevils, May 3, 2021.

  1. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    There’s been some discussion in the advice thread and while I have no use or interest, others might or friends of ours might. It would be good to have a place to discuss the best wireless single unit portable speakers out there.

    Ultimate best and best for the price.

    my mother has good ears and liked the

    Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3

    it has nice features and is small and made by a reputable company. And it’s cheap.

    seems like people also recommend the

    RIVA Concert
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2021
  2. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    No experience with Riva concert, but I really liked Riva Turbo-X when I had it a couple of years ago (mom wanted it so I had to give it to her eventually tho). In general Riva is more solid in pure sonic quality albeit not the greatest feature sets. Link here: https://rivaaudio.com/riva-turbo-x/
     
  3. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Yep, I have two Turbo S units that I run in stereo. I don’t have a huge need for wireless speakers so they do the job nicely.
     
  4. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I like the portable speakers from Vifa, though yes you're paying a premium for some of the "fashion" and brand name.
    There are 5 speakers in the lineup. I have the Helsinki and the Copenhagen, which are 2nd and 4th in terms of size. They get decently loud, not as much as a UE Megaboom or JBL Xtreme, but sound much better. They have apps available and it can connect through your wireless network, but I'm a luddite who only uses bluetooth or analog cables so haven't really experimented with them.

    Last year before covid shut us all down, we had a headphone meetup but some of us brought some bookshelf speakers to play with as well. I had the little Helsinki sitting in the middle of the room and honestly except for the lack of stereo separation (and it's not even "bad" in that sense since it disperses sound well) you could have mistaken it for the much bigger speakers playing on the sides.

    If I needed a soundbar setup, I'd strongly consider getting the Stockholm based on how much I like the others in the lineup. For those who must appease another decision maker in the household who doesn't like big boxy speakers, these also fit the bill very nicely.
     
  5. Erroneous

    Erroneous Friend

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    I have an Aiwa Exos 9 I use in my kitchen. It sounds really nice and certainly goes louder than other portable speakers I've owned. It's meant to be carried around but admittedly it's the least fun to carry of the portable options I've owned, given its bulk.

    For actually portable speakers, I'll carry my UE Megaboom wherever because it also sounds good and is much more comfortable to lug around.
     
  6. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    Also a fan of the Riva Turbo X. I had and returned a JBL, have listened to a UE Boom 2. The Riva is rolled off at bottom and slightly up top; but what's there is good, pretty smooth FR, doesn't have any nasty peaks in the FR. Where the JBL was definitely bright, UE in between. The actual Turbo mode is not very useful, I can go one increment further in loudness but the 2 above that it's definitely breaking up.

    I use it fairly often at times - when on the bike trainer or treadmill, when working in the garage, and I was using it as my desktop speaker and will again when I get the new top for my sit/stand desk. On the desktop in close nearfield (60cm/2') it sounds crappy down on the desk. I jury-rigged a stand to place it above my monitor and that worked well. I have wood for a nice stand once the new top is here.

    Mid-field, being on a table top helps with loudness, even better if about a foot from a wall. It's still no party speaker, but does fine for background music.

    There's a big caveat, however - they haven't been in production for a few years, so anything you find will be refurbished. I bought mine at Monoprice which said it was fully functional, while Amazon at the time specifically said their refurb did not work off the battery. The first one I bought had a button that didn't work but the battery was fine. The replacement was functional, but the battery wouldn't charge. After a lot of complaining, Monoprice finally sent me a 3rd one which is great - I haven't run it to depletion, but I have easily gotten 15 hours out of it.
    Now I see Amazon has them again for $100 and says they have at least 80% battery capacity, which should be a lot.

    Not sure what would best them at this price point, but that's pretty much what this thread is about.
     
  7. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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    been wanting to try this
     
  8. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    I think the vast majority of wireless buds use heavy DSP to get reasonable sound. I scanned the video pretty quickly, and I see he adds an additional filter, and that he had to do a bunch of trial and error to get output he was happy with. Having a deliberately borked line level signal that you then equalize at speaker level, ugh. But that's just me.
     
  9. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    I have an older UE Megaboom that sounded good until the battery died about 2 yrs later. A replacement battery still didn’t fix my charging issue so it didn’t get used much after that.

    last year my wife bought me a JBL Charge 4 and I think that sounds better.
     
  10. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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    the filters are crossovers for the most part, didn't pay attention to see if he added a baffle step filter - not quite equalization
     
  11. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I have a white Riva Turbo X that produces no sound from the tweeter. I don't know if it's the driver, the crossover, or just a loose wire somewhere. I haven't turned it on in years. I have the carrying bag too. If someone wants this thing, you can have it for the price of shipping (from Canada).
     
  12. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Done! Will PM you.
     
  13. fastfwd

    fastfwd Friend

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    The Bose Soundlink Revolve+ Series II is a little pricey, but it's rugged and water-resistant, and doesn't need to be next to a wall to play at a reasonable volume -- so it's good by the pool, or on a picnic table or whatever.

    Has the typical Bose sound, and if you want to spend $600 for two of them you can get stereo. Lasts a long time on a charge, pairs easily with multiple phones simultaneously. Has a microphone so you can talk to Siri/Google/Alexa through it; if you don't need that, the Series I is like $40 cheaper.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VL5S148
     
    Last edited: May 9, 2021
  14. feralcomprehension

    feralcomprehension New

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    I'm a fan of the UE Boom 2; gave one to a gf as a flyer xmas present several years ago and it was so well received that she bought a second for her office. I liked hers well enough that I bought one myself. The trio are now 3-4 years old and still working great.

    Small, waterproof, tough, good range great battery life, and satisfyingly loud so long as you can get some wall and/or corner loading. I find that when playing loud I like to have them face the wall and be at least 15' away to keep the treble from sounding too hot.

    She: "Have you seen my boom? I can't find it."

    He: "No, sorry..."

    (hours pass...)

    She: "Found it; I left it in the shower."

    I got all of ours for less than $100 each by watching Amazon carefully.
     
  15. hawaiiancerveza

    hawaiiancerveza Friend

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    I currently have the Riva Festival and enjoy it as is good (for now) as our HT speaker.

    I'm curious if anyone has heard of the UE hyperboom? UE has the option (when in stock) to purchase a renewed version at about half the price.

    I'm waiting for that to come in stock to purchase one for when I work out in the mornings.

    I've tried moving the Festival around but every time I unplug it, I need to wait for it to allow me to connect via Bluetooth before working out. In any case, I might just get another Festival.
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2022
  16. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    I have a pair of minirigs:

    https://minirigs.co.uk/

    Pros:
    • Nice design.
    • Go super loud.
    • Very good battery life - maybe 40-50 hours at moderate volumes.
    • If you go in via an aux cable they are actually decent-ish speakers. Still get undefeatable DSP which does stuff I presume mainly in the bass, but no obvious artefacts (weird pumping etc).
    Cons:
    • Tuned a bit bass heavy (you can change this via the app but it resets every time you turn off).
    • Bluetooth is only aptX which limits their performance quite a bit.
    • Need two for a stereo pair.
    • Buetooth pairing is staggeringly painful, it pairs with anything in sight and then refuses connection from the device you actually want to play music from. Basically you have to go round the room turning Bluetooth off on everything else before you can get a peep out of it.
    If you can get past the last point they are pretty great, though probably not very good value in N America.
     
  17. Woland

    Woland Friend

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    Anyone tried the BenQ Trevelo portable electrostatics?
     
  18. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I was not expecting an electrostatic bluetooth speaker from BenQ of all companies.
     

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