Question Looking for recommendations on a speaker

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Ltlandpa

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Jun 29, 2022
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Specifically, looking into buying a portable, Bluetooth-compatible, chargeable speaker, with pretty decent acoustics and bass, and such. Something I can bring to work with myself, something fairly durable.

Ideally, something I can order off the internet (like Amazon, or et cetera), but if it's likely to be stocked in your average retail store too (or ordered off their sites), that's fine too (Best Buy, Staples, et cetera).

Anybody have solid recommendations from personal/anecdotal experience or elsewise? Looking for something definitely under $200-$300, if possible, but any recommendations beyond that ceiling-range would be appreciated, nonetheless.

Thanks in advance! Hope I'm posting in the correct sub-forum.
 
One option is the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3. It has a long battery life and wide soundstage, especially for the price. It's also IP67 water resistant, meaning some splashes of water or dust particles will not damage the unit. For 150 dollars, it's an outstanding speaker for the price.

If you want something higher end, the Sonos Move is a great choice. It is pricey, a little over 300 dollars, but offers a louder speaker with special technology that allows it to adapt to different rooms and environments, meaning you can get more out of your music in more places. It's better suited for more genres of music, as it has better response than the Megaboom 3. If you have some cash to spare, this is the speaker to get. Hope this helped, take care.
 
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How big do you want this to be? Like, something you could carry around, or set down on the table, the floor?

For a smaller unit the JBL Charge (the one I have) and the Flip are pretty decent compared to their size. The Charge is the same size as a cycling water bottle and why I got it.

Our son got one a few years ago, I want to say Brookstone, but am not positive on that. It is about the size of a cinder block and honestly compares to a quality home speaker for its sound and output. It has the capability of lasting pretty much over a weekend according to how loud you keep it.

edit- Brookstone Big Party speaker. I was not aware that the company went out of business due to many of these catching fire, so probably not a real good recommend on that.
 
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punkncat said:
How big do you want this to be? Like, something you could carry around, or set down on the table, the floor?
Click to expand...
Probably somewhere in the range of "carry around" and "set down on the table".

Greatly appreciate the recommendations, thus far. Thanks for the comprehensive info, too!
 
Both the JBL Flip and JBL Charge are not as powerful or clean as the Megaboom 3. The Charge is more expensive, has less battery life, and a much weaker soundstage. Because the Megaboom 3 is a cylinder shape, sound is pushed in all directions, whereas the Charge is limited to mono sound due to its design.

The Megaboom is only about twenty dollars more than the JBL Flip, and gets significantly louder without distortion, has better battery life, and again, is not limited to mono sound due to it's cylindrical design. Definitely grab the Megaboom 3 over the JBL Charge and JBL Flip. The only reason I would go with the JBL Flip is if you are okay with giving up some battery life and sound quality in exchange for maximum portability.
 
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Also saw JBL advertising the Boombox 3 model, which looks slightly similar to something one of my coworkers use (albeit at a ~$500 price-- might need to save out of two paychecks if I was so inclined), though yeah, also have my eye on the Sonos, as well as the Megaboom... Soundstage and versatility are definitive perks, as well as customizable equalization, resistance to small degrees of wear and tear (I work in a potentially wet environment, suffice to say-- that being, back-house of a kitchen), et cetera.


The Sonos' adaptability sounds intriguing, as well as being flexible to a range of musical genres, per se, capturing fidelity, for back of better word.

In terms of battery life, if it can last at least 3 hours in one go (without battery durability taking a noticeable dip with age), that'll make me happier than a clam.

Quality is a plus; right now, we at work have a little Billboard brand speaker that you can barely hear over our store's music, only if you kneel real close to hear it, so, lol. Envious of the coworkers with their personal ones that are so much better.

Coincidentally, my dad actually bought himself a Megaboom, and one for my sister; he offered to lend me one, but I'd rather buy my own (I've only briefly heard it in action, and was pretty fairly sold on it).


At the moment, I walk to work, so it's just a matter of carrying it with me in a grocery bag, with the charger, and setting it on your average office desk or other surface, but yeah. pushing towards a mini-esque boombox scale isn't too bad either.

Thanks!
 
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turtletarget111 said:
One option is the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3. It has a long battery life and wide soundstage, especially for the price. It's also IP67 water resistant, meaning some splashes of water or dust particles will not damage the unit. For 150 dollars, it's an outstanding speaker for the price.

If you want something higher end, the Sonos Move is a great choice. It is pricey, a little over 300 dollars, but offers a louder speaker with special technology that allows it to adapt to different rooms and environments, meaning you can get more out of your music in more places. It's better suited for more genres of music, as it has better response than the Megaboom 3. If you have some cash to spare, this is the speaker to get. Hope this helped, take care.
Click to expand...
I have one of the Ultimate Ears Megaboom speakers. I think it is an excellent choice. By default it doesn't include the charging base. It is purchased separately.
 
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kanewolf said:
I have one of the Ultimate Ears Megaboom speakers. I think it is an excellent choice. By default it doesn't include the charging base. It is purchased separately.
Click to expand...
My old man claims that with his model of Megaboom, that he has a charging base, but that alternatively, you could use, assumedly, a USB (-C) charging cord, or something like that, to charge it otherwise. That's no problem for me, though, if I do need a particular base, I could buy that too. Thanks for covering the bases (no pun intended) :)


Ahh yeah, a micro-USB charging port. Actually looks like the older style of charging port that Androids have probably decided to deprecate? If so, I definitely have a charger cable sitting around somewhere which I could use for that.
 
Ltlandpa said:
My old man claims that with his model of Megaboom, that he has a charging base, but that alternatively, you could use, assumedly, a USB (-C) charging cord, or something like that, to charge it otherwise. That's no problem for me, though, if I do need a particular base, I could buy that too. Thanks for covering the bases :)
Click to expand...
Yes, there is a USB port on the speaker. The charging base includes a metal connector that you screw into the base and you move the USB cord to plug into the base.
 
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Ltlandpa said:
Also saw JBL advertising the Boombox 3 model, which looks slightly similar to something one of my coworkers use (albeit at a ~$500 price-- might need to save out of two paychecks if I was so inclined), though yeah, also have my eye on the Sonos, as well as the Megaboom... Soundstage and versatility are definitive perks, as well as customizable equalization, resistance to small degrees of wear and tear (I work in a potentially wet environment, suffice to say-- that being, back-house of a kitchen), et cetera.


The Sonos' adaptability sounds intriguing, as well as being flexible to a range of musical genres, per se, capturing fidelity, for back of better word.

In terms of battery life, if it can last at least 3 hours in one go (without battery durability taking a noticeable dip with age), that'll make me happier than a clam.

Quality is a plus; right now, we at work have a little Billboard brand speaker that you can barely hear over our store's music, only if you kneel real close to hear it, so, lol. Envious of the coworkers with their personal ones that are so much better.

Coincidentally, my dad actually bought himself a Megaboom, and one for my sister; he offered to lend me one, but I'd rather buy my own (I've only briefly heard it in action, and was pretty fairly sold on it).


At the moment, I walk to work, so it's just a matter of carrying it with me in a grocery bag, with the charger, and setting it on your average office desk or other surface, but yeah. pushing towards a mini-esque boombox scale isn't too bad either.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
The JBL Boombox 3 is a monster of a speaker, but for causal listening it's pretty overkill (The 500 dollar price tag is a pretty big sting too). Both the Sonos Move and Megaboom 3 have apps with customizable EQ so you can tune either to your liking. The Megaboom 3 has a little over 16 hours of typical battery life, so that will give you a few days of listening time with your use case. The Sonos Move gets around 10 hours on a single charge. The Sonos Move weights almost seven pounds, so if you are walking to work, that might pose a bit of an issue for you. The Megaboom 3 by comparison is two pounds.
 
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turtletarget111 said:
The JBL Boombox 3 is a monster of a speaker, but for causal listening it's pretty overkill (The 500 dollar price tag is a pretty big sting too). Both the Sonos Move and Megaboom 3 have apps with customizable EQ so you can tune either to your liking. The Megaboom 3 has a little over 16 hours of typical battery life, so that will give you a few days of listening time with your use case. The Sonos Move gets around 10 hours on a single charge. The Sonos Move weights almost seven pounds, so if you are walking to work, that might pose a bit of an issue for you. The Megaboom 3 by comparison is two pounds.
Click to expand...
The megaboom is waterproof, so no issue with rain when outside.
 
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Looks like the JBL Boombox 3, off their site, comes with a charging cable (takes 6 and a half hours to charge though, naturally, not bad-- one night's sleep, et voila); and a power cord too, damn.

Aye, looks like that Boombox comes at over 18 inches wide, which isn't too awful (about 5 hand-widths, for reference)-- aye, you might be right, perhaps overkill too.

I'm also quite torn on the Sonos and Megaboom. I believe, ironically, one of my workmates uses an Anker, clocking in around $20 on Amazon (and recommended adjacent to the other aforementioned speakers), though I don't recall its quality, comparatively-- suffice it to say, you get the quality you pay for.

The apps, sound very handy, nice. Seven pounds isn't too awful.


No worries about the weight, as it comes to walking to work; currently, it's about a half-mile, 15 minute walk. Eventually, it'll be a 5 mile (two and a half hours), probably, though I can always use the bus for the better part of that-- and, when I work out, I usually wear a backpack loaded up to 90 pounds-- as long as I can bag it, a seven-pounder speaker's nothing comparatively.

Shhhhyaow, then seeing the Boombox 3's clocking in at nearly 15 pounds. But then again, that just comes with a handle, lol.
 
It really comes down to what you are comfortable with spending. If you get the Sonos Move, you will hear the difference in quality over the Megaboom 3. If you go for the big guns and grab the Boombox 3, you will hear the improvements over the Sonos. It just depends on how much you want to spend. It seems like the Sonos Move was on sale for around 300 dollars. If you can't find it discounted anymore and have to pay the MSRP of around 400, at that point it might be better to spend 100 dollars more and grab the Boombox. It was my pleasure to assist you.
 
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Aye, I'd be comfortable spending a little more for quality, even if it means saving up for it. Ahh yeah, on Amazon, the Sonos is now, on my end, at $320 in black, and only one in stock-- lightly-used, no less, though when I try to add it to cart, it says there's an issue with that, so I'm fine with the white version for $380 or so.

Discount's of no concern, inasmuch as product availability-- the former's moreso of a perk, naturally. Cheers, Turtle :) Hope you have yourself (and all else of you, as well) a good day.
 
Welp, payday's arrived.

I've tested out my family's loaned Megaboom, and I'm pretty satisfied with the bass quality and especially the soundstage.

Also got my eyes on the Epicboom, Hyperboom, the Sonos Move, or that JBL Boombox I had my eyes on earlier. Not sure with whether I wanna settle with the Megaboom, or see if I can aim for something of an upgrade to that and lend the Megaboom back. Might just keep my eyes on reviews and work from there, aside from y'alls recommendations.
 
JBL Boombox touted as:
  • Decent subwoofer bass, loud and clean
  • Treble and bass is decently mixed/clean
  • 8 hour runtime and battery still lasts, upwards of 24 hours according to site-- depending on age and how intensively you use it, I'm sure
  • Customizable 'sound' (probably custom environment/equalizer)
  • 6.5 hour full charging time, not sure still if it actually can be powered with an AC cord while not effectively charged 'at all'
  • 40hz to 20k Hz range
  • 1 Subwoofer, 2 midrangers, 2 tweeters (ah, has an AC and battery mode, interesting)


    Ultimate Ears Epicboom touted as:
    • Solid bass, good soundstage
    • 360 degree surround sound
    • Auto-adaptive equalizer
    • 17 hour battery potential
    • "94 dB potential audio"
    • "Outdoor boost" feature, the only hefty speaker within the 'boom' series to sport this feature
    • The Epicboom is advertised as "massive (surround) sound with "ultra bass"; the Hyperboom "super massive and extreme bass"-- the prices are very similar, for what it's worth.
    • Charges with a USB-C cable


      Ultimate Ears Hyperboom touted as:
      • Loud, pristine/rich, extreme/supermassive sound and bass; "Woofers, radiators, and tweters for high-fidelity audio"
      • 24 hour battery potential
      • Auto-adaptive equalizer for "more pitch-perfection"/environmental adaptation
      • Standard play/pause/skip buttons & other controls on top of the unit
      • Peak sound intensity in the Boom series
      • Not compatible with portable boom charging docks (is fine, I can use a charger cable)
      • 13 pound beefy boy
      • 4 batteries required. (included)
      • Frequency range up to 20k Hz
      • 4 hour average full charging time


        Sonos Move touted as:
        • Adaptive equalizer
        • Drop-resistant
        • "Brilliant sound quality"
        • Deep bass, surround-soundscape
        • Has an app, naturally
        • "Trueplay tuning to balance sound for both where you're playing audio, and the audio itself" (this intrigues me, maybe a potential edge over the JBL Boombox and Hyperboom, if it outperforms setting a custom equalizer setting that I'd put together for bassier songs or audio clarity)
        • 11 hour battery life, potentially
        • "Mono audio output mode?" according to Amazon, probably not inherently bad though-- makes sense, considering its size and whatnot


          (Sorry for the really weird formatting, copy-pasted these bullet-points out of messages I made as notes in Discord; I'm sure markdown went a little wonky as it transitioned over. Backspacing to fix the spacing didn't seem to do the trick, lol.)


          Thoughts based on this, lads? if it was you buying, and not me, and you had the money needed to buy any one of the above (where money's no longer an object, in terms of determining the ideal buy)? JBL Boombox is at ~$500; Epicboom's at ~$350; Hyperboom's at ~$360; Sonos Move's at ~$375.

          Note, I'm mostly torn between the Hyperboom, Sonos, and Boombox.. possibly getting sold on the Sonos.
 
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Because the Megaboom 3 is a cylinder shape, sound is pushed in all directions, whereas the Charge is limited to mono sound due to its design.
Click to expand...
So, the Sonos Move, on the Amazon page, is listed as mono-- I'd prefer if there wasn't as much risk of audio distortion, and I'unno if that'd be a matter of playing with the EQ to counterbalance it; being moderative with the playback volume, or just inevitable due the sheer power of the speakers (or their quality/lack thereof) inadvertently impacting that, as well as the unit playing back mono vs stereo "forcing all of the sound[stage] in mono-style & thus causing a form of distortion, versus being balanced in stereo" for lack of better descriptor.


Surround-sound is a big plus, clarity/fidelity as well, booming bass. Something with a good volume 'ceiling', if you will.

No matter what, I'm sure I'll be pleased with whatever I do end up going with-- just excited and looking forward to trying whichever I settle for, out :)
 
Ahh, last-minute I just decided to go with the Boombox, saved the other 3 speakers in my wishlist/for later area of Amazon.


If, in a couple months, I toss money at buying the Sonos Move and the Ultra & Hyperboom, I'll let you guys know what I think if I compare them for craps and giggles. Cheers!
 
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