Bluetooth speaker recommendation

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Bluetooth speaker recommendation

cldlr76

289 posts

Ultimate Geek

#151621 31-Aug-2014 09:50

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a decent Bluetooth (or wireless) speaker that is capable of filling a 4.5m x 5.5m room with sound. I'm setting up my rumpus room as a home gym so it has to be loud enough to be heard over my bike turbo trainer. I'm hoping not to spend more than $200, but could be convinced otherwise.

We are an apple household if that makes a difference to anyone's answer.

Thanks

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1118865 31-Aug-2014 10:54

I purchased one of these at the start of the year, puts out decent sound and at volume. Took a look at a few other similarly priced units but found they just didnt sound as good.

Uses bluetooth or 3.5mm connection and also has a USB port to charge your phone/mp3.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

tdgeek

29750 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1118892 31-Aug-2014 11:16

Logitech UE Boom, love it. Can use two and set them to left and right. I paid $300, they seem to be around $240 now.
Brief but concise review here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10899329

Edit: spellcheck error

tdgeek

29750 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1118893 31-Aug-2014 11:19

In my post, I seem to have created a short custom named link, how did I do that? The edit comment has the review link

cldlr76

289 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1121370 3-Sep-2014 19:18

Thanks, the Logitech looks cool being able to hook them in stereo.

afe66

3181 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1121375 3-Sep-2014 19:26

I went to JB HiFi turned bluetooth on , spent 30 connecting to various speaker and trialling volume, signal strength etc

Went for Sony BTX500 for my office. Not loud enough for gym though.

A.

DeepBlueSky

547 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1121630 4-Sep-2014 09:50

If your after an awesome system that is not over priced have a look at the Sony Mini Muteki range.

I bought the RDHGTK17IP for my teenage daughter and she uses it to stream Spotify via Bluetooth, I have lost count the number of times I asked her to turn it down but that said the sound is good never sounds like its strained. Also the design is clever in that you can mount it horizontal or vertically depending on the need and the iPhone/iPod area doubles as a handle if your moving it about.

230W RMS power
One touch NFC & Bluetooth streaming
iPhone dock (8 pin) or via USB
Multi-colour LED speakers
DJ effects

On Clearance sale at the moment Warehouse for $ 249.98

The RDHGTK37IP is more powerful again specs say:

420W RMS power
One touch NFC & Bluetooth streaming
iPhone dock (8 pin) or via USB
Multi-colour LED speakers
DJ effects

Model: GTKX1BT
New model no iPod doc but even more powerful:

500W RMS of power
Wireless Music Playback via Bluetooth® and One-touch listening via NFC
Speakers with multi-coloured patterns LED Display
2-way Set-up (Horizontal and Vertical)

These units also come with a tuner with RDS so you can see the songs etc, and USB to charge your phone or connect an iPod etc.

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13769 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1121671 4-Sep-2014 11:07

DeepBlueSky: If your after an awesome system that is not over priced have a look at the Sony Mini Muteki range.

I bought the RDHGTK17IP for my teenage daughter and she uses it to stream Spotify via Bluetooth, I have lost count the number of times I asked her to turn it down but that said the sound is good never sounds like its strained. Also the design is clever in that you can mount it horizontal or vertically depending on the need and the iPhone/iPod area doubles as a handle if your moving it about.

I got offered one of those dirt cheap a while back (was an unwanted prize), only thing that held me back was that its main powered, and I wanted something battery.... sounded great and looked great tho :) Great party box :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

tdgeek

29750 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1121698 4-Sep-2014 11:23

xpd:
DeepBlueSky: If your after an awesome system that is not over priced have a look at the Sony Mini Muteki range.

I bought the RDHGTK17IP for my teenage daughter and she uses it to stream Spotify via Bluetooth, I have lost count the number of times I asked her to turn it down but that said the sound is good never sounds like its strained. Also the design is clever in that you can mount it horizontal or vertically depending on the need and the iPhone/iPod area doubles as a handle if your moving it about.

I got offered one of those dirt cheap a while back (was an unwanted prize), only thing that held me back was that its main powered, and I wanted something battery.... sounded great and looked great tho :) Great party box :)

I thought it was too pricey, heavy, not battery powered, but yeah it does look great.

trig42

5814 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1121717 4-Sep-2014 11:45

I got given a little UE Boom (I think called the Mini) and you can hook two of those up too.
I am impressed by their sound form such a small unit.

We take it away with us (great in Hotels/motels and at the bach were we have no mains power). Could get two of them for under $200, but I don't know how much volume you'd need to be heard over a piece of Gym equipment.

DeepBlueSky

547 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1121822 4-Sep-2014 13:37

Agreed they are not really small but you get a wall of sound and oodles of BASE if needed, and if its going to be located in the corner of a room vertically its not imposing. I see Sony have how also bought out a smaller replacement for the RDHGTK17IP called the GTKN1BT this is only 100W RMS less than half of the older version but its also physically smaller too.

Sony say the following:

100W RMS power
Wireless Music Playback via Bluetooth® and One-touch listening via NFC
Speakers with 10 multi-colour LED patterns
Smartphone Control with Sony's Original "App Remote"
2-way Set-up (Horizontal and Vertical)
5 Music Equalisers (R and B/ ROCK/ POP/ HIP HOP/FLAT)

Paul1977

5047 posts

Uber Geek

#1121824 4-Sep-2014 13:39

My girlfriend and I each have a UE Boom, and as others have said they are great, and work very well when you set them in stereo. However two of them will probably cost more than you want to spend.

We also have a UE Air Speaker which is great as long as you intend to leave it in one location, as it requires external power (this also means never having to charge it). At $299 at Mighty Ape I think this is better value than an UE Boom if it is to be dedicated to one location.

As an AirPlay speaker it is WiFi rather than bluetooth and so just connects to your home WiFi, then any iOS device on the network can see it and connect to it.

Only negative is that the default treble setting is a bit low and resets to default if you power off the unit - that said there is never really a need to power it off, so we haven't found this to be a problem.

EDIT: Other thing to note is it has the old style 40-pin connector on the physical dock, not the lightning one; so for the initial setup to connect it to the WiFi you need to use an iOS device with the 40-pin connecter. Once it's connected to the WiFi you never need to physically dock to it again. The physical dock slides away so it can't be seen.

Home: Work:
Home Work