Bluetooth speaker?

[b0redom]

Hi All,
I'm interested in the panel's view on a decent Bluetooth speaker for my kitchen. It will be used to play back music, audiobooks and TV (as the LCD tv in there has rubbish sound). I've got a budget of around £200 MAX for this. I've been looking at the JBL Extreme, Bose Soundlink, Marshall Stanmore etc.

What I'm really most concerned about is the mid-range vocal stuff for the audiobooks/TV. I don't want anything which is too bass heavy if I'm in the kitchen making something for dinner when the kids are asleep.

Anyone have any recommendations?

Cheers...

b0redom

[peterb]

I've got the JBL charge 2 - which is very good. I use it for both music and radio, and I am pleasantly surprised by the performance. I have heard the extreme, it is also very good. It is designed to produce good bass, but bear in mind that the transducers are small which favours treble/mid range (small speakers tend to have poor bass characteristics) so it doesn't sound like unbalanced.

If you can find a stockist, worth having a listen.

[b0redom]

Cool. PC World (*spit*) have the extreme at a fairly hefty discount for £179. The reviews I've seen have mentioned it being a bit bass heavy. I'll go to my local one tomorrow and see if I can get a demo.

Other opinions welcome......

[peterb]

That's not a bad price, cheaper than I've seen it on Amazon.

I bought my Charge 2 at A duty free shop on a promotional offer, for around £79. The extreme is quite a bit bigger.

[b0redom]

Well in the end, I went for a JBL Charge 2+ (from PC World). I listened to the Extreme, but it was a bit too bass heavy for what I wanted. The Charge 2+ surprised me with the sound output (sounded better than the Bose equivalent and much louder than you'd think given it's diminutive size), and was much cheaper. I got it on sale at PC World (only £75!):

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/tv-dvd...33284-pdt.html

[peterb]

Excellent! I think that sums up how I felt about the extreme. I've been using my Charge 2+ this afternoon, and I'm still very pleased with it! (And that was a very good price )

[Biscuit]

I also got one of these in the recent Harmon Kardon online sale and I have been pretty impressed. Great little speaker

[thelawnet]

I have a JBL Charge 1 it's a neat little speaker. The Xtreme is very bass heavy (friend has it), but you can turn down the bass.

Otherwise apparently the one to go for is the Fugoo XL, but not yet available in the UK.

[b0redom]

How do you adjust the bass on the Xtreme? All the reviews I've seen say the only way to do it is on the source device (if it's possible) and there appear to be no EQ type buttons on the Xtreme itself.

[thelawnet]

yeah I mean turn it down at source

[Zak33]

may I suggest trying a sub £25 job first.. ?

Lets face it... you'll be able to upgrade and use the cheapy in the garage/shed/ on holiday etc

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Portab...tooth+speakers

I've used one of them. It's a surprise!

[malfunction]

Oddly enough I was going to ask the same question here today - and for those that are interested John Lewis are price matching Curry's if you can't face giving cash to them:

http://www.johnlewis.com/jbl-charge2...navAction=jump