Jawbone BIG Jambox Bluetooth Speakers

My brother owned the smaller original Jambox. I was blown away when I heard it, and for a long time I wanted to get my own. After reading so many rave reviews about the Big Jambox online, I decided I definitely wanted to get one. I had very high expectations based on what I read, and honestly the Big Jambox delivered on every front. In this case the overwhelming numbers of great Amazon reviews were correct. I got a red one, and I really love it. As a professional saxophonist and private music instructor I use play along CDs and MP3s both for myself and my students for studying jazz. I was a bit skeptical before it got as to whether or not it would be loud enough for us to play along to, but once I got it and tried it my fears melted away – it was MORE than loud enough and the sound quality was excellent! Honestly this unit packs a real wallop for its size and I am very pleased with the volume level. I know there are a lot of comparisons between the Big Jambox and the Bose Soundlink, and having never owned or heard in person the Bose unit I can’t comment on any difference there may be between the 2. But at the time of this review the Bose Soundlink is about $300 while the Big Jambox is at $187, so to me it would seem to be the better box-for-the-buck. The battery life is really great too. I am able to get over 10 hours of playtime with my Big Jambox before it needed a recharge. The frequency response of the Big Jambox seem very well balanced to my ear for a speaker this size. The bass has a nice punch while not being overwhelming loud, it’s just about where it should be. The mids and highs are very good, although I would have liked the highs to be a bit crisper, but this is really a minor issue. It really fills a room nicely, but it also sounds great outdoors as it did on a recent camping trip I took. I enjoy listening to jazz, classic rock, and classical music mostly, and these 3 very different styles all sound marvelous on my Big Jambox. The Big Jambox has a feature called Live Audio, and I admit I have somewhat mixed feelings on it. On the plus side, the Live Audio feature does something amazing – if you close your eyes and put the Big Jambox in front of you with Live Audio engaged, you would swear that the sound is coming from areas several feet from the right and left of the speaker where there no part of the actual Big Jambox exists! This is really amazing and it gives the Big Jambox the illusion of having stereo separation far beyond it’s actual physical bounds. However, on the minus side, Live Audio seems to bury some frequencies more than others, most notably to my ear lead vocals tend to get somewhat covered up by the band, which is not the case when Live Audio is off. Also the overall volume is lower when Live Audio is activated, so you lose some of that punch you get when using the Big Jambox without it. Overall I would highly recommend the Big Jambox for anyone who is looking for a very powerful, portable bluetooth speaker system with excellent sound quality at a very reasonable price point for any room in your home, or outdoors on your back patio or at your campsite, or for jamming along with if you are a musician like me. It delivers on all accounts and I’m certain if you get one you will be very satisfied with it.