Having a pool party? Harman’s JBL Boombox may be just the thing to punch it up. With this 5.25 kg mean machine, you ask for a boombox, you get a boombox. The very look of this speaker says boombox. It’s got the boombox shape and styling and promises hard hitting bass — and by god it delivers it. If you were to ask me who it’s for, I would say it’s for those who think music adds to the enjoyment of life, not for those who think life adds to the enjoyment of music. It’s not for audiophiles who want subtlety, realism and balance, but for those who want ‘monstrous sound’ and want to make a good amount of happy noise. That profile suits Indian users to a T going by what you hear around you. Our capital counts amount the top ten noisiest cities in the world because Indians are not afraid of loud.

Hard hitting bass

That’s not to mean that the JBL Boombox is all noise and no music. Quite the contrary. The sound that comes out of it is rather nice and, in my personal opinion, best at lower to mid volume. At high volumes, it can begin to be a little harsh, though not distorted, but many youngsters won’t care. The fullness and richness of its sound at more reasonable volumes would be pleasing to the majority.

If you listen to downtempo, techno, house, club, rap, rock, Bollywood, pop, and dozens of other Western genres, you’re going to be happy enough. Not just happy, in fact, you’ll love it. For bass lovers, the sound is full and deep. Your neighbours will hear the boom boom and at high volumes you could rattle some glass. It’s bass you can hear and feel and even see, if you get close to the side radiators on the machine and let something light bounce off it.

The depth of the bass is what will probably not suit anyone who’s a habitual listener and connoisseur of classical music (and I mean both Indian and Western here). It’s even a little too deep for jazz, beloved to audiophiles. I didn’t find it too bad for Chopin’s nocturnes and preludes as it didn’t seem to add too much boominess to the sound of the piano or make it sound unrealistic. Even the tabla in Hindustani sounded quite good and not unrealistic. So much depended on the recording. if you have songs that are in any case enhancing resonance and bass, you’ll really hear it, perhaps more than intended, with his speaker.

The high frequencies and vocals are by no means subdued on the Boombox. Voices do sound fuller and deeper and somewhat startling when it comes to say, Leonard Cohen or Pandit Jasraj. So much of your enjoyment with this device would depend on the type of music you listen to and your personal preference, so the best thing is to get somewhere where you can hear it first. It’s also very sensitive to different music types and recordings, so you’ll get very different results with everyday music. It can of course be tested with special audio test tones, but there’s little point to that when translated to real life. Overall, the sound is heavy and bass-lead. The one thing I didn’t quite like is its uni-directionality. It’s got a rounded body but no sound comes out of the back and it misses the 360-degree format that is so popular these days.

Make a splash

Incredibly, this chunky piece of kit will float in water. For a while. It’s IPX 7 rated which means you can allow water to splash on to it safely - perfect by the pool - and it can even stay dunked in a metre of water for thirty minutes though why anyone would want to do that is beyond me. Geared as it is to the tastes of young people, it can be carried from one place to the other, though it’s meant to be set down for listening, not constantly held. Your wrist will begin to feel it. The speaker works with Bluetooth 4.2 and can connect to a hundred other sister devices that support JBL connect. Now that would substantially up the noise level. There’s even a button dedicated to instantly connecting it with compatible JBL speakers. The Boombox itself has some simple controls on top. The buttons for volume and pause/play needed to have been a bit more prominent as they can be missed in dim light. There’s also a button to switch to outdoor sound profile. On the playback device, you can download the JBL Connect app for more control. The speaker is compatible with Siri and the Google Assistant which you can use to control which song to lay etc. It’s also usable for phone calls, but hardly the right place to speak to people and even drops clarity a bit there. Battery life is great. Though it may take four to five hours to charge, once it does, it’s good to go for 24 hours. You can use it to charge other devices as there are two USB out slots on the back.

Price Rs 34,990 (look for discounts)

Pros : Punchy powerful sound, water resistant to a point, sounds good at reasonable volume, portable, great battery life, rugged

Cons : No 360 degree or dual direction sound, not for those who want finessed sound, expensive

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