Frequency response: 235 Hz to 20 kHz, ±5.1 dB
Distortion: 2.0%
MCMäxxx™: 84 dB
Battery life: 20 hours
Wouldn’t you know that the unit with the weakest subjective performance delivers the flattest frequency response? This is partly because the iClarity HD’s drivers are close together and don’t interfere much with each other, and also because they have pretty good dispersion. It actually measures like a halfway-decent conventional speaker. This unit might sound a lot better if Monster had rolled off the treble to provide a psychoacoustic balance for the unit’s nonexistent bass response.
$119 monstercable.com
Best for: cheapskates
Worst for: rockers, audiophiles
MONSTER'S BLUETOOTH STRATEGY seems to focus on undercutting its competitors. Although the iClarity HD lists for $119, it’s available at a much deeper discount than the other products I tested; I found it on Amazon.com for $75. At just 4.4 inches wide, it’s quite compact. There’s no denying, though, that the iClarity HD’s plastic chassis lacks the cachet of the chi-chi Jambox.
Judging from the spec sheet, you’d conclude that the iClarity HD’s guts are kind of the same as the Jambox’s. The iClarity HD has two 1.5-inch drivers and a top-mounted passive radiator for bass reinforcement. An on/off switch is on the back, and the right side has buttons for power, speakerphone, and volume up/down. Unfortunately, you have to hold the power button down for 4 seconds to turn the unit on or off.
I found the iClarity perfectly fine for streaming the Guitar Jazz channel from JazzRadio.com in the background while I was working, and for listening to talk shows such as NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.” It has no bass at all, but there’s an upside to that — freed of the need to play deep, it can play about 6 dB louder than the Jambox and 3 dB louder than the Soundmatters FoxL v2, and its battery ran about four times as long. Listeners on the other end of the line reported that my voice sounded nice and clear, indicating that the iClarity has a pretty decent built-in mike. But there’s not much detail, the treble and midrange sound harsh, and the overall balance is rather thin.
Need a portable speaker system to play background music or talk shows — or something that runs for 2 full workdays without a recharge? The iClarity HD is your baby. Need more? Go elsewhere.
Wouldn’t you know that the unit with the weakest subjective performance delivers the flattest frequency response? This is partly because the iClarity HD’s drivers are close together and don’t interfere much with each other, and also because they have pretty good dispersion. It actually measures like a halfway-decent conventional speaker. This unit might sound a lot better if Monster had rolled off the treble to provide a psychoacoustic balance for the unit’s nonexistent bass response.
>Why would I bother with it when my Droid can not only play music but also access Internet radio, stream video from YouTube . . . and, of course, make phone calls?
Uh... because you can carry your whole music library around with you?
Am I the only person left who thinks Internet radio is fine for talk radio and selected musical subjects, but just plain sucks when it comes to playing what music I want to hear RIGHT NOW?
My Droid holds 16 GB of music on its SD card. That's enough for me.
It's a pity you didn't include the new Bose Soundlink mobile as it is probably the most powerful portable Bluetooth speaker with this size that I have heard so far. It has a bit muffled treble but when listening to it outside at higher levels this is not an issue.
I would love to see some frequency response graphs from it as I cannot do them by myself with such a technical precision.
@oluv: There's been a lot of interest in that device, but the newer Bose wasn't actually available at the time we did this roundup, so we couldn't test it. We did do a day-of-release post about it (http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article/bose-soundlink-wireless-mobile-...) that discussed its amplifier power, but we haven't been able to get a review unit in as yet.
Would appreciate a review with proper measurements for the Bose Soundlink mobile. It seems like a good buy.
With regard to Oluv's view on the muffled treble, was wondering if using a good equalizer app like PowerAmp would solve the issue. I've downloaded the app on my Galaxy Note. It really makes the songs come to life and gives you the freedom to adjust the 10 band equalizer as well as bass and treble.