Windows Phone Thoughts: Not Quite "Waking Up the Neighbours" -- ThinkOutside's Boomtube H2O1 review

Sound
According to the specifications, the Boomtube has a frequency response of 50hz to 20Khz. They don’t say what the levels are in this range, but the norm is +/- 3db, and after listening to it, that would seem reasonable. While the overall sound and especially the bass response is noticeably better than other docking station-type products I’ve listened to, it’s not quite the window-rattling experience of a reasonably-powered, full-sized stereo and speakers set or a mid-sized boombox. It’s cute that the marketing material and the dial on the volume control proudly proclaim that the Boomtube ‘Goes up to 11!' and if you don’t understand that iconic reference, then I highly recommend watching This is Spinal Tap by Rob Reiner.


Figure 4: “Yea...like, it goes all the way up to ‘11’! (You need to say this with a fake British/Liverpool accent and a slight drawl, like you’ve been on something for too long).

My old ears don't listen to much rap or hip-hop these days, but some of those 'golden oldies' from the rock era of the '60s and '70s still carry some pretty good bone-rattling bass and percussion lines. In my tests, driving this unit with a Dell Axim X50v or my son’s IRiver MP3 player, I was able to get a reasonable level of sound, but certainly nothing that was uncomfortable or would bother my neighbours, unless I was living in a college dormitory or a '70s era apartment (paper-thin walls with no insulation/sound baffling). There certainly wasn’t enough volume for the beach, (or any outdoor venue) for anything above personal listening.

Based on the total system power of 40W RMS, my guess is that each of the satellite units is being driven by about 10W, with the centre woofer getting about 20W. The spec sheet didn’t provide details, but a third party review of the Virgin Boomtube EX confirmed that the satellites get about 12W RMS and the centre woofer gets 24W.

Bass response is reasonable and much better than some of the other desktop amplifier/speaker pairs I’ve heard. There is a control on the top of the unit (beside the volume control) to adjust the bass volume via MaxxBass(TM) technology. This did noticeably increase and decrease the output of the woofer unit, but the range wasn’t huge. Since bass notes tend to disperse quickly and reflect off surfaces, the Boomtube’s bass response will be greatly improved by placing the woofer unit against a wall or in a corner.


Figure 5: Close-up of the bass drivers in the central unit.

The mid/upper drivers are small, but deliver reasonable sound. To my ears, there were a couple of mid-range peaks which made the overall sound a bit mushy and, as with all small drivers, high-end treble notes (which are very directional) can get lost if you’re not sitting dead in the centre of the cone of sound in front of the speakers.


Figure 6: Looking face-on to one of the satellite mid/treble speakers.

One of the tunes I tested has a synthesizer run going from about 3000 Hz to a sustained note over about 12000 Hz. It completely disappeared at about 10000 Hz unless I was sitting directly in line with the speakers.

The speaker drivers are constructed of neoprene and are well sealed within their housings. They should be able to withstand water spray or an occasional splash, but I wouldn’t suggest using this unit in the rain or where it would get sea spray for any length of time.

The side panel of the woofer unit provides jacks for the power adapter, headphones, the left and right speakers and audio input.


Figure 7: Connectors provided on the side of the central unit – power, headphones, speakers and input (L-R).

Thoughtfully, all of these are standard connections, so there should be no problem connecting any audio source, or even attaching up a different set of speakers if so desired. Even if you lose or forget the supplied cables, you can use other ones that are probably laying around.

Power Consumption
According to the specifications sheet, the rechargeable LiIon batteries provided in the Boomtube will last about 5 hours from full charge. In my tests, it took just over an hour to get a full charge using the supplied adapter. At lower volumes (personal use, in a den or other quiet area), the Boomtube played along quite happily for almost 5 hours. At higher volumes, I was only able to get between 3 and 4 hours of play time before the red blinking critical lights came on. I also found my unit’s batteries discharged with the power turned off, so I was frequently plugging it back in to recharge them.

Which brings me to the power indicator, which is a set of coloured LEDs around the power button. The visible display area is a thin ring around the button, so it's sometimes difficult to see what colour it is. Even though it is correctly written up in the Quickstart guide, I found it confusing that solid green meant that it was plugged into the power adapter; solid orange meant it was on batteries “with at least 10% power remaining”; then solid red means it has “less than 10% power left”; and blinking red (or out) meant it was out of power. Every time I turned it on batteries, I thought I hadn’t got a full charge, because it would immediately go to orange. I would have preferred that they stuck with green as everything is OK, orange is getting low, and red as needs to be recharged/connected to the adapter.

Conclusions
This is a really nice portable amplifier unit with good quality sound. While you probably won’t feel it competing with your heartbeat or become ‘party central’, the Boomtube would be great for personal listening at home, on the road, in the dorm, or in a quiet outdoor setting. It’s a little pricier than other solutions, but the rugged packaging and versatility of connectors make it an alternative worth considering.

Yah, sometimes Don likes to push the volume ‘up to 11’, which is now usually accompanied shortly thereafter by ‘Daaaaad!!!! What the heck are you listening to?’