Soundmatters foxLO Palm-Sized Powered Subwoofer - US Version (Black)

I have (and have had) lots of bluetooth speakers, starting years ago with the first FoxL, through Jambox (FoxL-like) Jabra Sole (nice), Beats Pill (nice but lacking bass), Bose Soundlink (excellent), and Bose Soundlink Mini (excellent). The Soundmatters Dash 7 is a better-traveling FoxL, and I like it's more accurate sound, so it's my dedicated travel speaker. I liked the bass response of the Bose, but it's larger and not as travel-friendly as the Dash 7 (I carry a LOT of professional gear so I minimize where I can). The net of all this is (a) I prefer accurate sound, and the Dash 7 provides that in the most travel-friendly package (it's sibling with the same drivers is the Jambox Mini; however, to me it's sound sounds more processed/compressed than the Dash 7, so I chose the more expensive Dash 7. So there's the back story. Why the FoxLo? Curiosity. Here's the scoop: you need to play the FoxLo for a day to loosen the woofer. Until then you don't get much bass. I played it with wired connection from iPad-to-FoxLo-to-FoxL for a day. Then it was ready. I now use it iPad-to-Dash 7 and use the sub-out to the FoxLo. And adjust the bass to a level that rounds out the bottom-end of the Dash 7 (yes you can over-drive the FoxLo, so I don't :) So for now I've been using it on my nightstand as a "dock" for my Dash 7. And I love the accurate sound for everything from rock to alternative to pop to complex classical pieces to (yes) solo cello suites. Is it a bit of a chore to plug it in? Yeah, but not much (one cable). Do you have to adjust the FoxLo volume? Yep, but not much once you get a feel for what it does (yes, the limiter circuit is not correctly implemented, and I could design a working limiter quickly enough-- but it's easier to set the sub's volume correctly and just assume there isn't a limiter on the FoxLo. Easy.) So while it took a couple of days to break in the FoxLo and to learn its "groove", it was worth the $99 sale price from Amazon, and I'm keeping it-- happily. Will I travel with the FoxLo? Probably not. Will I still play my home sound systems and my Bose Soundlink, too? Of course. But the Dash 7 is my favorite bluetooth travel/portable speaker, and it is always in my laptop backpack (along with lots of drives, cables, and.....well, work stuff). So I'm leaving for Stockholm tomorrow for a week, and the Dash 7 will be playing music to fall asleep to; helping to take the edge off of 8 hours of jet-lag. Should you buy one? If you love your Soundmatters FoxL or Dash 7, and you want an admittedly techy/gadget-person subwoofer to pair with it for fun, then have a go. If you dislike needing cables and a separate power brick and you want something all-in-one with the deeper bass you desire, then there are bluetooth speakers that provide that, too (the Bose SoundLink Mini is my choice for the latter if you find the Bose sound processing algorithms pleasing to your ears-- there are trade-offs for everything, and that's why I have both :)

This is a review for both the foxL DASH7 and the foxLO. (The two stars is only for the foxLO. The foxL DASH7 on its own would be four stars, and I have rated it as so in the review I posted for it.)I had read all kinds of raving reviews for the foxL, calling it some kind of miracle of audio engineering. Well, yes and no.For its diminutive size, it does reproduce very impressive sound quality, and being a truly pocketable product, it's also extremely convenient. But, laws of physics is what it is, the foxL will not reproduce satisfying low-bass, nor will it play loud enough to fill even a medium sized room. This speaker was designed to play right in front of you, a few feet away, and to ask it to perform beyond that, is perhaps unreasonable.I also tested the foxLO portable subwoofer too, which is a kind of an awkward product, since it is not wireless and must have the power plugged in. I might have been okay with that if the subwoofer was really impressive, but it wasn't. It distorted easily and when it did, the distortion was a nasty and harsh noise that's unlike any other audio distortion I've ever heard (this is because the foxLO's driver is a unique design that's nothing like traditional speaker drivers).With the foxL and foxLO together, the sound is noticeably fuller, but it still wasn't able to match some of the models I already mentioned. For the extra inconvenience and price, the whole thing just wasn't worth it.To give you an idea of how loud the foxL+foxLO combo can play, here's a little test I did with a sound pressure meter:If I had the speakers right in front of me within arm's length, I could get up to around 75 dB average and up to 82 dB peak.If I got up and started walking around in the room, the volume drops to around 60 dB, which is nowhere near satisfying level -- which in my opinion, should be at least 80 dB (I'm very cautious with listening levels. I never go above the 85~90 dB threshold when listening to music, watching movies, playing video games, etc. Very often I listen to music at around 70~80 dB when I don't feel like blasting the music).I tested a bunch of other bluetooth speakers, and in the end, I settled on the Klipsch KMC 1. You can read my review for it here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R38ODPW5ZCW994/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm