The Newport is one of the best-sounding single-cabinet Bluetooth speakers of its size on the market, totally justifying its $200 price tag. If you didn’t catch it in the intro, the Newport is designed in the style of a portable Fender amp, like the famous Princeton, Reverb, or Twin.
But the coolest part of the design is the fully functional, retro Fender-style control knobs/potentiometers on top of the unit. Appreciation for the superior tactile and visual feedback afforded by old-school analog controls is rare in a world that’s enamored with touchscreens. Note that the treble and bass are actually boosts, adding emphasis to the high or very low frequencies; they’re not boost-cut types like on a real guitar amp. The Newport is sturdily constructed, as is evidenced but its 3.25-pound curb weight, although some of that is undoubtedly due to the large battery inside.
The speaker measures 5.6-inches high, by 3.5-inches deep, by 7.25-inches wide, which makes it a bit more cumbersome that most, albeit still perfectly portable. That will charge the unit much faster than a 5-volt USB style hookup, but of course it’s not as common as the micro-USB connector that most BT speakers use. The minute you hear the guitar strum that accompanies power up, you get the idea that the 30-watt Newport’s emanations might be on the plus side of pleasant. It has enough top-end to keep things clear, the mid-range is decently tight, and turning the bass up to 10 provides more than adequate thump for most music genres.
Fender Monterey Review
The Monterey is the larger of Fender’s first pair of Bluetooth speakers, and is designed to look and feel like one of the company’s legendary guitar amps. It really is like a proper little classic Fender guitar amp in almost ever way, from the cloth grille to the faux-leather skin over its hefty frame. There’s no carry handle, so you’ll just want to find a suitable spot for it to sit permanently – it isn’t really meant for portability in any way. There’s also a trio of retro twiddly knobs for volume, bass and treble, so you get a little EQ adjustment without having to fiddle around with a companion app – a very nice touch.
Behind the distinctive ’68 Custom grille cloth and iconic Fender logo are a pair of 5-inch woofers and two 1-inch tweeters, driven by a whopping 120W of stereo power – 60W per channel. I settled on around 2 for treble and 3 for bass, but you’ll probably want to play around depending on your room size, musical tastes and typical listening volume. It sounds huge and even manages some decent stereo effects, plus there’s the novelty of EQ adjustment via physical controls rather than an app. Fender fans – and guitar nuts in general – probably won’t care about any of that stuff, though, because the Monterey is just so perfectly styled and sounds great.
An über-chic Bluetooth speaker with excellent sonics that will bring a smile to the faces of more than just hardcore Fender fans.
Best large size party speakers in India
It’s a portable speaker with a telescopic handle and built-in glide wheels so you can move it around easily. In terms of battery life, the Sony GTK-PG10 party speaker lasts up to 13 hours on a single charge. The Zoook Color Blast party speaker has a total power output of 30W, and two 57mm drivers.
There’s even an SOS function on the speaker that rings a loud siren with LED flashing lights for emergencies.
The Zoook Color Blast party speaker also has hands-free control with Siri and Google Assistant. The TRONICA Dual Thunder Vibra party speaker comes with support for Bluetooth and FM radio in addition to ports for a USB drive and an SD card slot. For parties, there’s a dedicated lineup ofthat are big, have flashy strobing LED lights, and karaoke mode.
5 Best Bluetooth Speakers With Microphone
For instance, some of the Bluetooth speakers are waterproof, while others deliver loud audio to be used at parties. Until a few years ago, wireless Bluetooth speakers with microphones were a common thing. More importantly, the Beosound A1 sounds great, and you get your hands on nuanced audio with a rich and deep bass.
For instance, it has a waterproof rating of IP67, has a decent battery life of around 18 hours, and supports Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec.
The Bang & Olufsen Beosound A1 speaker offers decent battery life and USB-C charging. The folks at Tech Advisor found the battery dropping to about 90% after 6 hours of use after being connected to a Windows PC. This is a premium speakerphone with an omnidirectional mic that can seamlessly pick up sound and, at the same time, cancels out the background noise for clear voice transmission. In addition, the speaker has a small stand at the back that allows you to angle it towards yourself during calls and video meetings. However, though it features a premium look, it doesn’t look as trendy as its mainstream Bluetooth speakers, such as the Sony SRS-XB12 or the new JBL Go 3.
That said, this one is a conventional Bluetooth speaker, which means you can listen to your favorite songs in all their glory.
The lack of dedicated voice-enhancing tech means you won’t get the same clarity as the Jabra Speak 710. Like the Jabra speaker, the eMeet Luna has 3 mic array and can pick up voice and sound from all around.
This is partly due to the tech that highlights voice during calls and suppresses the songs’ bass and highs. Also on Guiding Tech JBL Flip 5 vs Bose Soundlink Color 2: Which Portable Bluetooth Speaker Should You Pick Read More It does a good job in delivering punchy and bass-heavy audio irrespective of its price and size. But if you were to compare it with other similarly-sized speakers such as the JBL’s Go lineup, the Stormbox Micro delivers better audio.
Get Your Voice Heard Today, speakers with mics are a rarity compared to a few years ago. If you plan to use the mic functionality frequently, it would be best to get dedicated speakers for office use, such as the Jabra Speak or the eMeet Luna.
Fender Monterey Bluetooth speaker review: Rugged, loud, and fun, but also pricey and only marginally portable
Where the Newport is a punchy, portable, battery-powered speaker that can be used just about anywhere, the Monterey is more of a static conversation piece. The old-school rotary volume, treble, and bass controls feel firmer and smoother than those I’ve had on many a real guitar amp.
Other controls nod to the modern era: There’s a small dedicated Bluetooth pair button, and a similarly small button to switch input between Bluetooth, a 3.5mm aux jack on top, and stereo RCA stereo inputs on the back of the unit.
The Monterey is at best transportable, measuring 13.5-inches wide, 9.5-inches tall, and 5.25-inches deep and weighing a hefty 15 pounds.
But it has no battery; in fact, it relies on a standard three-prong AC plug as you’ll find on real guitar amps. The 120-watt Monterey is loud, clear, and thumpy, but while it may look like what it costs, its sound is not fantastic—and that’s an adjective I’m looking to employ when someone’s going to drop this much coin on a speaker.
There are any number of tricks that can be used to increase perceived separation with a speaker this size, but the Monterey seemingly employs none of them. Fun fact: you can buy a real, 100-watt, dual 12-inch speaker Fender Champion guitar amp with RCA aux input from Amazon for the exact same $350. Fender Despite being considerably larger, the Monterey offers little more stereo separation than the Newport, which is actually a monophonic speaker. Personally, if I’m depending on AC power, I’d opt for a quality receiver and bookshelf speakers.
Fender Monterey Review
The Monterey is the larger of Fender’s first pair of Bluetooth speakers, and is designed to look and feel like one of the company’s legendary guitar amps. It really is like a proper little classic Fender guitar amp in almost ever way, from the cloth grille to the faux-leather skin over its hefty frame.
There’s no carry handle, so you’ll just want to find a suitable spot for it to sit permanently – it isn’t really meant for portability in any way. There’s also a trio of retro twiddly knobs for volume, bass and treble, so you get a little EQ adjustment without having to fiddle around with a companion app – a very nice touch.
Behind the distinctive ’68 Custom grille cloth and iconic Fender logo are a pair of 5-inch woofers and two 1-inch tweeters, driven by a whopping 120W of stereo power – 60W per channel. I settled on around 2 for treble and 3 for bass, but you’ll probably want to play around depending on your room size, musical tastes and typical listening volume.
It sounds huge and even manages some decent stereo effects, plus there’s the novelty of EQ adjustment via physical controls rather than an app. Fender fans – and guitar nuts in general – probably won’t care about any of that stuff, though, because the Monterey is just so perfectly styled and sounds great.
An über-chic Bluetooth speaker with excellent sonics that will bring a smile to the faces of more than just hardcore Fender fans.
Fender Monterey review
As brands go, Fender is one of the music world’s more evocative – it has stuff in common with Ford or Coca-Cola beyond an overly fancy typeface for its logo. Mind you, neither did Marshall (an equally iconic brand in guitar amplification), but that didn’t stop it from launching a range of consumer-focused products, of admittedly variable quality. The pro design cues keep coming – the top panel has three of the classic ’witch-hat’ rotary knobs for volume, treble and bass control and a hugely satisfying toggle switch to turn power on and off. Under the skin, the Fender wireless speaker features a claimed 120W of amplification power, plus two 12.5cm woofers and two 25mm tweeters.
When switched on, and also when wireless pairing is achieved, the Fender Monterey gives a little guitar-strum of acknowledgement – a pleasing touch but a little cheesy at the same time. We get underway with a Tidal-via-iPhone 7 file of Flamin’ Groovies’ Shake Some Action and the Fender immediately reveals itself as an up-and-at-‘em listen.
There’s decent detail retrieval on display, too, with background maracas given just as much attention as the echo around the edge of vocal harmonies. It’s worth noting that, although the three rotary controls are marked ‘1’ to ‘10’ in the guitar-amp manner, choosing ‘5’ as a safe middle ground is not good – it’s too loud, too bassy, too trebly, altogether too much.
It’s never less than a warm and friendly listen, but it struggles badly with fitting different pieces of a recording together harmoniously. Consequently tricky rhythms never quite flow, bass sounds disrupt rather than dictate tempos and there’s a two-left-feet aspect to much of what the Fender does.
Fender Monterey review
The cloth grille and faux leather stand out and fit nicely with today’s other speakers. The power cord is the big standard AC plug that you might see with a computer or monitor. The Fender Monterey is a fun speaker to touch and run your fingers over, adjusting volume, bass, and treble channels our wannabe rock star. It’s also worth noting that there’s a toggle on the back that enables and disables these equalizer settings.
Were the speaker more portable we could very well see us taking it to parties or setting it up for a day in the back yard. Overall, given the lengthy RCA inputs and 3.5mm cord, this is the sort of setup that you’ll want to keep pretty permanent. Whether it was rock, electronic, or spoken word, the Monterey delivers a natural sound, both with and without equalizer settings. At $350 the Fender Monterey prices itself out of range for casual users or those who looking for a decent Bluetooth experience.
There are plenty of less expensive models that deliver a similar sound and which might also offer internal batteries or water resistance. The turntable has been moved to a more central location and we’re only too happy to bring the vinyl to work. But, even in cases where we know that they’ll turn up their nose at the cost, we’re still eager to let them listen — and drool.
Fender Monterey Bluetooth Speaker review: An amp-styled Bluetooth speaker with deep, amp-like sound
When Fender announced they were entering the Bluetooth speaker game, part of me was a bit surprised they already hadn’t. The wooden enclosure is covered with textured black vinyl along each side and the back, giving it a leather look. As mentioned, the Monterey is quite heavy — weighing in at 15 lbs — and the only thing that’s missing design wise would be some sort of handle on the top for easier carrying. Simply press and hold the Bluetooth button on the top until you hear the tone cue and then find and pair it with your device.
Toggling between Bluetooth, 3.5mm (Mini), and RCA is as easy as pressing a button, and the volume, bass, and treble dials are pretty self-explanatory. One thing you can’t do with the speaker, however, is control playback so you’ll have to keep your phone or other device handy to play, pause or skip tracks.
The easiest way to describe the sound put out by the Fender Monterey is deep, rich, and amp-like. If you have a Fender amp, you know what I’m talking about — the first time I turned it on and the track started playing, my first thought was “wow, this really sounds almost exactly like my amp!” Being able to control the volume, bass, and treble independently of your smartphone is fantastic and lets you tweak the sound exactly how you want it.
Classic rock, metal, Top 40, dance, EDM, hip hop, classical… you name it — every genre of music we tried on this speaker sounded clear, crisp, and nicely balanced. With a maximum output of 120 watts, the Fender Monterey Bluetooth Speaker can really rock a room or the backyard.
During our tests outside entertaining the neighbourhood at maximum volume, the sound was equally crisp and clear with the same balance and no distortion whatsoever to be heard. No matter the input — Bluetooth, 3.5mm, or RCA, the Monterey delivered nice, solid, balanced sound.
Fender has entered the Bluetooth speaker market in a big way with the classic design and deep, rich, amp-like sound of the Monterey.
Fender Monterey Portable Bluetooth Speaker – Tweed Reviews Reviews
My car stereo (GM factory) sounds a lot better; exponentially more bass than this thing. Never buy sound reproduction equipment without hearing it live first.
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