We’ve played around with surface mounting speakers before and there is always a trade-off between size and quality of sound. The primary advantage of the surface mounted speakers is their ability to create deep bass (dependent, however, upon what surface you attach them to) despite their diminutive size.
The Damson Audio BT5 is a Bluetooth compatible portable speaker that can connect to your audio device (such as a mobile phone) via Bluetooth or by mini-jack. The unit comes with a modified USB cable that allows it to be simultaneously connected to a USB power source (for recharging) and connected to your audio device via the mini-jack cable. Of course, you can just use it over Bluetooth – the caveat being battery life. In Bluetooth mode, you only get about 4 hours of play time on a charge, whereas you get 9 hours if connected by cable.
Reviews of the unit are mixed. Many people have commented on the nice bass but tinny mid to high range. Truth is, you are going to get very different results depending upon the surface you attach the speaker to. Connecting it to a table top will produce very different output than a glass window.
Conveniently, there is a sucker attachment included with the speaker, so you can easily attach it to vertical surfaces (such as a window).
The speaker doesn’t produce stereophonic sound, per se, but a 360 degree type of sound – making it fairly good for all-round use from any listening position in the room. However, we have read reports that the Bluetooth signal is not very powerful, which means that walking between the line of sight of your mp3 player and the speaker can cause drop-outs in the connection.
Given that the speaker fits comfortably in the palm of your hands, it’s definitely portable. But, if sonic quality is your primary objective, then you might be better off going with the X-Mini Max II, which we use all the time in our office and are very happy with. In fact, you can daisy chain the mono mini-max’s together to produce exceedingly loud sound (if bass and loudness are important to you).
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