At the end of the day, the JBL Boombox 2 (see image) is better than the base model, though not that much. You’ll get a bit more sound output and a more advanced Bluetooth connection, but in return, you’ll need to deal with a slightly bigger and heavier device.
JBL’s Boombox line is the second-largest in their repertoire of portable Bluetooth speakers, following the behemoth PartyBox models (see my PartyBox 110 vs 310 article).
The JBL Boombox and JBL Boombox 2 are near-identical in design, with only minimal variations in their sizes and weights.
They’re perfect for outdoor parties on account of their incredible loudness and durability.
In summary, the JBL Boombox 2 offers a slight edge in loudness and clarity over its predecessor, but only when plugged in and cranked up to louder volumes. This is thanks to the extra 20W output power the Boombox 2’s woofers provide. Another notable difference would be the updated Bluetooth in the newer model, which allows for improved range and better syncing in video playback.
Let's get to their nuts and bolts.
Sound Quality
Let me tell you something right off the bat.
The sound quality performance you'll end up getting from a speaker will always depend on your room acoustics - particularly room dimensions and speaker positions.
The impact of the combination of these two is actually so strong that in most cases, it doesn't even make sense to utter a single word on sound quality without speaking of them.
This is also why it's not unusual to see completely different reviews of the same speaker.
In one case the speaker might be placed in a sweet spot inside the room and hence the user might be satisfied. In other cases the same speaker might be ill placed and hence user might even have returned it.
The point most people miss here is that it mostly isn't even about the engineering behind the speaker itself. It's about where you place the speaker inside which room.
So, in order to solve this problem, I've partnered with Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD Andrea Cicero from AC Acustica and created Soundton - a simple, 2D, browser accessible online speaker placement calculator.
With Soundton, now there's a way to figure the sound quality of most speakers before you buy them.
Read more about its working principles at soundton.com/documentation/.
The end colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) acoustics.