BlackBox Speakers/BluStream Tx Bluetooth Dongle
Company: Gear4
http://www.gear4.com
Retail: BlackBox £99.99, BluStream TX £39.99
The thriving iPod accessory market has delivered pretty much every variation of speaker system that you can think of, so it is fairly rare to see something new. Gear4, a British company that currently sells product to the European market, has come up with a system that is new both in concept and looks.
The BlackBox speaker system, when first unboxed, is exactly that – a black, polished rectangular slab of plastic unmarked except for some touch buttons on the top. Turn it on, though, and the front erupts with a burst of red LED light – there is a large matrix of LEDs behind the front panel. These are configured to beat and pulse to the time of your music in a method that echoes my first stereo system in the early eighties!
To get your music from your iPod through the BlackBox, there is a 3.5mm jack input on the back. But that is not really how the BlackBox is intended to be used – for it contains a Bluetooth radio as well. When it is switched on, it attempts to find a Bluetooth device with an A2DP profile for stereo music, and if it can it will pair with the device and act as its primary sound output. Plenty of mobile phones can do this, but iPods can’t (not even the iPhone) – so Gear4 can sell you a dongle for the iPod’s docking connector called the BluStream TX that is up to the job.
This dongle just plugs straight in to the docking port of your iPod, and requires no configuration, taking power from the iPod. A blue light flashes and it immediately starts looking for something to pair with – if the BlackBox is in range then a large check mark appears on the BlackBox display and the devices pair up. The BluStream TX works fine with the iPhone as well, though as is often the case the iPhone will complain that the device is not approved for use.
Once the BlackBox forms a Bluetooth pairing, it can control the device for volume and simple track selection, and you can do the same with the included remote. Also supplied by Gear4 is a snug-fit carry case, AC adapter and an auxiliary 3.5mm jack cable. The BlackBox will run on four C sized batteries if you don’t want to use the AC adapter. So it looks good, has innovative features and a full set of included accessories. Sounds like a sure thing, yes? Well, I’d agree, but with some reservations… because I haven’t talked about how it sounds yet.
I listen to a broad range of music, from rock to classical with a smattering of modern pop music, and a lot of spoken word stuff (mainly podcasts). I found that with all styles, the BlackBox sounded adequate. The driver arrangement has the sound coming out of the right and left sided of the rectangular tube, and there is a rear port to increase the bass. To my ears, it was perhaps a little bass heavy, and I had to invoke the EQ settings on my iPod to boost the treble somewhat to compensate. The bass was not very tight, either, and my wife commented that when heard from another room the overtones from the bass were somewhat unpleasant. The sound is a little better with a 3.5mm jack connection rather than the Bluetooth radio, but with either it is more suited to casual listening in a bedroom or at a party than to true audiophile entertainment.
It is very convenient, though – you get a feeling of true liberation by not having the iPod tethered to the speakers. I often used my Nano in my pocket while listening the BlackBox, and effectively made the Nano itself a remote rather than using Gear4’s remote. I did find myself frustrated with the lack of an inbuilt rechargeable battery, though – C cells are not the most convenient power source, and they didn’t last more than around eight hours before needing replacing. I used the AC adaptor a couple of times, but it didn’t seem to make a lot of sense to tether a wireless speaker system with a wall wart power supply. Overall range is good, dependent on the construction of your house – I was normally able to move one room away in my old thick-walled house without break up. I did notice that if I used the BlackBox in the kitchen and the Microwave oven was active then the Bluetooth signal was corrupted pretty badly.
Overall, then, a mixed bag in terms of performance. However, I have to note that when discussing the system with others that it has tremendous visual appeal – several friends remembered having seen it in stores and on the web and they wanted to know more about it. I would imagine that with its cool looks and novel functionality that teenagers in particular might be attracted to it. The system is somewhat pricey, especially if considered with the Blustream TX dongle, though I was able to find the pair combined for just over £100 with some careful web searching. If you have a discerning ear then a preview listen is advised, but otherwise if the feature set appeals then buyers of the BlackBox are likely to be satisfied.
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