I've been a mobile and club DJ in Hollywood for a decade now and was recently in the market for a relatively portable boombox for two general purposes: 1) To play loud enough for friends at indoor social gatherings of 30 or less (like beach houses, kick backs, Vegas hotels, etc) so that I wouldn't have to haul my 50-lb powered JBL PA's, and 2) For outdoor occasions such as camping, the beach, and other trips that involve extended periods away from a power outlet. For comparison, I bought the Logitech Wireless Boombox, the iMT810, and tried out many other units at the local big box store. These were my requirements, in descending order of importance:
- Option of being either battery powered or rechargeable
- Battery life
- Loud enough to entertain a group (especially outdoors) without distortion
- Portable enough to carry in the backseat or trunk of a small car
- Above-average sound quality
When I initially read the reviews for the Logitech Wireless Boombox and it's nearly identical sibling (sound-wise), the S715i, I was instantly sold. I purchased it and was impressed with the sound quality of the Logitech unit in my room while playing at low volumes. However, I soon noticed that playing music with bass at even moderately high volumes caused the Logitech to distort miserably. This was exacerbated by the fact that the Logitech did not have separate drivers for bass and mid-range sounds. Rather, the active bass units (supplemented by passive radiators) were responsible for all sound frequencies below treble, meaning whenever the bass distorted, the vocals distorted as well, which made the song less appealing to listen to. While this isn't as much of an issue for indoors personal use, trying to play this with more people or let alone outdoors, wouldn't be as practical. To top it all off, the bass is reduced when running off batteries to conserve power. I returned the unit.
I proceeded to try out various units, ranging from the Dre Beatbox to the Bose Soundlink and Sounddock systems. While the Beatbox did bump loudly with little distortion while providing decent sound quality, I couldn't overlook the fact that it was attached at the hips to an outlet. I even considered using a portable power supply for outdoor trips w/ the Beatbox, but decided that this would just be too damn inconvenient. The two Bose units did provide great sound quality, but I couldn't justify spending $300-$400 on a portable system.
Additionally, all of the aforementioned systems that did have AC-less capability provided only enough juice for 5-8 hours of use before requiring a recharge. This would be quite impractical for, say, a weekend camping trip.
Then came the Altec Lansing iMT810. Like others have mentioned, this company really needs to do a better job at advertising their products, because I didn't even know of the iMT810's existence at first. But boy am I glad I found out about it.
Here are some things I love about the iMT810:
- The 8-D battery option that some people may find annoying is actually essential for long trips away from civilization. I recently went wilderness camping from Friday afternoon through Monday, and this bad boy provided music in the mornings, in the afternoons, and throughout the the crazy nights. Four days and three nights of on-and-off music at volume levels of 25-35 (out of 40 max), and guess how much battery life was remaining? 70%. Amazing. It even outlasted my 6th gen iPOD classic with a claimed 30-hour battery life. The other units I tested surely would have died by the second morning, with nary a way to recharge it.
- The sound quality is good at high volumes. Unlike the Logitech, there are separate midrange and bass drivers/radiators, meaning no vocal distortion. The iMT810 also seems to have a bass tapering-off feature, similar to my car, where it levels off the bass to protect the woofers as the volume gets too high. While this may seem a little annoying at first, it means you will have nearly no distortion at any volume you decide to play your music at. Fine with me.
- You can bump this thing pretty damn loud. Indoors, you'd be able to power a small house party with the iMT810, as the walls would contain the sound waves. The bass is especially deep and impressive for a small unit. Outdoors, the volumes don't seem nearly as loud, but it is plenty for 20 slightly inebriated people to sing along with around a bonfire in the woods.
- Three connections total: one ipod w/ adapters, and two aux inputs.
- A 7-band EQ with presets, the ability to control your ipod on the unit, FM radio, triple handlebars, and small remote control w/ docking station all come in handy at different times.
- The modest LCD screen is convenient and is better than not having one at all, and lets you do things like check your battery status.
The two things I would change: 1) to have the ability to charge your ipod while running off batteries. My trip proved that 8 D batteries is clearly more than enough power to muscle through a weekend with plenty of headroom. I don't see why it couldn't spare some juice for the ipod that would eventually die. 2) AM radio would be nice.
Other than that, this unit us pretty much everything I've been looking for in a medium-sized portable boombox. The system is well thought out and for the $200 I paid for it, I am very satisfied. Time will tell how well the iMT810 holds up to extended use.
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ALTEC DIGITAL MIX IMT810 boombox stereo system with dock
I was looking for a system that could offer me grate sound high bass something portable with a iphone dock plus having external audio out of my xbox 360 elite so i found this system and its perfect for my room I did not want to spend lots of money on a home theater package and I don't have the space for it I live in a townhouse and have a very small room with my queen bed pluz a 40' flatscreen tv and my xbox 360 and some other electronics bought from Amazon.com this system has lots to offer you the Altec Lansing MIX IM810 digital boombox has shattering volume perfect clarity and heavyweight bass has 2x 1' horn-loaded polypropylene tweeters dual 3' mid range drivers 5.25" side firing subwoofer and passive reactor battery life 8x D batteries provide up to 30 hours of continuous playing time DOES NOT COME WITH BATTERY'S 7x graphic equalizer 3x easy grab handles dimensions are 500mm (1) x 236mm (p) x 196mm (h) about 20 pounds will arrive in a huge box a little heavy perfectly packaged you don't have to worry about your system being damaged has lots of cardboard and your system is firmly packed in the box i am inlove with this system after having it for a few days now i can really feel the bass from down stairs under my bedroom with the volume under 15 and goes much higher then that up to 40+ i was looking at the Monster Beat Box by Dr-Dre for 350.99 i am glad i bought this one it has allot more to offer you for half the price the unit price is 197.99 with DHL express 2 day shipping total came to about 304 dollars best i ever spent don't regret buying another system :)
