Sony SRSBTM8 Portable NFC Bluetooth Wireless Speaker System (Black)

First impressions: Build - Great Most of the body is made of plastic and the speaker grille is a very durable metal. Not exactly acoustically transparent but this is the norm for portable bluetooth speakers. The knock test shows that its not ultra-cheap plastic but also not thick mdf with bracing everywhere. It seems to have a dual 2 inch full range setup with some kind of bass port. It can be powered by either a 6vdc .5amp adapter (included) or 4 aa batteries (not included). If you're going to only use it at home, go for a bookshelf speaker+t-amp setup. There's no point in limiting yourself with enclosure volume, enclosure material, driver size, power, and channel separation for just a bit of convenience. Definitely check out noaudiophile and averagejoeaudiophile for bookshelf speaker reviews. Power - Good (for a portable speaker of course) 6v*.5amps= 3 watts max (if the amp somehow magically gets 100% efficiency). No sensitivity is given so it doesn't mean much. It is enough to fill small-medium sized rooms adequately. You won't instantly make everybody in the vicinity of the speaker instantly deaf (stereotypical car audio logic) but the key word here is "adequate". Sound - Decent The treble is a bit too bright both on and slightly off axis. It has a bit of trouble with very deep male vocals. It makes some of them unusually coarse and almost abrasive. I'm not sure how to explain it. The bass was actually surprising. It obviously has no sub-bass but it covers mid-bass quite nicely. I tried setting up a high pass filter set at 150hz (manufacturer specified lower extreme) on equilizerapo and listened with my normal equipment to have some realistic expectations. Either sony released realistic measurements without an unreasonable tolerance, the filter was very steep, or it was a combination of both. Value Overall - Excellent Its a decent sounding portable speaker with bluetooth and nfc for $50. I doubt you can get anything more in this price range.

I am happy with the Sony Bluetooth Wireless Speaker. I use it in an old car I have, that does not have a working radio, and it works ok for that. But I also use it around the house and outside, and I think the sound is pretty clear and it seems to get loud enough - and I like my music loud. It was very easy to connect with my iPhone, and so far the battery life has been pretty decent (Haven't change them out yet, and I have had them in for about a month). I like that you can plug it in too. The speaker is reasonably priced, so I would recommend it.

The SONY SRS-BTM8/BLK is quite an awesome product. If you read the current reviews you will notice that the common thread is that the pairing between products is instantaneous by simply turning on the unit. You've learned that the volume is not excessive but the sound is expressive. It reminds me of the traditional SONY kitchen table radio. The sound has a lot of body, very realistic clear vocals and the music has a punch in the bottom bass. All of this comes out of a small stylish cabinet design. I recommend that placement for the SONY SRS-BTM8/BLK be somewhere near a corner. For example, on a kitchen counter but in the corner. In the corner the sound will contour driving the bass frequencies while rounding out the midrange. The sound will travel in a more controlled wave. I turn off my equalizer on my iPod in order to transmit the loudest signal. Sometimes it is necessary to turn the volume up on the iPod even to the MAX to achieve a respectable volume. For many years I have been using the iPod Shuffle with a wired SONY Portable Speaker and always turned the volume up on the iPod to save the battery life of the speaker. The bluetooth iPod is no different as far as the volume operation. The batteries that I use are rechargeable Energizers 2300 mAh. They are fantastic. It is very important to buy the Energizer charger with the batteries. The batteries last for a very long time. These particular rechargeable Energizers perform equal to if not better than alkaline. In conclusion, the SONY SRS-BTM8/BLK wireless bluetooth speaker system is not the SONY ZS-BTG900 20 watt boombox but it is the simple, classy and personal portable unit that has excellent sound and is plenty loud.

I bought this speaker a couple weeks ago. I was attracted by the fact that it uses AA batteries. I use Eneloop rechargeables, and have quite a few hanging around. The thing about 99% of bluetooth speakers is that once the internal battery dies, the speaker becomes useless unless it's plugged in. Conversely, a speaker using rechargeable AA batteries goes on and on forever. So I was pleased with that. But what really surprised me is the sound of this little guy. I've tried and I own quite a few bluetooth speakers. And I'll tell you this: At personal listening levels, this unit sounds just as good as speakers costing $100. Honest. I auditioned the JBL Flip 3 that everyone raves about, and at conversational levels, this is arguably just as good. (I actually prefer it.) I also own the Klipsch KMC3. It's a speaker that cost me a heck of a lot more, and it pounds. It's a big speaker that pretty near fills a house with sound. But if you're not trying to do that, this Sony is fantastic. Whereas some speakers will fatigue your ear, this one doesn't. The sound is open and "real." At one time, this speaker cost much, more than its current price. But at its current price, it's a seriously good deal. Note: It doesn't like to reside far from the Bluetooth source (phone, etc.), But if you can live with that, it's quite awesome. I'm extremely happy with it.

Worked great with my first phone. Can't get it to work with new phone. Otherwise a great unit.

This speaker doesn't bring a lot of bass, but it is clear and loud. It is also light and the handle makes it easy to carry. It is also easy to pair since it has NFC. It uses 4 AA batteries which I was concerned about initially (spending a lot of $ on batteries) but I bought one of these on Black Friday (2013) and have used it virtually everyday since then (for short spurts mind you) and have changed the batteries once. It also includes an AC adapter which is nice for when you are listening to music at home in a stationary position near an outlet. Also, I like that it includes a line-in option. While I primarily stream music to the device, it is nice to have an AUX option. I haven't tried a lot of bluetooth speakers, but this one is high quality; couple that with its cheap price and you have a bargain.

Pretty darn good. Very happy with the purchase. Don't expect boombox kind of bass out of it. And no, it's not very loud, but for small parties it's pretty much perfect. Audio in (in addition to BT) helps a lot, but I wish it also had a mic input back to the laptop - this way it would be a full fledged speakerphone solution. Good batteries will last a long time.

I bought this for those 2 reasons - it got really good reviews for sound quality and it is run by 4 AA batteries. With a plug-in rechargeable speaker, when it dies, you're down for hours until it charges back up (or you've got to have a power source to plug it into while you use it). I take this thing out on the water or in the yard so I can listen while I'm working/fishing/lounging outside. If you're into the whole rechargeable battery thing, buy some of the rechargeable AA's and have a back-up set on the charger at all times. Only drawback is limited volume - it's plenty loud enough but won't power-up a big party - it's the wrong tool for that.

Very good

Very good sound quality. Use it in my store as the "sound system", can't believe the sound quality, and so inexpensive.

This is a great little unit. I bring it with me to the beach or move it around the house. It has great sound quality and is very light and portable.

Great sound. Lots of bass response, and great 4 x AA battery life!