Here's the deal. Your old home office aka "kitchen" bluetooth speaker dies, so what to do? Mourn the passing of your faithful 40 buck Anker Soundcore Select solution, which has served you well over the last 5 years, and go out and buy a new speaker. But which one?
There's plenty to choose from and I went for JBL's Flip6 because I know these speakers work for the same price they came in at 4 or 5 years ago, $99. You can open the speaker's attractive box with an old Kershaw but that's up to you, here's the marketing:
The beat goes on with the JBL Flip 6 2-way speaker system, engineered to deliver loud, crystal clear, powerful sound. Its racetrack-shaped woofer delivers exceptional low frequencies and midrange, while a separate tweeter produces crisp, clear high-frequencies. Flip 6 also features optimized dual passive radiators for deep bass, fine-tuned with using Harman's advanced algorithm.
Does the beat go on with the JBL Flip 6 2-way speaker system, does the advanced algorithm perform? To find out, I tested the compact and absurdly easy to set up beast against Waylon's Ghost of Robert E. Lee, Bonnie Koloc's awesome Roll Me On The Water, the Dead's Stagger Lee, McCreesh's Venetian Coronation, Lully, and Yes' Würm. Test the lo, mid and hi sorta thing.
Verdict? Bear in mind this is a $99 portable speaker and that said it works just fine, with an emphasis on low freq bass while mid and hi come through pretty much as advertised, and it's certainly powerful enough to fill the Compound's kitchen. You can even take it on walkabout, to the living room, front porch, back deck and beyond; Bluetooth, no wires you see.
So, if you're looking for a value for money, bassy, tabletop wireless speaker solution JBL's Flip 6 might be for you. The thing works, and that's at a premium in these dark, broken and barbarous times.
Rock on,
LSP