We have several JBL's at home and I have to admit that the top end sound in the larger speakers and surprisingly good sound in the pocket sized, small speakers like the JBL Go etc.
I was looking for something that would be compact for TV, but also for music. We already had a home cinema - columns, satellites, Yamaha amplifier etc. at home, but it takes up space unnecessarily. This is more for an extra room or for a living room with an area of over 40m².
Originally I bought the JBL PartyBox Encore Essential 2. I was worried that the small "cylinder" wouldn't be able to handle my rather large 37m² living room and I also wanted to have enough bass for action movies. The JBL PartyBox Encore Essential 2 is great for music, but not suitable for TV. Despite playing with the equalizer, the dialogue is still "muddy" and harder to hear in action scenes when the bass gets involved. Boombox I think will have the same "problem" so the choice finally fell on Xtreme 4 and I must admit it really surprised 😮👍 Generally plays great. You don't have to set something up for each style of music. He really plays everything with a very good and clear delivery. There's no clumping, the bass doesn't pull at your ears, and overall the sound is very nicely balanced, and when you do need to move the EQ, the sound is still clear. With cheaper speakers from other brands, you move the bass around and it automatically negatively affects the mids. That doesn't exist with JBL 👍
In conjunction with the TV, I am very satisfied. The mono presentation with one speaker lacks the surround sound offered by the TV itself, but the bass presentation and the overall presentation of the JBL is awesome and after a while you get used to the mono sound 😉 But if you use two speakers and put them in a comfortable height and distance, then VAU.! That's really great.! 👍😮👍 But even with only one speaker, the dialogue is good and clear, even in the busy scenes of thunder, gunfire, roaring monsters and everything else you encounter in the film. Similarly, details such as the click of the safety, the snap of the stick under the foot, etc., are heard well and clearly.
Overall, I was very - really very pleasantly surprised by Xtreme 4 👍
When choosing, I listened to all possible JBL PartyBoxes and clear. on the huge area of the store, Xtreme 4 seemed like a "tickler" compared to PartyBox, although within 5m it felt like it wasn't completely out of place. Anyway, it's great for home use even in a larger living room. His delivery is crystal clear, bass is reasonably powerful and when I do, I just take it down or add bass, but with music only rarely and more with respect to the neighbours. Otherwise, there's nothing to solve.
Despite the higher price, I must highly recommend the Xtreme 4.! 🤷🏻👍