Big Jambox, Bose SoundLink put new spin on old boombox

— -- Before the iPod and earbud generation turned listening to music into a typically solitary experience, the iconic boombox made it more social. Today, the very fact that the tunes we listen to often reside on smartphones and tablets — or in the cloud — can make sharing out loud more challenging, especially when you'd rather not be tethered to a speaker dock.

In 2010 Jawbone, known for excellent noise-canceling Bluetooth headsets for cellphones, unveiled a neat battery-operated speaker called Jambox. This cool 12-ounce brick doubled as a wireless stereo speaker and speakerphone. It cost $199, came in a few colors and, via Bluetooth, communicated with smartphones, computers, tablets and other devices. But what blew you away was the remarkably big sound that came out of a contraption that's not much larger than a stick of butter. You could stash it in a bag or backpack and barely notice.

Only the sound wasn't big enough, it seems, for Jawbone. This week, Jawbone unveiled the aptly named Big Jambox, designed with extra power for larger rooms or the great outdoors. It becomes available May 15 in three models: red dot, white wave, graphite hex.

Big Jambox is brick-shape like its smaller sibling, the top-selling retail speaker, Jawbone says. Only this time the brick is closer in size to an actual brick. At 2.7 pounds, it's portable, just not quite like the original. Still, you can easily lift Big Jambox with one hand, transport it to the backyard or to your office where, like the first Jambox, you can use it as a speaker phone. At $299.99 it also carries a bigger price than the first Jambox.

To determine if Big Jambox justifies the larger sum, I compared Jawbone's new speaker with an attractive rival, the SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker from Bose.

The Bose costs the same as Big Jambox, weighs less than 3 pounds and also exploits Bluetooth up to the promised range of about 33 feet. At the press of a dedicated button, the two devices make it easy to pair with a Bluetooth audio source. Jambox enters pairing mode out of the box. Bose stores the six most recently used Bluetooth devices in memory, so in theory you don't have to pair them again; Big Jambox stores eight. And Big Jambox can connect two Bluetooth devices at the same time, so dueling DJs can have fun at a party.

I streamed an eclectic catalog of music from the iPad and iPhone off iTunes and services such as Rdio and Spotify — as well as sound from movie trailers, Internet radio and games. Both speakers delivered impressive audio, certainly for this price range. When I cranked up the volume full blast on Big Jambox in my backyard, there were minor distortions on certain tracks.

Jawbone has an immersive 3-D sound feature called LiveAudio that makes it seem as if sound is coming from all around. While playing a racing game, it's as if cars whiz by you. The effect is evident on a track such as the Pink Floyd classic Money. Jawbone says it is most impressive when streaming binaural audio in which the audio simulates two-channel human hearing.

Either way, the audio quality on both speakers was really close. Forced to choose, I'd give an edge to Bose by a nose — or rather an ear.

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