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 On: 2007-12-22
As with the other positive reviews, I found the quality decent and these speakers to be a lot of fun, great for entertaining, etc. But they both died within a year, regardless of the fact that we kept them on their charging pods. Pretty expensive product for one year of use.
On: 2007-12-10
Within a month of purchase, I found that the charging system was flawed. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didnt. Constant twising of the speaker in the charger base is required to ensure some type of connection. So reliability is not a keystone.
After 6 months, I found that the reception too bacame intermittant. Sometimes it was perfect, sometimes it required shifting the receptor a bit to get it back into focus, if you will. So again, reliability is not a keystone.
That said, when it does work, you can take the speakers outside and enjoy very nice music. So its not a total loss.
There are certainly better buys out there.
 On: 2007-07-02
The sound is decent enough - dont expect monitor quality, but for following around the house and outside, these are perfect.
The transmitter is easy to set up, youll need either a line out (L and R)available or a 1/8" headphone jack - there is an adapter supplied to achieve either connection.
I set ours up one upstairs one downstairs - theres a switch on the base of the transmitter for stereo / mono transmission, so you dont need to worry about operating them in a pair.
They are ROUND! I figured Id put them out on the deck but after a few near misses I needed to find a place where they would not get knocked over, not a gripe, but something to consider!
They just sit on the charging base - held in place by their own weight, so dont expect great stability.
Reception seems fine - even when kicked down three steps the music kept playing. Switch channels or change the direction of the transmitter (point on or face on made a difference, relative to the location of the speaker itself) if you experience problems.
As far as battery life goes, they seem accurate in the 2 hour estimate. At about that time the louder notes would start to drop away. Once back on the charger base though, everything was fine.
The 4 stars comes from the dirty great big plug in transformers that are required for each base! Wowsers, theyre about half the size of a house brick! Surely the manufacturers could have used a smaller version... I have a transformer unit that delivers the same voltage & current that is less than half the size.
Is this really a problem? Hardly, it just looks unsightly and if you plan on using a power strip, figure on losing an extra outlet.
On: 2007-04-01
Seems to be lots of complaints related to wireless speaker sound quality and reception when looking at many of the reviews for these types of speakers. I was a little concerned about buying any of these products based on the reviews. Honestly, what can you expect out of little wireless speakers; some people seem to expect quite a bit.
I took a chance on these because they looked cool and they had the rechargeable bases. They are a bit expensive compared to others but maybe thats why they actually work.
So far, so good. Easy to setup, easy to use. I wasnt expecting to get great quality or bass response out of a little set of wireless seakers. They actually sound pretty good.
The transmit base is plugged into the multi-room output on my receiver (thats handy if you have one). I use them in their bases in a seperate room from my main system. Took them outside today, moved them around a couple of times, only once did one of the speakers have some minor interference but it was negligible. I believe these use 900mhz so if you have some old cordless 900 mhz phones, they may interfere and vice versa.
My only concern would be finding replacement rechargeable batteries when these wear out.
So far Im pretty pleased with these. They are nice looking, appear to be solidly built, and easy to move around and keep charged... no need to take the batteries out and charge them in a seperate charger like some other speakers.
UPDATE: FYI - After about a week of using the speakers, one of the speakers developed a problem. I could still barely hear the sound coming out of it but the volume adjustment was non-responsive therefore rendering the speaker useless. I checked and switched all the inputs and that wasnt the issue. The volume control or something with the speaker just appeared to stop working.
I called Brookstone and got through to their customer service rep quickly. Explained the issue and she gave me the address to ship it back. Id thrown out the box already and she said I could just ship everything back w/o the original packing. Ideally shipping me a new speaker or a whole set with a postage-paid RMA would have been nice.
I got the replacement set in a little over a week. All and all a somewhat painless return process other than packing it up and paying the shipping costs.
Ill see how long this set makes it, hopefully this was an isolated issue. Otherwise, I still think these things are cool, work well and come in a stylish easy to use form. Only time will tell if there are reliability issues.
 On: 2007-01-29
great sound, but check your area for a brookstone outlet store, got mine there for $84.99, far cry from 200 bucks.
On: 2007-01-01
Bought these speakers over xmas. It was a snap to get them up and running. The sound quality was quite reasonable. Was really enjoying my itunes collection when the left speaker stopped working. I took it from one charging stand to the other and it worked for another hour. The right speaker worked for another day and then repeated the same pattern. No response to the charging units
I am hoping this is simply a defective set but I am deeply disappointed
On: 2006-12-17
Great wireless speaker system, setup is easy, even includes two types of inputs to make it extra easy. The sound quality is much better than the single unit wireless speakers. Keep in mind these arent going to rock a dance party but work great as an extra speaker for a home theater or outdoor dinner party. The rechargable batteries are great, those other wireless speakers take 8 D batteries, no thanks. However, the battery life is really only a little over 2 hours which can get annoying, but they work plugged into the base stations so at least you dont have to go without entirely. They are lightweight, sound quality is decent, fairly loud, and make a great gift.
They are probably incredibly overpriced, you will probably see them for 99 in a couple of months.
(The units have three wireless settings, experiment to see which is best, some worked much better than others. One gave me static, while 2 had me on the second story of the house without a hint of noise.)
On: 2006-11-15
PRO:
- very easy to set up: just plug it in, choose a channel.
- very compact. Small transmitter goes easily through walls. I have a flat screen with wires behind the wall, into a closet where COMCAST and transmitter are located: NO PROBLEMS.
- VERY good looking, in my mind, was one of the reasons I choose it.
the recharger for the speakers is IN THE base which these balls rest on. VERY nice, Italian-like design. the base has a depression with ring chargers where the ball rest onto. The controls of the balls, for vol, on/off [if needed] are smooth surface and water resistant.
- GOOD battery and easy to replace via Radio Shack: BIG PLUS, no speciality item here.
- Can pick up the ball, carry it about until batter dies and then you can recharge with ball on or off position.
- Can take ball outside: where I was BBQing and watching the game through the window. My flat screen on the wall, inside was easily seen and I didnt have to worry about sound...ya my remote works through the window too!!! bessssttttt BBQ position Ive ever had!
- DOES not cut out sound from TV speakers, so I almost have surround sound. Some might find this a problem.
- Ive become hard of hearing, so was drowning my family with vol adjustments....NOW, I keep one ball near me and adjust my personal vol and they are HAPPY FAMILY...well...for most part.
CONS:
- Only one color: white.....but theres PAINT....naw, Id goof it up.
- Has a slight hissing sound when I turn my TV off. Seems to be getting signal of white noise, BUT not that bad. IF you turn off the balls, then hissing stops.
BUT if you turn off the balls the vol level goes back to preset average levels, which means I might have to adjust.
- SOMETIMES, when someone passes in line of the signal between transmitter to speaker, it will make a clitch sound, but we have learned to adjust and not a problem. Especially since I have COMCAST and can always rewind.
OVERALL: LOVE This product. Was looking for the right wireless speaker system from bang&olofson[sic] to sony, to bose, but never quite liked the looks or complexity of the looks OR especially the chargers sitting all about, yuck. Walking past Brookstone, I heard them, they looked nice, the kid showed me and I immediately said give me a set and am very pleased....to the point of purchasing another set to act off the same transmitter: four-balls.
saw and heard the outdoor model too, but didnt look cool.
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