Klipsch Groove XL Portable Bluetooth Speaker – 40W Power, Dual 2.5” Drivers, 3” Passive Radiators, IPX4 Splash-Proof, 16.5-Hour Battery, USB Charging

I like the Klipsch sound. This is no Klipschorn or even a Heresy but it is pretty good. Sturdy rubber insert to block off the plug holes (aux, USB, power, on/off) and somewhat attached so it’s harder to lose it. I imagine it is the first thing that will break however. Touch volume. Easy Bluetooth connection. On and off volume noise (guitar sound) is cool but way too loud. And it doesn’t seem like you can adjust it. Sits nice on the counter and would be OK on the road or at pool side

My main problem with this speaker is that its soundstage is incredibly limited and quite frankly one of the worst I’ve heard in a portable Bluetooth speaker. The main issue is that this uses 2 identical drivers for the entire soundstage, and in theory is using them for “stereo” sound. This has a few major problems when it comes to a well-rounded sound profile.First, this thing is so small that any sort of “stereo” effect is non-existent, regardless of it having two drivers. This was actually my main reason for purchasing this item, but I quickly realized the problem once I tried it out.Second, and more importantly, the use of two identical drivers limits the soundstage way too much if you want to hear all of the music. A much better method for this form factor would be to have a woofer + tweeter combo, allowing you to fill out the bass and midrange with the woofer, leaving the tweeter for the highs. Because of this design flaw, this speaker has good bass, good highs, but absolutely ZERO midrange (which is where 90% of the music lives!). It also has trouble in some cases producing lots of highs and lows at the same time. If you’re a bass nut then you might not care, but that’s actually where the third problem comes in.Third, the passive radiators for the bass are both on the back of the device. Initially I didn’t think this would be a problem, but after trying it out, the problem becomes apparent: All the bass frequencies are firing directly away from you. This is fine if you put the speaker in the corner of a room, or near a wall, or have some other surface behind it. But if it’s sitting in the middle of the table, you can hardly tell there’s supposed to be bass. It actually sounded best when I put it on the carpet floor on its back, but even then it was missing so much midrange.Overall I am highly disappointed. Klipsch is a very popular brand in the speaker industry, so I expected the most, but received the least. On top of it all, my unit had a physical defect, as the metal mesh on the back of the speaker had come off out of the box and would not stay attached.I opted to return this device and purchase a JBL Flip 6 instead, which aside from only costing me $99 (about $50 less after tax), it is much smaller, lighter, and uses a woofer + tweeter + side radiators which gives it a massive soundstage. Plus the JBL has an app where you can set basic three-band EQ settings, you can buy a second one and link them to get an actual stereo sound, and it’s fully IP67 waterproof. I’d avoid this Klipsch speaker at all costs, it’s not at all worth the price.

I would have given 5 stars, but the startlingly loud guitar riffs when it turns on and off and when Bluetooth connects are ridiculous. No way to disable this either. What’s wrong with a subtle “bleep-bleep”? Not sure why they thought this is a good idea.