Denmark's Audiocase has launched a pair of super-loud portable Bluetooth speakers on Kickstarter that can also serve as a battery powered PA, guitar or vocal amp, daisy chained sound system or party karaoke machine.
Danish engineers do seem to like their portable Bluetooth speakers to be crazy loud, as we found out ourselves a few years ago when we took the Soundboks for review, and more recently with the Soundboks Go. The Audiocase speakers are similarly built for monstrous output, in this case up to 125 dB with the promise of "clear and distortion-free sound all the way up."
Also like the Soundboks, these latest battery powered sound systems come with Bluetooth connectivity for wirelessly feeding in tunes, plus there are microphone/instrument inputs for vocals, guitars or DJ controllers, too.
The idea for the original 6-kg (13-lb) Audiocase was born at a Makerspace event held during the 2013 Roskilde Festival in Denmark, where attendees got the chance to build their own portable speakers.
The subsequent design that launched on Kickstarter in February 2015 rocked a rugged flight case look with aluminum edging and steel corners, and featured four full-range drivers driven by two Class D amps.
For 2022, the company has doubled the fun with two new versions wearing a slick new look courtesy of Kilo Design that could just be good looking enough for living room use as well as outdoor dance parties.
The S5 model measures 41 x 25 x 19 cm (16.1 x 9.8 x 7.4 in) and tips the scales at 7.9 kg (17.4 lb). It comes with two 5-inch midwoofers and a 1-inch tweeter driven by two 72-watt Class D amp modules for a maximum output of 117 dB and a frequency response of 45 Hz to 20 kHz, with DSP-enhanced tuning.
The S10 comes in at 65 x 40 x 30 cm (25.6 x 15.7 x 11.8 in) and weighs a hefty 19.8 kg (43.7 lb), and this flavor boasts a max output of 125 dB over the same frequency range as its smaller sibling, and features two 10-inch midwoofers plus a 1-inch tweeter powered by three 72-W Class D amps.
Both sound systems are encased in a PVC-coated plywood cabinet built around an aluminum frame and benefit from durable aluminum corners. The housing sports an integrated carry handle, and the design allows for stacking to build a wall of sound.
Connectivity shapes up as Bluetooth 5.0 with support for the aptX codec, a 3.5-mm (0.13-in) auxiliary input, two XLR/6.35-mm (0.25-in) instrument jack combo ports with mode selection for mic, guitar and line in, plus cooked-in reverb and level control, two 6.35-mm jacks for stereo linking/daisy chaining, and a USB port for applying firmware updates or charging plugged-in mobile devices.
The 100-Wh Li-ion battery is reported good for up to 30 hours of per-charge use at medium volume, or 6 hours at full throttle – just the thing if your booked venue has unreliable power or the beach party is miles from a mains outlet. And if users invest in a spare, the music could potentially go on and on courtesy of quick swap-outs.
Kickstarter pledges for the S5 currently start at €499 (just over US$500), with the S10 coming in at €649 ($660). If all goes according to plan, shipping is estimated to start in November.
Source: Audiocase