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Bluetooth devices used to be the purview of Martians who visited Earth now and then to show us how to walk into McDonalds while talking officiously to no one in particular.
Starting our fourth decade: Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously online for 31 years
Great sound? It's in the Bluetooth Canz
June 29, 2014
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2014, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2014, The Post-Standard
What's skinnier than a Coke can and half the height? If you answered "the 808 Canz portable Bluetooth speaker," you win a prize for reading my mind. And that would be, um, uncanny.
I've only had this little beauty for a few weeks and already I feel like it's grafted to my occipital nerve. I just can't stop listening to it.
Most small Bluetooth speakers sound like, well, small Bluetooth speakers. A little tinny. A little weak. But this one is the Terminator. Nothing comes close. It sounds so natural you'll think Taylor Swift had moved next door.
The Canz comes from VOXX International, at www.808audio.com. It usually sells for about $30, a good price for a great portable speaker. I bought mine for half price during a clean-out-the-store sale at my neighborhood Walmart.
Bluetooth devices used to be the purview of Martians who visited Earth now and then to show us how to walk into McDonalds while talking officiously to no one in particular. This occurred through the aid of tiny Bluetooth headsets that wirelessly connected our phones to our ears.
This gave Bluetooth a bad rap. Anybody who tried wearing these weird cheekbone mike-and-earpiece combos probably thought Bluetooth wireless signals could only travel a few feet, since the BT headset would be within kissing distance of the cell phone.
In fact, Bluetooth has a much greater range, and it's a marvelous choice for communications within a typical room. I've been able to pipe my iPad's audio to my Canz while I'm toting the little speaker around the house. Only when I'm more than about 40 feet away does the signal start cutting out.
The 808 Canz has a single full-range speaker positioned near the top of the can. It devours bass notes, pounding and puffing like a locomotive. If you hold the Canz while airing your prized Pink Floyd albums, you'll get a deep-down massage as the little tyke tries to woof its way out of your grasp. (Setting it on a table is lethal; it will tango its way to the floor quicker than you can say "There goes thirty bucks!")
But this other-worldly bass comes at a price. Turning up the volume mushes the bass. I keep the my iPad's volume slider no more than halfway up.
But higher ranges -- the peal of bells, snare drum taps, dark chocolate tones from cellos -- all emerge wearing their Sunday best. Violins sound for once like violins and voices are bright and clear. This is one sweet speaker, with a better sound and easier price than just about anything on the market for less than $120.