So this is the JBL Partybox Ultimate, initially I thought the Partybox 710 was overkill and I feel the Partybox Ultimate is unnecessary for personal use. However, the Partybox ultimate is our preview of this new generation of Partybox’s and there are a lot of things to like here… however, there are still some issues here that JBL still just refuses to fix. Nonetheless, lets see what the JBL Partybox Ultimate is all about.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Partybox Ultimate retails for $1,700… for context, the JBL Partybox 1000, retails for $1300, the party box 710 retails for $800 and the Partybox 310 retails for $550. Now we will be comparing the Partybox Ultimate to a few speakers so keep an eye out for those versus videos. Nonetheless, if you want to pick this speaker up, it’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about the design of this speaker. Now the ultimate is big… I thought the Partybox 710 was big… but the ultimate just dwarfs both the 710 and the 310. The ultimate has a hight of 41 inches and a base of 17 by 17 inches. But more importantly, it weighs in at 87 pounds. So moving this speaker around is a two person job. The good thing though is just like with other Partyboxes, the Ultimate has built in wheels so you can roll this speaker around and thankfully these wheels are chunky… so these wheels are usable while on pavement and even a little bit of grass. And there’s a handle on the top so that you can roll this speaker around, but there’s also a hidden handle on the bottom which is super useful, and I have always hated that the 710 doesn’t have a second handle on the bottom. Now when it come to materials and durability, the Ultimate have your typical plastic body which can get scratched very easily and there’s a metal grill on the front which can get dented easily cause it is rather thin. But surprisingly, the Ultimate is still rocking an IPX4 rating… so if it gets caught in a slight drizzle or if a drink gets spilled on it, it should be fine, just remember to keep the ports panel on the back closed.
But what is new on the ultimate is the extended light feature. Now first off, in order to control the light feature on the ultimate and adjust its EQ, you now have to use the JBL One App, not the Partybox App. But from here you can choose from different lighting modes and you can also customize your light feature. Now JBL’s light features on their other speakers have always been very impressive and they have been getting better and better. And the ultimate has the most extensive light feature that we have seen so far. We have the large combined light ring on the front… but the light rings now have inside and outside boarders, which gives you like a 3D effect. The Ultimate also has stars and side light rails like the 710…but the light rails on the Ultimate now wrap around the sides of the speaker… but my favorite part is that the ultimate now has floor lights… and personally I love floor lights on my speakers cause it just gives your speaker a very large presences. Now the light features on the Partybox’s are usable during the day… but obviously for the best results you either want to use them while indoors or at night.
Now usually, this is the party of the video where I would say that if you do decide to use the light feature on your speaker, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life… but the Ultimate doesn’t have a built in battery, you can only use it while its plugged in. Which is understandable just given the sheer size of this speaker. And I think that if the ultimate had a built in battery, it would easily weigh over 100 pounds.
But now lets talk about connectivity. Regarding wireless connectivity, you can connect to the ultimate with a bluetooth connection, and this speaker can be connected to 2 devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ. Latency is also not an issue so you can use this speaker to watch videos with on your phone… but when it comes to audio codecs, the ultimate only has support for SBC.
But what is new on the ultimate is that it has wifi support. So after you connect this speaker to your wifi network, you’ll be able to stream music to it either through Airplay 2 or Chrome Cast. So whether youre an iPhone user or an android user you’ll be fine. And it also has support for Alexa Multi Room Music. But the Partybox Ultimate is not a Smart speaker.
But more importantly, if you are streaming music to this speaker over wifi, and if you’re using a supported streaming service than you’re going to haver support for Dolby Atmos. But this is going to be artificial dolby Atmos cause the ultimate doesn’t have upwards firing speakers.
Now when it comes to the ports on the Ultimate… peronsally I am a little disappointed just given the sheer size of this speaker. First off the ultimate has a USB A port where you can either plug in a USB Stick and play music off of it… or you can charge your own devices. But like I have mentioned in the past, I think its time that JBL starts adding a USB C port on their speakers for charging your phone cause phones these days now come included with USB C charging cables.
But also, there is 3.5 millimeter audio jack so you can use this speaker with a wired connection. But more importantly, there is an audio out jack so you can always daisy chain this speaker to any other speaker regardless of size or brand and get them to play in sync.
And finally, there are 2 quarter inch inputs so you can either plug in 2 microphones for karaoke. Or you can also plug in a guitar. And from the control panel up top, you can easily adjust the sound of your microphone by either adjusting the gain, bass, treble, or echo… now personally I never use a echo on my microphone but its there if you want it.
But also, below the control knobs where you an adjust the sound of your microphone, there’s a touchpad… and here you’ll find some sound effects. And through JBL’s app you can customize these sound effects as well. Overall, this is just a gimmick, im not going to use this.
But my main critique about the ports on the Ultimate is that there are no XLR inputs on this huge speaker so you can’t plug it into a mixer. And I just feel that a speaker of this size and price should definitely be able to be used by someone who likes DJ. But for now, the Ultimate is going to be better suited for someone that just likes to karaoke and they want their whole block to hear them.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set ups the Ultimate has Dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back, it has dual frontward firing mid range drivers, a first for Partybox, and it has dual frontward firing tweeters. But now we’re going to jump into the soundtest. We’re going to be using the Ultimate at 75% Volume and were going to cycle between having Bass Boost Turned Off, set to deep and set to rumble… But the EQ itself is going to be set to stock.
Sound Test
Now first I have to point out that the Ultimate has built in microphones so its going to automatically adjust its sound depending on where its located. But more importantly, the Ultimate has a balanced sound signature to it, but it also has very violent bass. And even though the bass on this speaker is violent, the mids and highs are still very well pronounced thanks to the mid range drivers and the tweeters. Now obviously, just given the sheer size of the Ultimate, its going to have a lot of bass. It already has a lot bass even with its bass boost turned off. But if you were to turn on the bass boost on this speaker, then its going to become more prevalent. With deep its going to punch harder and with rumble it going to drone out longer. And since the ultimate has a rear firing exhaust port, you can always amplify its bass even more but placing it up against a wall. But Personally I always prefer to use my Partybox with the bass boost set to deep. But even with the bass boost turned on, thanks to the Mid range drivers and the tweeters, vocals aren’t over powered.
But like I mentioned before the start of this soundtest… we were going to cycle between the different bass boost settings, but you can also adjust the EQ on this speaker. So I you want an even warmer sound signature, you can do that, or if you want a brighter sound signature, you can also do that. But personally I just like to use the Ultimate with its stock EQ and Bass Boost Set to Deep.
But then there’s the max volume performance of this speaker. Now this is a 1100 watt speaker. And honestly, anything past 50% volume on the Ultimate is considered to be loud. At 75% volume, if you’re using this speaker while indoors you’re going to need hearing protection, or else you’re going to get a ringing in your ears… And max volume on the Ultimate is going to shake the whole house, the bass is litterly going to knock things off of the shelves all around the house and a visit from the cops is guaranteed. Quite Honestly, unless you’re having an outdoors commercial event, there is no need to get a second Partybox Ultimate.
But now lets talk about paring this speaker to other speakers… and unfortunately JBL is up to their shinanganins again. First off the Partybox Ultimate is now using, Multi Speaker Connection, and its that triangle button up top. And as of right now, you can only pair your ultimate up to another ultimate and get left and right stereo sound going.
However, it is not clear whether you can only have a total of 2 Partybox Ultimates paired together, or if you can have more than 2 Partybox Ultimates paired together. But the really annoying thing is, if you want to have your two ultimates paired together… you have to stream music to your ultimate via a wifi connection. As soon as you press the paring button on the Ultimates, their Bluetooth connection turns off.
And I really don’t like this cause lets say you take your two Ultimates to an area where there isn’t any wifi… you’re not going to be able to wirelessly connect them, you’re going to have to daisy chain them so they’re going to play in sync instead of in stereo mode and the light features aren’t going to be in sync. The only silver lining is, since the Ultimate has Airplay 2 and chrome cast support, you can sync it up to other wifi enabled speakers, if you’re on wifi.
But more importantly, now you can not wirelessly connect your Partybox Ultimate to your Partybox Encore, 110, 310, or 710… and you also can’t connect your Partybox Ultimate to your smaller JBL Partyboost speakers like your JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 5 or Flip 6… unless you have the Wifi versions of the Boombox 3 or charge 5.
Overall, I am annoyed at JBL’s fragmentation when it comes to pairing their different speakers together… and I don’t like the over reliance of wifi on the Partybox Ultimate… but at least the ultimate does have that audio out jack so you can daisy chain it to other speakers.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Partybox Ultimate is a completely unnecessary speaker that gets extremely loud, and its has very violent bass. But if you are thinking about getting one for your man cave, one Partybox Ultimate is more than enough and its going to look amazing thanks to its light feature. However, I can’t help but feel that the Partybox Ultimate isn’t all that ultimate cause its being held back quite a bit. First off, just given its size and price, I would have liked to have seen some XLR inputs on this speaker so that DJ could use it…I also think that more than 2 Quarter inch inputs would have been nice for people who like to do karaoke… and I also dislike the fragmentation when it comes to pairing this speaker to other speakers, and I also dislike the over reliance on wifi when you want to pair multiple Ultimates together. However, I do feel that the Partybox Ultimate is a preview of JBL’s new generation of Partybox’s… and if that’s so, im really looking forward to the new and improved light features. I also hope we’re going to see the addition of mid range drivers on future box speakers from JBL. I just hope that wifi isn’t going to become a requirement if I want to pair multiple Partyboxes together.