So the JBL Partybox Ultimate is an insanely loud portable Bluetooth speaker that honestly overkill for one single person and its better used for commercial events… but if you do decide to get one, it is pure dumb fun. But today we’re going to see how certain pairs of Partyboxes stack up to a single partybox ultimate… is it better to go with just one Ultimate or is it better to get 2 different Partyboxes.
Regarding pricing, the Partybox Ultimate has a retail price of $1,600 dollars, that way up there. For that price you can get two Partybox 710’s cause these retail for $800. Or if you want to save a few dollars you can get a 310 which retails for $550 and finally there’s the 110 which retails for $400. So if you get a 710 and a 310 it’ll cost you $1350, a 710 and a 110 will run you $1,200 or a 310 and 110 will run you $850. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these speakers up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first we need to cover pairing these speakers together. With the Partybox Ultimate, for right now you can only pair it up with another partybox ultimate and get them to play in stereo mode and your light features will play in sync, the only problem is, you need a wifi connection to do this.
So if you plan on taking your 2 Ultimates to an area where you dont have wifi then you’re going to have to physically daisy chain your two speakers together, they’re only going to play in sync, and your light features aren’t going to be in sync. And peronsally I do think that this over reliance on wifi is a problem on the Partybox ultimate.
Where as with the 710, 310, 110, or encore, you can wirelessly pair two speakers together, if you have two of the same speakers you can set them to play in left and right stereo mode, or if you’re going to mix and match, they will play in sync and your light features will be in sync as well.
But the key thing to remember here is, with all of these partyboxes, you can not wirelessly pair them to any of JBL’s smaller party boost speakers like either a JBL Boombox 3, Boombox 2, an Xtreme 3, charge 5, pulse 5, pulse 4, flip 5, or to a flip 6, unless you’re using the wifi version of the Xtreme 3 or Charge 5 and if you’re using a Partybox ultimate cause they are wifi enabled speakers.
So overall right now, if you are thinking about getting multiple partyboxes it is better to go with either the 710, 310, 110, or encore cause you can wirelessly connect speakers together without needing a wifi connection to do so. So now that we have all of the rules taken care of, we can get to the fun part.
So for today we’re going to be using the 710 paired with a 310 and a 710 paired to a 110… and I think these two pairings are the best cause you can use the 710 for your main man cave speaker, but if you want something to take on the go with you, then you have either the 310 or 110. But we’re also going to be using the 310 and 110 paired to one another and see how that pair stacks up to a Partybox ultimate.
But the key thing with both the 310 and 110… since both of these speakers have built in batteries, so that they have a chance of keeping up with the Partybox Ultimate, we are going to be using them while they are both plugged in cause when they are plugged in you do get a performance boost. They are going to get louder and they are going to have more bass.
But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, all of these speakers are playing at 75% volume, they are all playing with their bass boost turned on, and they are all playing while they are plugged in.
Sound test
So first off, just as you’d expect, the 710 paired with the 310 did the best job here of keeping up with the Partybox Ultimate… but the partybox ultimate was still noticeably louder. But more importantly, from a performance standpoint, the ultimate didn’t just get louder than the 710 and 310 playing together… it also sounded more open specifically cause it had better definition in the mids.
And the reason why the Ultimate has better details in the mids incase it has a pair of mid range drivers, which are absent on all of these other speakers. So with the Ultimate, you’re not just getting more sound… you’re also getting better sound. But also, the Ultimate does still have more bass than the 710 paired with a 310. During the soundtest, there were portions where the bass on the ultimate we literally shacking the camera.
Now the 710 paired with a 110 also does a decent job of keeping up with the ultimate… but the 710 is doing most of the work here. However, if you do decide to go with a 710 and 110 pair, then the 110 is going to be much easier to take on the go with you to a friends house than the 310.
And finally there’s the 310 and 110 pairing… plainly said, this pairing is fun and extremely versatile… but these have no chance keeping up with the Partybox Ultimate… a 310 and 110 pairing is more like a 710 playing on its own.
So with all of that being said, if you plan on getting two party boxes, I do feel that having a 710 as a base, and having either a 310 or 110 as your secondary speaker is a great set up cause you get the bass from the 710 and you get the portability of the 310 and 110. However, a Single partybox Ultimate is still going to be able to out preform any of these pairings cause its still going to get louder, its going to have more bass… but also its going to sound more open thanks to the mid range drivers. So with the Partybox Ultimate, you’re not just getting more sound, you’re getting better sound. And a cooler light feature too.