Answering just the title, without considering prices, i'd say the best is JBL because it has the most consistency in their sound quality among different models and generations.
Answering wich one to buy, i've had the ULT field 7 and the Bose Max so i can speak for them. The Sony is a great speaker, his greatest strength is the battery, it really does last a LOT, the sound is very clear and VERY loud (for comparison, it's louder than a plugged in JBL Partybox encore essential 2), the bass is Deep and punchy and its shape makes it very versatile.
The Bose Soundlink Max in the other hand is obviously like half the size but i'm certain that it's on par with the JBL xtreme 4 in terms of bass and volume, so it's very loud, the bass is his greatest strength, it goes incredibly low for the size, and something that i liked a lot is since the drivers are angled, it has amazing spatiality for a non 360 degree speaker. The only problem i had with this one is that the bass starts to distort from 70% volume wich is pretty bad since other speakers usually start distorting from 85-90% volume, although i've heard that is a problem only from the first models and later ones didn't have that problem, but i can't confirm. Nonetheless, 70% still sounds very loud, and it compensates by having a more detailed and natural sound than all other speakers i've tested from different brands.
i would take the boom 2, original motion boom, soundlink max, minirig 1.1 and almost anything over the x600. Even a pair of motion pluses would be a better bet with true soundstage.
First off my units have the worst bass distortion i have heard when not being pushed making them unusable for me anyways. I cant handle the fake mono driver either. I would recommend getting a blast og or better still go play 3 if you are serious about sound. In the real world you cant claim audiophiles buy or like this speaker, come on. Audiophiles have real gear thats why they are called audiophiles. If i guess at what you mean and thats someone who likes, or thinks they like a neutral sound then they dont buy this either. This is a bass light bright speaker which as i always say is what some people mistake for neutral. Ive lost count of the times ive asked people to demonstrate how they come to the conclusion certain speakers are neutral and not justy bass light and bright. Again you make this claim based on "clarity, soundstage, and imaging". But this speaker is bright, thats very different from resolution or clarity as you are calling it. It has no real soundstage, what you hear is a cocktail of broken waves caused by the injecting of a mono mix over a stereo mix. I mean this is basic in audio, early order reflections, the x600 is literally breaking the first rule of clean sound at the listener position. What it does a little psychoacoustics when you are very on axis listening which is there to fool your ears and that you lose as soon as you stray from direct on axis. Imaging, well if it cant accurately soundstage (physics makes this impossible) it certainly wont be imaging correctly. I can assure you no mixer at the end of a long mixing session then says, opk lets see what happens if i fire a downmixed mono signal straight into its path.
Yes you have shilled this speaker that no actual audiophile buys before lol you are correct to point this out. no bt speaker is stereo wtf? That was priceless! Stereo is left right two channel audio reproduction. It is not defined by how well you perceive its 3d image. The fact you dont know this but use world audiophile is hysterical. You have been called out before for spamming this speaker, but old habits die hard clearly. You failed to grasp or was speed reading and thus could not absorb the fact i did not make an argument that it was bad because it wasn't stereo. I said it is wrong to say it is stereo because it adds a downmixed mono channel to its stereo output that actually ruins its stereo channels. There has never been a speaker that has so much disinformation put out about it. The fact it is also the most shilled speaker is no coincidence.
bass on two units I have had have horrendous bass distortion. if you cant hear it or yours doesn't have it then you won the lottery.
You state the x600 has an immersive soundstage. it doesnt. what it does is fire sound in three axis instead of two making the sound bigger yes but it is not a soundstage. Any fundamental understanding of mixing would allow you to know it would be impossible to expand an actual soundstage by mixing a mono mix into a stereo mix. I mean you understand that the soundstage is created with the panning at the mixing stage right? you can only break that soundstage by injecting mono into it, not expand it. This is not atmos despite what soundcore marketing would you have to believe. Atmos of course uses encoders to handle the remixing and can downmix or upmix while recreating the intended image. Soundcore does not use a proprietary encoder for surround, it simply uses a mono mix firing upwards. Thats it. nothing clever in that. It is not a virtual upmixer lets make this very very clear.
Again, as i have said to you on the multiple occasions you have hijacked my conversation with someone else for reasons only you yourself can truly know, though the attention you give me is flattering so thanks for that, I have told you over and over again. You only have to like what you have, thats great, enjoy! What i cant let slip by is the misinformation and shilling this speaker receives. So thank you for once again giving me the opportunity to both highlight in the inaccuracies of this speaker and the shilling. Just for those who dont know, one of the promotions soundcore carried out at launch was to offer inducements for positive social media posts.
Your closest bet is Bose Soundlink Max. It adds 150 bucks to the bill with a sound comparable to the Go+Play 3. Some argue its better, but it just depends on your taste.
2TPW2
