Tailgater Tough

I have a pair of the Tailgaters and they sound very good. Cool that you can link a pair of them.

I didn't with my previous galaxy S23, but I did have a snag this week with my new Pixel. Didn't have time to investigate more. Was just trying to link one. I think it's more the phone than the speakers.

Follow up... Ion has an app to facilitate the dual pairing. I didn't update that on my new phone! User error, not the speakers.

The skullcandys sound pretty disappointing compared other portable speakers I've tried. Those Duos look cool but sound meh, more style than substance. The Tailgater is going to be the best deal out of the bunch imo.

I love the Tailgater I have. I'd buy a 2nd for that price

I have two Tailgaters that I bought last year “on sale” for $70 apiece. They do have an audio/video synch issue (with my phone at least), but as long as you’re not using them to watch videos the build quality and audio quality is very good. Absolute steal for $50 each and if you want to go with them you should buy two to get the stereo sound.

These are all purpose built for different use cases. I'd say it depends on how you plan to use them. I would guess that in terms of volume and maybe sound quality, the tailgater would be your best option. It's probably also heaviest and toughest. That big-ass woofer makes me think this one is the top performer in the group. *Side note- while it's possible to engineer bass out of a small speaker, it's much easier to just use a bigger speaker. Not sure if you've ever hear of the automotive phrase "no replacement for displacement". Well, it's kinda like that, only for speakers. Oddly, either a big woofer or a big enclosure can do wonders for low end performance. Getting big sound from a small speaker in a big box, or a big speaker in a relatively small box is pretty straightforward, but getting big sound from a small speaker in a small box requires serious engineering.* The luma duo is meant for hanging out in the back yard. It is a combination light/speaker. There's a chance that it actually sounds nicer than the ion, but it probably won't be louder. The skullcandy is meant for hanging on your belt, purse, or backpack, for like hiking etc. Will definitely be the weakest of the bunch in terms of volume, sound quality, and maybe even battery life. Expect little to no bass from such a small speaker. One last side note- I've had bad luck with skullcandy products. Pair of their headphones died on me in the first month. They replaced it under warranty and the second pair died in a week. They would not replace the second pair. So, for me, personally- I'll never buy their products again- but that's just me.

Got a relative budget in mind? Sometimes, that’s where you need to start and work forwards from there. I’d also caution that size and weight often go together - especially when looking for a good sounding speaker with intrusion protection ratings that are meaningful. I’ll throw a recommendation that likely will be mocked. Several brands make “tiki torch” variants designed to be pole mounted (thus avoiding some of the sand) that also have torch-like lighting. Paired via TWS and placed strategically, they might serve a mood lighting and music combo. Not sonic powerhouses by any means, but maybe aesthetically pleasing. I would also consider some Ion models (for example the Tailgater). They have heft, cool lighting and a battery that has excellent life and is fairly easy to replace when the time comes.

I’d go with the tailgater. Great speaker awesome sound and durable.

This isn’t true. A lot of portable speakers like JBL have a little bit of latency that makes it impossible to beatmatch precisely. This is a known problem (see videos on YouTube about it). I use Ion Audio or Anker bc the latency is not an issue.