Xtreme 4

I bought several of them: JBL charge, Xtrem, marshall emberton 1, Willem, Sony ult. All of them have problems. I don't mean the sound, everything is alright there, I mean how they react. All the JBL start to blink after a while. It's like a Christmas tree in my bedroom. Just annoying and really not necessary. The marshall doesn't blink but switch off by itself if you stop playing music. Annoying again. And both are software related. If they wanted to upgrade it they could. Sony ult is different. It doesn't switch off, it has a microphone. It's great but why they didn't build this speaker accepting two phones connected? If someone has an idea of a perfect speaker that doesn't switch off, don't blink and accept two phones or computers I want to hear 🙉.

Yes I saw that. I paid a lot for my Xtrem 4 but it worth it. It's a true stereo speaker while the charge is mono.

Yes. But as I said the Xtrem 4 and the JBL go blinks as well and I can't switch it off. Looked in the android JBL software. Didn't find anything

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 have two charge 5’s usually use them in stereo. But I now want two Extreme 4’s.

Xtreme 4 because it has a swappable battery and you can run it on AC

Even if they are, the main drivers are stacked on one another vertically. The tweeters are probably separated horizontally, but they only cover a fraction of the audible spectrum. The boombox 3 plays 200hz and up truly in stereo with decent separation. That's very similar to vinyl records, which are also down mixed to mono around that same crossover point. The boombox is big, and the mids/tweeters are half a meter apart. It does stereo better than any other JBL I'm aware of, including the successor, Boombox 4.

You're gonna have to link the specific party box you're talking about. There are none that I know of that have two woofers side by side. Only stacked one on the other. You don't get passable soundstage without stereo separation. The boombox 4 has two woofers directly side by side. The 3 has the mids spaced out as far as possible. The 4 is a downgrade to me for that reason, among a couple of others. I can assure you, no partybox will have the same soundstage as a Boombox 3, unless they made one that's usable in a horizontal configuration. The BB3 is much wider in build than any partybox. I usually sit/stand <6 feet away from the boombox. It's not optimal but it definitely still has enough stereo separation. I'm an "audiophile" as my main hobby. I have been in to Hi-Fi setups and getting the correct speaker placement for years. I know what I'm looking for, and that is why I specifically sought out the Boombox 3 above all other options from JBL. https://preview.redd.it/9n5z4a588e6g1.jpeg?width=705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8875f6d9f43eb54807f21b76876fec8c40e0126e (Photo is not mine) That woofer only plays up to 200hz. It does not matter that the mids/highs are in "the same speaker". They are far enough apart to make a HUGE difference compared to an Xtreme or BB 4.

I have proper setups with floor-standing speakers, as well as planar magnetic headphones when I want no compromises. I still don't get where you're coming from when you say it's the "same speaker", as if it's somehow different than two bookshelf speakers placed about 50cm apart from one another. They're obviously still quite close to one another, but it's more than enough to reap much of the benefit of stereo. The midrange drivers even have their own internal enclosure. Obviously separation drops off drastically with range, but it's a HUGE upgrade over an Xtreme which is also "stereo". Even across the room, while it's closer to mono than stereo, I can still clearly make out hard pans in the mix. There's nothing accurate about this speaker, but it's a joy to listen to, and would not be even close to what it is if it was truly mono. A partybox is too cumbersome and too fragile for my specific needs. I have other options if I want the highest fidelity or deepest bass response. This is something I mainly use out on the back deck, in a prime listening position, and that stereo separation in those circumstances is something I wouldn't go without. A partybox would never emulate that.

No. I do not agree. I say there is zero difference. If I play only from the right channel, sound doesn't magically come from the whole speaker. The sound comes from the right side. The drivers being in the same unit doesn't make them less effective. They are just as isolated from one another as two separate units would be. Edit: You also seem to be describing the crossover backwards. 200hz and below is truly mono. 200hz and above is full stereo.

Wow, you've really thrown me for a loop with all your edits. I've lost track of where we stand. Seeing as you've edited and changed your entire comment, I'll engage once more. You seem to be implying that cabinet resonances ("acoustic energy") are so great, that it totally collapses any stereo "imaging" (using that term lightly, 50cm is better than nothing, great for a portable speaker, but is still poor in general). On one hand, I'm positive if I set one of my pairs of bookshelf speakers the same distance apart as the two L+R midrange drivers in this JBL, I'll get a very similar result. At the same time, you have said that "it all comes from the same speaker", and that it's no better than mono. Maybe, MAYBE I could get on board with some kind of cabinet resonance detracting very subtly from the stereo field, but you are saying that it would be much closer to mono. I can tell you that couldn't be further from the truth. Your "salt and pepper" analogy only starts making sense if we're cramming L+R channels though a single speaker driver. Obviously, that would be mono. This speaker has 5 different speaker drivers (classic 3-way setup with tweeters and mids completely isolated from one another, and a woofer in the middle). I don't think you have proved your point. You've certainly not cited more sources than I, although I'd be eager to have a look at any you may have on the topic.

Can't go wrong with a JBL Charge or Xtreme for that price, depending on sales

You probably want the charge. The Flip/Charge/Xtreme are part of the same family, but each are fairly drastically different sizes, with the boombox being the biggest by far. The biggest upgrade from Charge to Xtreme will be deeper bass, but it's harder to carry around in a bag due to its size. You should get an idea for the scale of each before buying.

Welcome! It's absolutely worth it if you don't mind the price and extra heft. It's also stereo, which in practice is a very small upgrade because the speaker drivers are side by side. But a nice touch nonetheless.