Bose Soundlink Colour Bluetooth speaker

I'd like to draw your attention to the Bose Soundlink Bluetooth Speaker 11 (2?), I've just bought one. With our van's radio switching off every 20 minutes and us wanting to keep listing to a radio program when camping, I make a reasonable impression of a Jack-in-the Box.

For its size I'd say to my ears the sound quality is outstanding. There's a rechargeable battery inside, said to last 8 hours. Apart from the Bluetooth input there's a standard mini audio input jack that I can use to plug in my MP3 player. I've paired it with my smart phone and desktop PC. With the later I can carry the speaker into the kitchen and listen to my music being streamed from my PC whilst I have breakfast, as I did today. There is a limit to have far the Bluetooth signal can reach, more so if anything is blocking the path. It will apparently act like a speaker phone to enable interactions with your phone. There's an App I've no so far not needed. It charges via a mini usb socket, though no charger is supplied. It (she) talks to me though that feature can apparently be switched off.

Recently I've been using the Android App "Radio UK FM", rather than "FM Radio" that came pre-installed. Whilst it has got adverts it this doesn't invade my privacy as much as other Apps seen to depend on.
So we'll be able to listen to good quality music and radio sound using the mobile phone and Jack can stay in his box.

Others have reported good experiences with Amazon products, this Bose speaker could be an alternative for those less Amazon inclined.

https://www.johnlewis.com/bose-soundlink-color-ii-bluetooth-speaker/p5065136

Bose products are of a superb quality but they are priced accordingly.  With my impaired hearing the Anker that we have used in the van for a couple of years is perfectly adequate and a lot cheaper.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Upgraded-SoundCore-Bluetooth-Waterproof/dp/B01MTB55WH/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=JbUyD0gUAN72sMp3aJ7XBg&hsa_cr_id=2969296810002&pd_rd_r=8caacba8-3a74-4071-b9ac-a264cd68259c&pd_rd_w=rycfS&pd_rd_wg=vwxhS&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_img

We have both the soundtouch and wave systems plus an older soundlink which we link to an alpine bluetooth unit in the van in place of the mercedes one. The bose equipment is great quality and excellent sound, just depends how good your ears are.

We have a B & O BT speaker which we are using this moment with my wife’s iPhone and BBC sounds.  Sadly it’s the annoying Vanessa Feltz but that’s not the setupS fault.  The only limitation is we need WiFi, which this site has.

Relaxez-Vous wrote:....... With our van's radio switching off every 20 minutes and us wanting to keep listing to a radio program when camping, I make a reasonable impression of a Jack-in-the Box.

......

You can usually select how long your vehicle radio is on for if you have the user instructions. Mine stays on for an hour which is fine with me. Or, if you join the 'ign' wire to the 'permanent 12v' wire usually red and yellow behind the radio it will stay on as long as your engine battery lasts.

Peter Brown wrote:..... With my impaired hearing the Anker that we have used in the van for a couple of years is perfectly adequate and a lot cheaper.

.....

Peter, I have the same problem. I now need to use hearing aids to understand what people are saying. I've lost the upper frequencies. I don't think I can hear anything above 6k. I used to love top quality hifi and have a couple of hundred LPs, a Linn Sondek and Majik amp. Luckily I bought them when I couldn't afford them, in about 1985. Now I can't hear the quality and have this dilemma - should I get rid of it all and listen to a mobile phone? They are worth quite a bit of money - have you seen the price of a Sonndek with decent arm and psu? But I don't need the money so that isn't a reason for selling. I don't have a handy 4 year old to show me how to get all this music while wild camping with a phone, but I do understand bluetooth connectivity. Actually I have found out I think how to take muzak off Apple and put it on the phone. Along with the Linn stuff I have a Bose box which allegedly plays CDs and DVDs (but as I bought it in Orlando it only plays area 1!) and is a FM tuner, has a big bass box and seven surround sound speakers - but it is nowhere near the sound from the Linn with Roxan floor standing speakers I used to have. I remember playing a 12" 45 single - Angel of Harlem - and I swear I could see the performers' footprints in my carpet. I could hear them breathing.
So - what are we deaf hippies supposed to be doing nowadays? I even used to install decent-ish hi-fi in my motorhomes. I had a pretty good JVC combi unit with a 12v socket in the back. That's gone dis on one channel unfortunately. I have some lovely small Revox bookshelf speakers and you can't believe the sound they produce with a decent source.

My hearing problems are from two own goals; listening to heavy metal at very loud volume in headphones most nights when the kids were little and boney nodules in my ears that grew as a result of very frequent immersion in cold water (swimming) and generate multiple reflections in the sound wave resulting in considerable distortion.

Ug that sounds horrible Peter. I half-blame my loss on the occasion when I was at a Navy Days in Plymouth. I had been told that at 10:00am a Harrier would be flying past an aircraft carrier. I went up on its deck and stood next to the water. At 09:59 someone next to me said "It'll be along in a minute". At 10:00:00 there was a whooshing sound just below me and something flashed past. It was a Harrier, flying between sea level and the flight deck. Then there was a loud noise as it flew past, it turned vertical and rocketed upwards into the cloud. We could hear it, it hadn't flown off. It turned round, came back down vertical and levelled up and stopped at flight deck level, about 100 yards out from the ship. It then turned round to face the ship and did a dance. The water level was formed into a crater from its pressure. The noise was incredible, and I remember thinking after that experience that my hearing wasn't so good as it was before. However I am not one of these suers-R-us people (more properly called sewers-R-us) so I am not going to complain. I chose to go there of my own volition, I don't blame the Royal Navy for something I did. I did however notice that the Naval staff all had ear defenders.

I read many years ago that we can hear better through our teeth than our ears. Hence presumably what happens at the dentist. I often wondered why they don't make teethphones?

gassygassy wrote:Ug that sounds horrible Peter. I half-blame my loss on the occasion when I was at a Navy Days in Plymouth. I had been told that at 10:00am a Harrier would be flying past an aircraft carrier. I went up on its deck and stood next to the water. At 09:59 someone next to me said "It'll be along in a minute". At 10:00:00 there was a whooshing sound just below me and something flashed past. It was a Harrier, flying between sea level and the flight deck. Then there was a loud noise as it flew past, it turned vertical and rocketed upwards into the cloud. We could hear it, it hadn't flown off. It turned round, came back down vertical and levelled up and stopped at flight deck level, about 100 yards out from the ship. It then turned round to face the ship and did a dance. The water level was formed into a crater from its pressure. The noise was incredible, and I remember thinking after that experience that my hearing wasn't so good as it was before. However I am not one of these suers-R-us people (more properly called sewers-R-us) so I am not going to complain. I chose to go there of my own volition, I don't blame the Royal Navy for something I did. I did however notice that the Naval staff all had ear defenders.

I've uploaded a video to youtube for the first time - link below.

https://youtu.be/sxNj5yqZR4A

In June 2004 Rolls Royce celebrated its 100th anniversary with an event at Donnington Park.  WE camped in our Duetto on the adjacent campsite so that we could attend in the evening when the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra were playing accompaniment to a flying display.  You might find the whole video interesting put music they played to accompany the Harrier starts at 13.mins and lasts for 3.

gassygassy wrote:

Peter Brown wrote:..... With my impaired hearing the Anker that we have used in the van for a couple of years is perfectly adequate and a lot cheaper.

.....

Peter, I have the same problem. I now need to use hearing aids to understand what people are saying. I've lost the upper frequencies. I don't think I can hear anything above 6k. I used to love top quality hifi and have a couple of hundred LPs, a Linn Sondek and Majik amp. Luckily I bought them when I couldn't afford them, in about 1985. Now I can't hear the quality and have this dilemma - should I get rid of it all and listen to a mobile phone? They are worth quite a bit of money - have you seen the price of a Sonndek with decent arm and psu? But I don't need the money so that isn't a reason for selling. I don't have a handy 4 year old to show me how to get all this music while wild camping with a phone, but I do understand bluetooth connectivity. Actually I have found out I think how to take muzak off Apple and put it on the phone. Along with the Linn stuff I have a Bose box which allegedly plays CDs and DVDs (but as I bought it in Orlando it only plays area 1!) and is a FM tuner, has a big bass box and seven surround sound speakers - but it is nowhere near the sound from the Linn with Roxan floor standing speakers I used to have. I remember playing a 12" 45 single - Angel of Harlem - and I swear I could see the performers' footprints in my carpet. I could hear them breathing.
So - what are we deaf hippies supposed to be doing nowadays? I even used to install decent-ish hi-fi in my motorhomes. I had a pretty good JVC combi unit with a 12v socket in the back. That's gone dis on one channel unfortunately. I have some lovely small Revox bookshelf speakers and you can't believe the sound they produce with a decent source.

Hi chaps, another "deafy" here.
I used to have a wonderful Hi-Fi system (upgraded from an LP12 to Pink Triangle Anniversary) but it got to the stage when I couldn't even identify who or what I was listening to.
In the end I decided to sell all my gear, so, over 600 LP's went and then all the hardware. I advertised the turntable with SME V arm and Ortofon cartridge for over £1000 and had over 20 people after it. The chap I sold it to bought it just for the arm, as they are well over a grand.
I've just sold the last of my CD's after confirming that my new private hearing aids, even on a programmed music setting, can't replicate music at all.
While I've got my eyesight I've reverted back to photography as my main hobby and am spending the cash on that.
Good luck with whatever you do and as I always say to everyone nowadays:
"look after your lug'oles".

I'm sorry to hear that (oops, I just realised my faux pas!) nuevoboy. Aren't some of our expressions funny - I say 'Hear that' when I haven't heard anything, I just read it? Likewise a blind friend of mine surprised me the other day when he said he went down to the car dealer to look at a car. (with his wife, the driver of course!)
Perhaps I had better turf Mrs 96yr old mother in law out of her armchair so I can get behind it to my record player, and play some LPs . . . . . .

gassygassy wrote:

I'M SORRY TO HEAR THAT (OOPS, I JUST REALISED MY FAUX PAS!) NUEVOBOY. AREN'T SOME OF OUR EXPRESSIONS FUNNY - I SAY 'HEAR THAT' WHEN I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING, I JUST READ IT? LIKEWISE A BLIND FRIEND OF MINE SURPRISED ME THE OTHER DAY WHEN HE SAID HE WENT DOWN TO THE CAR DEALER TO LOOK AT A CAR. (WITH HIS WIFE, THE DRIVER OF COURSE!)

PERHAPS I HAD BETTER TURF MRS 96YR OLD MOTHER IN LAW OUT OF HER ARMCHAIR SO I CAN GET BEHIND IT TO MY RECORD PLAYER, AND PLAY SOME LPS . . . . . . 

Sorry gassy, I had to convert your text to capitals so I could hear it better!  

A slight concern, perhaps more of a wondering, when you think you've switched an electronic device off, have you really switched it off. I've a Hewlett Packard PC which potential will contact the mother ship when I've switched it off. Another PC when switch off still seems to have some power going to the mouse. The same PC even though switched off has a Bluetooth dongle which keeps flashing when this Bose Soundlink Colour Btooth speaker is near. If I move the Bose speaker into another room the flashings stops. I wonder that even with my PC off and the Bose speaker nominally off, that they aren't actually off, as in the true meaning of the word switched off, meaning powered off.

The potential downside is that my Bose speaker is still consuming power when I think I've turned it off, and too that Dominic Cummings, GCHQ and the Daily Mail are hearing everything my wife and I say in the house about any cheap supermarket deals we've found. I've decided I'm not taking our Bose Bluestooth speaker into the bedroom.

Oh dear what about we go on holiday in the van