SONY LAUNCHES NEW LINE-UP OF EXTRA BASS BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS—AND VIDEO & AUDIO CENTER HAS THEM ALL!

In addition to Sony introducing several new lines of 4K Ultra HD HDR TVs this year, last week the commercial and consumer electronics giant also released three new powerful/portable wireless speakers to their 2018 line-up; so let’s take a moment to take a look at the advantages of wireless sound, as well as how these new products from Sony perform, and what improvements the new models have over last year’s portable wireless speakers.

The main advantage of a wireless speaker system is certainly obvious — there simply aren’t any wires connecting the speakers to the sound system. You can put your speakers anywhere within range and not have to worry about tripping over, or even hiding the wires that lead back to your sound system. What could be easier, right?

Additionally, wireless speakers are very popular when constructing an outdoor speaker system. In fact, in most cases, if you want to set up a speaker system on a deck, patio, backyard, garage or swimming pool area, a wireless system may be your best and certainly easiest and least expensive way to go.

Sony officially launched their new SRS-XB41, SRS-XB31 and SRS-XB21 EXTRA BASS lines of wireless speakers earlier this month; the speakers are designed to sustain the deep and pounding bass of music such as EDM, grime and Hip-Hop. The built-in Digital Signal Processor (DSP) provides additional boost through the new LIVE SOUND mode. The speakers come with lights, which are intended to amp up the party vibe. There’s wireless playback through NFC and Bluetooth and you can connect up to 100 speakers through the Wireless Party Chain option. The new speakers are IP67 certified Waterproof, Dustproof and rustproof, with a battery life estimated to 24 hours (the XB21 being the only exception at 12 hours).

All new Sony wireless speakers mentioned come with S-Master amplifier and a frequency range of 20 Hz-20,000 Hz (2.4 GHz) with 44.1 KHz sampling. The three speakers support SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs and have an additional bass boost feature appropriately named, EXTRA BASS. The speakers also can connect via Bluetooth 4.2 and also feature NFC function.

SRS-XB21

As for the colors, the XB21 comes in Black, White, Red and blue. Each speaker weighs slightly over one pound and it can produce a Line Light. Compared to the outgoing XB20, the XB21 comes with a bigger 2700 mAh battery over the XB20’s 2100 mAh battery (yet despite the increase in capacity, battery life remains the same as its predecessor).

The XB21 comes with custom EQ with Bass/Mid/Treble bands, which XB20 also lacked. The speaker mesh is made out of fabric, while the Line Light on the speaker is monochromatic. The speaker has Bluetooth 4.2 that is said to have a range of over 30 feet.

SRS-XB31

The XB31 comes in Black, Two-tone Red and Two-Tone Blue colors. The speaker has Multi-color Line Lights/Strobe Flash, unlike the previous model, XB30, which has no Line Lights and the speaker weighs just under two pounds. The added weight when compared to the XB21 might be due to the usage of a bigger battery, which is estimated to last up to 24 hours.

The speaker mesh is made out of Fabric. The XB31 has a longer range of close to 100 feet when compared to XB30 which only had 30 foot range. Just like the XB21, the XB31 comes with a custom EQ bands. There’s also bass and treble control in the XB30, to match your sound preferences.

SRS-XB41

The XB41 is the bigger, heavier and pricier speaker amongst the three. It has a Speaker light, Multi-Color Line Lights/Strobe Flash. The speaker mesh is made of out fabric, while its predecessor used a metal mesh. It comes with features like Isolator Sound, Notch Sound, Noise Sound, Jet Sound, all of which were absent in the XB40.

The XB41 comes with functions like Preset Equalizer, LIVE SOUND Engine, custom EQ Bass/Mid/Treble bands. The present equalizer comes with two options EXTRA BASS and Standard. The speaker also has Bass and Treble control options—which were absent in XB40. The speaker has an effective range of 30 meters through the Bluetooth 4.2 connection. It weighs around 3.3 pounds and also has a single charge battery life of up to 24 hours.

Colors, Pricing & Availability

As mentioned above, the XB21 comes in Black, Blue, Red and White colors. The XB31 comes in Black, Blue, Red, while the XB41 comes in Black and Blue. Stop in to any of the five conveniently located Video & Audio Technology Showrooms and hear for yourself just how Sony has improved the options available in portable wireless sound.