TDK T78920 A33 Wireless Weatherproof Bluetooth Speaker

After nearly a month of research and comparison, the TDK A33 seemed to offer the best value for money!It was going to be either the Bose Soundlink Mini or the Braven 650 or the UE Boom 360; but then i decided to read product reviews some more and stumbled upon this mini powerhouse! i tested the sound quality of a number of speakers (those mentioned above, plus the Soundlink 2, Sony BTX 30, the Pill, the Big Jambox, Jabra Solemate).. there was always something missing... something i couldn't define! i still can't define it, but the A33 definitely HAS IT!!Sound:In addition to the two 1.5" drives, the A33 has a 2.5" sub woofer and two passive radiators. These coupled with TDK's diabolical technology that they perfected over years and years and yearrrrrs in the audio business, deliver rich, clear and distinct notes over a wide spectrum of frequencies. the sound takes over your heart!i'll soon have to buy two more of these. one for the office and one for the TV. I have two massive flat screen TVs and i thought their speakers were great, untill i used a 3.5 mm jack to connect the A33 to the tv. OMG! i just don't watch anything on the TV or on the PC without connecting the A33! The sound has so much DEFINITION!! very rich, full sounds. I think I'll actually buy 4 more of these and turn my living room into a home theater!!The sound is so good, i take the A33 everywhere i go! even in the car, i prefer playing music through this than the car speakers!Volume:The considerably lighter and smaller A33 goes as loud as the BTX30, Soundlink 2 and Big Jambox. the sound doesn't distort until you go beyond 95% of the volume.(The overrated) Bass:The Soundlink Mini is definitely the bass-iest mini speaker out there right now, but the A33 has a powerful bass too! It's not overpowering like the Mini's, but on the A33 a bass heavy track on high volume will make your heart thump! If you're a bass junkie then the Soundlink Mini is the right speaker for you : it creates very deep and loud bass (it's also lighter and smaller). but the A33's bass is of a higher quality: the bass kind of sneaks up behind the other notes and envelopes them a kind of warmth... which makes everything sound so much better. i get bass in the tracks that sound better with bass. The treble, mids and bass are very well defined and distinct. i listen to a wide selection of genres: hiphop/RnB/house/electro/ambient/new age/rock/jazz/classical and whathaveyou... i don't want all my tracks to ooze floor shaking bass... but sure enough i've discovered layers of bass from tracks that didn't sound quite as good on bigger speakers that i used to own!Weatherproofing:Yes, it's water resistant. I left it out in the balcony (on purpose) where it got rained on for two whole minutes... the speaker was fine. i took it inside and wiped the water off... it kept on playing music for another 3 hrs before the battery died. i found this video on youtube: [...] ...thought it was fake, but now i can vouch for the weather sealing on this speaker!you should probably not submerge it or drop it in a body of water. The side panel that has all the ports and buttons is not water tight enough like the BRV-1 or EcoXBT. The A33 won't float!It's solidly built and will take more abuse and rough handling than a non IPT rated device. It's as tough as the Jabra Solemate. but it's not super shockproof. so don't run it over with a car or throw it down from the 2nd floor.Bluetooth/codec:Many devices boast BT 4.0 and aptX but don't sound half as good the A33. It's the diabolical TDK technology again! The speaker has impressive range: 10+ meters even without clear line of sight! Audio reproduction is excellent and near loss-less (there i go, dropping fancy tech jargon!). Truly impressive sound! it's almost like expecting too much from a bluetooth speaker..lol! it's a lot like shopping for a PC or smartphone... the manufacturers try to go one up with the specs, but only a few deliver that great user experience! This speaker does more with its humble specs than most of the devices out there, and sure enough beats them by a landslide!form factor:It's bigger than the minis but smaller than the big boys. weighs 3 lbs/1.1kg, but looks smaller for its weight. very compact. and the dimensions also give it a compact look. very portable... i take it everywhere!Get the white one... looks much better than the black!battery life:not the best. on full volume i don't get more than 4 hours. medium volume gives me around 7 hrs. but that's really not a big problem for me... it's become my primary sound system, so i'm using it ALL THE TIME with EVERYTHING: the phone, the PC, the TV...so i just keep it plugged in all the time.Bottom line:The A33 delivers great value for money! i'm not easily pleased when it comes to sound quality, but i've become really attached to the A33! Apart from great sound, it's aesthetically quite appealing (the White one). TDK was big in the 80s, and their new range of speakers show just how well TDK understands 'Sound'. If you love good music and great sound, just take a leap of faith! you won't regret it!

The A33 speaker exceeded all my expectations :it's sturdy ,with a solidly built , durable and waterproof (perfect for outdoors)It weights around 1 kg so keep that in mind if your main purpose is bringing this small brick with you all the time.It is perfect for a room , the sound quality is really good and powerful with a punchy bass for such a small speaker.The Bluetooth works perfectly with my Android Nexus 4 and 7 , and windows desktop and laptop PC. Also , the AUX IN port is nice to hook this up to my PC and TV to improve audio quality , which makes the A33 a nice TV speaker as well.Also , the integrated microphone provides speakerphone functionality for hands-free calling which again works pretty well.The rechargeable battery lasts about 5/6 hours of use which is reasonably good for a product like this.For 150 euros , in my opinion the A33 beats the Bose Soundlink Mini.

Sent back as the unit never held a charge, very disappointed as they were a Christmas gift

I really like the quality of the sound.However, my Bluetooth seems to disconnect by it self for several times already since i purchased few days ago.Where can i get help for this?I am afraid that it will occur more often on later date. May i request a new one?

Having read the few other reviews I was optimistic about the suitability of the TDK A33 for a holiday speaker for near the pool without worrying about water splash damage.Initial impressions were good with impressive sound from such a small unit. Maybe not as full and punchy as the Bose Soundlink II, but not far behind plus with the added benefits of being splash-proof and USB charging for phone/Ipad.BUT, soon discovered that the unit was not charging it's own built-in battery so was faulty in a catastrophic way. I was happy to exchange only to be told the replacement would take over 2 weeks meaning it wouldn't arrive in time for that holiday. Very disappointing and unusually poor service from a normally exceptional Amazon. Awaiting refund and looking at other quick options.P

Execellant piece of kit, volume sound quality very good for it size battery life ok but have not got 6 hrs, 4 hrs is my average which is still good. The only problem I've had is the Bluetooth crashes and no sound until I switch it on and off for it to work again but over all happy with my purchase. Will contact amazon if it happens again.

Having read the previous reviews I ordered this with some confidence (thanks "Audio") though I was a little apprehensive about paying the price since I was still convinced that the unit would fall short in some small way.It arrived a couple of hours ago, I plugged it in, paired it with my Android phone, and dropped the first tune.I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO CLOSE MY MOUTH SINCE!!!!I won't repeat what others have already said, but I simply don't know where the sound is coming from in such a small 9 inch unit. But it's not just ample volume you get. There's treble detail here, underpinned by defined and tight, punchy bass, and the clarity is still there when you max it out. (Actually I needed to find a less smooth surface to mount it on as the power was moving it across the cabinet!)I truly can't believe the quality of this little unit. It feels as robust as a house brick, the way things used to be built.It's a shame, this speaker gets very little airplay in terms of reviews and general availability compared to others on the internet and it terrifies me that I could have easily bought something else. That would have been a grave mistake...Check the reviews on the Amazon.com site also......and then buy it. The evidence is overwhelming. It's one of those un-regrettable purchases. At the time of writing you simply won't find better bluetooth speaker at this price.