So this is the Bose S1 Pro+ and this is a very niche portable Bluetooth speaker that I feel only live performers should consider… and thats it. And I am being very specific at the the start of this video cause I have seen some casual users with this speaker, and I honestly think that they would be much better off with anything else. Nonetheless lets see what the Bose S1 Pro plus is all about.
Regarding pricing, this speaker has a retail price of $700… which is a lot for a speaker of this size and performance. And I really feel that this speaker should only be considered by people that absolutely need something small and has XLR inputs. But if you’re a causal looking for a box speaker, look at something else. Nonetheless, if you want to pick this speaker up it’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
So first theres the design of this speaker, this thing is super small especially for how loud it gets. The Bose S1 Pro is in the same league as lets say the JBL Boombox 3 and Sony ULT 7… but gets way louder than either the JBL Partybox 320 and Sony XV800… but just cause it gets loud, it doesn’t mean that it sounds good. This speaker weighs in at 14 and a half pounds and it has a built in carrying handle for easy traveling. However, this speaker isn’t super durable cause it does have a thin metal grill on the front… and you better make sure that it doesn’t get wet cause all of its ports are just exposed.
But the really surprising thing is that this little speaker has a built in battery. Now a little speaker means a little battery cause this battery is advertised at 11 hours… but the really important thing here is that this speaker charges via a three prong AC cable. And I just feel that this is something to keep in mind cause most other box speakers out there charge via a double barrel AC cable which is a lot more common and easier to replace.
But then there are the ports and connectivity on this speaker, and this is where this speaker really shines. Now first off this speaker has 2 XLR and quarter inch combo jacks so you can plug in your microphones, or instruments or mixers. And theres actually built in screens for each of these channels so that you can adjust the volume, the treble and the bass. Now this speaker does have app support… but quite honestly, I think its just easier to adjust your settings from the screens directly on the speaker.
Now theres also 2 audio jacks, a quarter inch one and a three quarter inch one, so you can use this speaker with a wired connection… and it also has bluetooth, and the Bluetooth latency on this speaker is pretty minimal so you can use this speaker to watch movies with. However, this speaker has a local volume to it and then theres your phone’s volume. Which means, if you want to raise the volume on this speaker, you first have to do so directly on the speaker it self and then you have to raise the volume on your phone or other audio source.
Now when it comes to speaker set up, the Bose S1 Pro plus has a single frontward firing woofer with exhaust ports that shoot out the front and it has a total of 3 frontward firing full range drivers that are stacked on top of the woofer. And like I mentioned at the top of this video, this speaker gets very loud specially for its size. But just cause it gets loud it doesn’t mean that it sounds good. The main issue with this speaker is that it leans towards a very bright sound signature and the bass bottoms out a lot. So in this soundtest we’re going to have this speaker playing at 75% volume, and we’re going to use it with its bass and treble both at zero and we’re also going to use it with its bass increased and the treble decreased.
Sound test
So like you may have just hurt, this speaker likes to screech a lot… it gets very loud, but it doesn’t sound all that good if you’re actually playing music cause theres either barely any bass, or if there is bass, it get bottomed out and it distorts a lot. So if you’re looking for a speaker to play music with while at the cook out, and believe me, the reason why im making this video is cause is seen a lot of causal guys doing this during the last few summers… I cant recommend this speaker. But if you’re a performer and you plan on using this speaker with a microphone or guitar on a regular basis, and you need something small… then you’ll might want to go with this speaker… but regardless, there are plenty of other box speakers out there than can be used with a mic or guitar like either the Partybox 120, Sony XV500 or even the Sony ULT 7… the only thing is these box speakers are bigger than the bose and none of these speakers have XLR inputs if you need to use a mixer.
Now the Bose S1 Pro does not have the best performing bass, however, you can always pair it with one of Bose’s external subwoofers, but if you were to do that, your going to at the very least double the price of this set up, and at which point, if you’re a casual you might as well get yourself a partybox ultimate or a Sony ULT tower ten.
So with all of that being said, im making this video as a warning for any causal user out there that is maybe looking for a speaker to use while at the cook out or if you’re looking for a box speaker for your man cave. Yes this speaker is very small and portable and it gets very loud for its size. However this speaker doesn’t sound good when playing music cause it sounds very bright and the bass is very quick to bottom out and theres not physicality to the bass either. I can only recommend this speaker to someone that is planning on using the XLR inputs 100 percent of the time. But if you’re someone that just need to plug in a pair of mics or a guitar in your speaker, than I think either the JBL Partybox 120 and Sony XV500 are great small alternatives to consider. They’re just a little larger and heavier.