So this is the JBL Partybox 520, this is an all new size for JBL’s Partybox line up of speakers… and I think the JBL Partybox 520 gives you the perfect amount of sound if you’re looking for something for your man cave or house party. Its gives you that extra kick that you always wanted out of your partybox 320… but its not overkill or over sized like either the JBL Partybox 710 or especially the JBL Partybox Ultimate… its just too much. If the JBL Partybox 320 is great… than the JBL Partybox 520 is amazing.
Regarding pricing, the JBL Partybox 520 has a retail price of $890 dollars… is it a lot? For sure, but you forget how much it costs when you’re actually playing music with it. But for comparison sake, the JBL Partybox 320 has a retail price of $600 and the Ultimate has a price of $1900. And if you have the 710, the 710 still gets a little louder and has a little more bass. 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. And if you want to further support the channel then you can always pick up some merch.
Now first theres the design of this speaker, the JBL Partybox 520 is a little later and a little heavier than the JBL Partybox 320. The Partybox 520 weighs in at 56 pounds where as the JBL Partybox 320 weighs in at 36 and a half pounds. Now with the JBL Partybox 320, I feel that a single person can easily move this speaker around, carry it up and down stairs and load it into a car all by themselves. Where as with the JBL Partybox 520, for the most part I feel that a single guy can move this speaker around by himself… however it is preferred to have help to move it up and down stairs or load it into your car if you dont want to risk damaging the speaker or car or walls in your house. What im saying is, the JBL Partybox 520 is still super portable… but the Partybox 320 is more manageable by yourself.
But besides size and weight, the JBL Partybox 520 is just like the Partybox 320. First off this speaker does have built in wheels so you can easily roll this speaker around. And the important thing here is, these wheels are also super chunky, so its still going to be super easy to roll it around in a parking lot, on the side walk, in the grass or on a rug. And just like the 320, the 520 also have a built in telescopic handle, however I still miss the push to unlock handle found on the 310 cause this one is a button just like the 320. Nonetheless the 520 is still super portable thanks to its wheels, but when it comes to durability, you still want to be careful. This speaker has a mostly plastic body so it can get scratched easily and it has a thing metal grill on the front so it can get dented… and this speaker is only rocking an IPX4 ratting, so some water is going to be fine, but you want to make sure that its panels on the back are closed. And this speaker also has a top hat mount on the bottom, so if you want you can put it on a speaker stand mount… but if you’re going to do that, I highly recommend that you has a proper strudy one.
But just like the rest of JBL’s Partybox speakers, the Partybox 520 has a built in light feature which I feel is super impressive, its very bright and its very dynamic and through JBL’s app you can go in and choose from a few different lighting modes and you can even customize these light features. And since the 520 is using Aura cast, you can also connect it to JBL’s Partylights and extend your light feature if you want… However, the light feature on the Partybox 520 is identical to the light feature found on the Partybox 320. Its just bigger. Cause the light feature on the Partybox is little more impressive, the rings in the center have a 3D effect and the ultimate has floor lights as well, which I would have like to have seen on the 520. But just keep in mind that if you do use the light feature on this speaker, that is going to take an additional toll on the battery life.
Now the JBL Partybox 520 has an advertised battery life of 15 hours, which honestly is super impressive for a speaker of this size. However this advertised battery life of 15 hours is with this speaker playing at 40% which is already plenty loud, but that with the light feature turned off, and bass boost turned off as well. And in general, battery life on this speaker really varies depending on how you use it. It you use it at a higher volume, and or with the light feature turned on and with the bass boost turned on… all of that is going to affect your battery life.
But real world use with this speaker playing at 60% volume, with the light feature turned on, and with the bass boost turned on, for me its been good for 8 hours of playback time… and honestly, anything above 60% volume while indoors is going to require hearing protection. And anything above 80% is just telling your neighbors that you really care about them and you really want them to listen to your favorite song, and at 100%, its just telling the cops that you really miss them and that they should visit more often.
But the really cool thing about the partybox 520, is that jus like the 320 and 120, you can quickly and easily swap out the battery on this speaker. So if you want you can get multiple batteries and keep the party going, or if you ever get to a point where you speaker can no longer hold a charge, you just need to get a new battery instead of having to get a whole new speaker.
However, the battery on the 520 is much larger than the battery on the 320 or 120. So no you cant mix and match batteries here, however you’ll might be able to mix and match batteries with the JBL Boombox 4, cause it looks like its going to be using the same removable battery as the Partybox 520.
And to charge this speaker it charges via a double barrel AC port, and when you use this speaker while its plugged in, you are going to get a performance boost out of it, its going to get louder and its going to have more bass.
And when it comes to the ports on this speaker, there are some major changes here. Now first off the port panel on the back is illuminated, which I do feel is a nice touch. But more importantly, the Partybox 520 is now using XLR combo jacks, so if you want you can plug in a mixer making this speaker a great option for both casual users and someone that might want to moon light as a DJ. Plus the 520 already has the built in light feature which is a big plus, but this is another reason why I wish it had floor lights, for DJS.
But with these XLR Combo jacks, you can still plug in a 2 microphones for karaoke, or you can plug in a guitar. But in think karaoke is more important. And directly from the speaker it self you can adjust your bass, treble or echo so that you can hide just how off key you are. There are also some extra DJ buttons so that you can ad sound effects, but I think these buttons are pointless but you can customize them through JBL’s app.
Now if you want you can have a total of two wired mics plugged in, or you can plug in JBL’s Partybox Mics and get two wireless mics going. Now I know JBL’s wireless mics are a lot more expansive compared to wired ones… however these mics do sound better, they do a really good job of focusing on your voice and they also do a really good job of not picking up too much noise when you’re handling the microphones.
Also since the Partybox 520 does have a USB C port which you can use to charge your own phone… you can also use this USB C port to charge your JBL Partybox Mics and the transmitter as well. But also, with this USB C port you can use it as a wired connection with your phone.
And I really love that JBL listened and they added this USB C port to the 520 cause it makes it super easy now to charge your phone… but the 520 still has an audio jack so you can use it with a wired connection that way as well… but it also has an audio out jack, so you can always daisy chain this speaker up with any other speaker and get them to play in sync, regardless of size or brand.
And when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, this speaker can be connected to anything two bluetooth devices so you and a friend can both be DJ, latency is not an issue for this speaker so you can use it to watch videos with on your phone and it has support for SBC and AAC.
But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Regarding speaker set up, the JBL Partybox 520 is very similar to a lot of other Partyboxes, it has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back and dual frontward firing tweeters. Except bigger. But thanks to the rear firing exhaust port, you can also amplify the bass on this speaker by simple placing it up against a wall cause your bass is going to have something to bounce off of. And though JBL’s app you can go in and select from a few premade EQ’s or you can make your own. And then theres the bass boost button. Now there are two settings, theres deep and rumble. Deep is the one that I prefer cause it going to give you more kick in your bass, you’re going to feel it more… where as with rumble, you’re going to get more resonance, but I dont like it too much cause I feel that it muddles the rest of your music. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, we’re going to be using this speaker at 75% volume, we’re going to cycle with bass boost off and bass boost set to deep and we’re also going to use it while its plugged in.
Soundtest
So when it comes to sound, the JBL Partybox 520 sounds very similar to either the JBL Partybox 320 or JBL Partybox 120, expect it gets louder. Now in general the all of JBL’s prtyboxes sounds good, and they sound balanced with strong vocals. But what really makes JBL’s Partyboxes stand out is the bass. And the JBL Partybox 520 has more than enough bass to satisfy someone that looking for their man cave or some house party. That bass that coming out of the Partybox 520 is more satisfying than the bass that comes out of the Partybox 320… but its not over kill like the bass that you’ll fine on either the JBL Partybox 710 or especially the JBL Partybox Ultimate. And like I mentioned, if you were to use this speaker with its bass boost set to deep, which is my prefer setting, you’re going to get more of a kick out of it, where as rumble is going to get you more resonance which personally im not a fan of. And when it comes to max volume performance, at max volume this speaker is going to be good for a 50 person crowd and we’re starting to enter commercial use territory, think DJ’s, medium sized restaurants, food trucks or even booths. And if you were to use this speaker while its plugged in you are going to get a performance boost out of it, its going to get louder and its going to have more bass. But overall, I think the JBL Partybox 520 is just the perfect size, you never think, huh maybe I should get a second speaker to pair with the 520 and you never have to ask for me… but you never go, oh my god why did I get this? Its too much! Like you would with either the 710 or ultimate.
But finally lets talk about pairing this speaker up with other speakers. Now if you have two of the exact same speakers then you can wirelessly pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, so your music is going to sound more open and its going to get louder. But you have to have 2 of the exact same speakers.
But also, the Partybox 520 is using aura cast so you can pair it up to other speakers that are also using aura cast like lets set the JBL Partybox Encore 2, 120, 320, 520, or ultimate and you can get them all to play in sync… but also you can pair your Partybox 520 to any of JBL’s smaller speakers that are also using aura cast like lets say a charge 6, xtreme 4, flip 7, clip 5, or go 4.
But also, you can pair your Partybox 520 up to any of JBL’s older Partybox Speakers that are using TWS like either an original partybox encore, or 110, 310, or 710… however you can only have a total of 2 speakers wirelessly paired to one another. And another thing is, lets say you have your 520 paired up to any other speaker… if you have a mic plugged in into your 520, then your mic audio is only going to come out of the partybox 520.
And like I mentioned earlier, the Partybox 520 does have that audio out jack so you can always daisy chain it up to any other speaker regardless of size or brand, and get them to play sync. And since this speaker is using aura cast, you’ll also be able to pair it up to other non JBL speakers that are also using aura cast.
But with all of that being said, the JBL Partybox 520 is a big and super loud speaker. But honestly I think this speaker is right in the goldilocks zone. With the 520 you dont think, huh I wish it was just a little louder like some people will might think with the Partybox 320… but you never go What Have I Done?! Like you might with either the JBL Partybox 710 or Partybox Ultimate. You’ll might need to be a gym bro to move this speaker by yourself, but its still portable. But I also really like that JBL listened and they added the XLR inputs for DJs, it has a shapable battery and its has the super useful USB C port. I just wish that the JBL Partybox 520 had floor lights… but other than that, the JBL Partybox 520 is pretty great.