So both the JBL party box 520 and the Sony ULT Tower 9 are great portable Bluetooth speakers to consider. But they are very different from one another. The JBL Partybox 520 has better portability where as the Sony ULT Tower 9 has much better sound. So today we’re going to compare these two speakers and lets see which one is right for you.
Regarding pricing, both of these speakers retail for $900, which is a lot but you do forget about that when you’re actually playing music with them. Now I do expect both of these speakers to go on sale on a regular basis, however I do expect the Sony to go on sale more frequently. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two speakers up they’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.
So first theres the design of these speakers, like I mentioned, the JBL party box 520 is more portable than the Sony ULT Tower 9, the JBL is noticeably smaller and lighter than the Sony weighing in at 56 pounds where as the tower 9 weighs in at 65 pounds. But more importantly, the JBL has grab handles on the top and bottom, where as the Sony only has grab handles on the top… but also the JBL does have a top hat mount on the bottom so you can always put this speaker on a stand if you want where as the Sony doesn’t. However, both of these speakers do have built in wheels so a single person can easily roll these speakers around and both of these wheels are super chunky… so you can still roll them in a parking lot, on the side walk or on a thick carpet without any problem. But overall I do feel that some help is going to be preferred when you’re going to take these speakers up and down the stairs or load them into the car so that you don’t damage the walls in your house, the car or the speaker it self. But in general, the JBL is slightly smaller and lighter and easier to move.
But when it comes to durability, both of these speakers have a mostly plastic body which can get scratched very easily and they both have thin metal grills on the front which can get dented easily as well… so you do want to be carful with both of these speakers. However the JBL Partybox 520 does have an IPX4 water resistant rating where as the Sony doesn’t cause the Sony doesn’t have a cover for its plug. So in general, I do feel that if you plan on using your speaker by the pool, I would recommend that JBL cause of the water resistant rating… but also, the control panel on the JBL are physical buttons… so even if your hands are wet, your going to be fine. Where as the Sony has a touchpad on the top… it looks good and its easy to use… but it might not work as well if your fingers are wet from the pool.
But then there are the light features on these speakers… now I think the light feature on the Sony looks good and I really like that it has floor lights and these floor lights have a large area of effect… so it really gives this speaker a very big presence especially at night. However I do feel that JBL’s light feature is more impressive and dynamic and its a lot more visible by comparison. But also, with the JBL since this speaker is using auracast you can connect it up to JBL’s Partylights and sync them up and extend your light feature if you want. But like I said in the full review… I do wish the JBL Partybox 520 had floor lights like the Ultimate. Nonetheless if you decide to use the light feature on either of these two speakers that is going to take it toll on the battery life.
Now when it comes to battery life… these speakers are very different from one another. The Sony does have slightly better stamina… cause with this speaker if you use it at 40% volume, and with the light feature turned off but with the ULT feature turned on, it going to be good for around 20 hours of playback time… which is really good and 40% is already a really good lisnteing volume. Where as with the JBL Partybox 520, if you use this speaker at 40% volume as well and with the light feature turned off and with the bass boost feature turned off… its going to be good for around 15 hours of playback time.
But battery life on both of these speakers really varies depending on how you use them, but real world use for me with both of these speakers playing at 60% volume and with the light feature turned on with their bass boost or ULT feature turned on… they’re both going to be good for like 8 hours of playback time but the Sony is going to be a little louder than the JBL.
But the main difference between these two speakers is that with the JBL you can quickly and easily take out this battery, so if you want you can either get multiple batteries and keep the party going, or if you get to the point where you battery can no longer hold a charge, you just need to get a new battery instead of having to get a new speaker, which is great for the overall life of your investment.
However you cant mix and match batteries with lets say the Partybox 320 or 120 cause they all use a different battery. 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 battery as the JBL party box 520.
And to charge both of these speakers they both charge via a double barrel AC port… and with both of these speakers if you were to use them while they are plugged in, you are going to get a performance boost out of them, they’re both going to get louder and they are going to have more bass.
But then there are the ports on these speakers, and this is another area where the JBL beats the Sony. First off the JBL is using XLR combo jack so if you want you can plug it into a mixer… making its great for someone that might want to moon light as a DJ… where as with the Sony, you can use it with a mixer but you’re either going to have to use the audio jack or a bluetooth connection. It works but having the XLR input is more solid.
But more importantly with both of these speakers you can plug in 2 microphones for karaoke or you can plug in a guitar… but I think two mics for kakroke is more important. Now with both of these speakers you can add in an echo if you want which is good cause you can hide how off key you are… but I do think the mic is a little better on the JBL cause you can adjust the sound of your mic by adjusting the bass and treble.
Now like I said, with both of these speakers you can plug in 2 wired mics or you can also use JBL’s or Sony’s own wireless mics. Now I do think JBL’s mics sound a little better and they do a better job of not making any noise when you’re handling these mics… but the weird thing with the JBL is, their mics have a 20 hour battery life but the receiver has a 12 hour battery life… where as with the Sony, both the mics and the receiver have a 20 hour battery life. But regardless you can use these wireless mics with any speaker out there.
But with the Partybox 520 this speaker has a USB C port which you can use to charge your phone… or you can also use it to charge your mics or receiver and you can also use this USB C port as a wired connection with your phone. Where as with the ULT Tower 9, this speaker has a USB A port which I dont feel is as convenient, but you can plug in a USB Stick if you want. But with both of these speakers you can use them with a wired connection cause they both have an audio jack.
However the Partybox 520 also has an audio out jack so you can always daisy chain this speaker up to any other speaker and get them to play in sync, regardless of size or brand, and I really feel that this is a super useful feature. Now the Sony doesn’t have this… but it does have an optical port so if you want you can connect this speaker to your tv and use it as a sound bar… and I also feel that this feature is super useful.
But when it comes to Bluetooth connectivity, both of these speaker can be connected to two devices at the same time so you and a friend can both be DJ. Latency is not an issue for these speakers so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone, but when it comes to audio codecs, the JBL has support for SBC and AAC where as the Sony has support for SBC, AAC and LDAC which is Sony’s high res audio codec, but if you want to use LDAC you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC, but regardless the Sony still sounds great even with AAC.
But with all of that out of the way lets talk about sound, regarding speaker set up, these two speakers are very different from one another. The JBL Partybox 520 has dual frontward firing woofers with an exhaust port that shoots out the back and dual frontward firing tweeters. A pretty basic speaker set up. Where as the Sony ULT Tower 9 has a single frontward firing woofer with a downward firing exhaust, dual frontward firing mid range drivers and a total of 4 tweeters, two that shoot out the front and two that shoot out the back. Now the tower 9 also has its ult feature, ULT 1 is going to increase your bass and this is the setting that I like to use while indoors… and ULT 2 is going to increase both your bass and the sound pressure on your speaker so the mids and highs are going to be more prominent. And ULT 2 is going to be better for out door use. Where as the JBL has its bass boost, deep and punchy and personally I prefer deep cause I feel that it has more kick to it where as punchy give you more resoncace so it can mess with your music. But now we’re going to jump into the sound test, both to these speaker are playing at 75% volume while unplugged, and the JBL is playing with bass boost set to deep and the Sony is playing with ULT 2.
Sound test
So when it comes to sound quality, easily I feel that the Sony just sounds a lot more open and it has much strong mids and highs so the vocals are a lot more promitnate. Where as the JBL just sounds a lot more narrow by comparison. Now the thing that the JBL Partybox 520 does have over the Sony is that its bass is a lot more physical, you feel it a lot more in your chest and it rattles the walls in your house more. Where as with the Sony, its bass also has a good amount of kick to it, but it is more on the audible side. But plainly put, with the Sony you are going to get higher quality sound thanks to the mid range drivers which just aren’t present on the JBL and it has twice as many tweeters. And when it comes to max volume performance, I think that both of these speakers are good for like a 50 person party and they are both good for commercial use. Think small DJ gigs, medium sized restaurants, or small events. But with both of these speakers if you use them while they are plugged in you are going to get a performance boost out of them, they are going to get louder and they are going to have more bass. But overall the Sony does manage to get a little louder than the JBL cause it does lean towards a brighter sound signature. But overall, with the JBL you are going to get more kick out of your bass, but with the Sony you are going to get better quality sound, its going to sound more open, more balanced, and you’re vocals are going to have better detail.
But finally lets talk about pairing these speakers up with other speakers. Now with both of these speakers if you have two of the same speakers then you can pair them up and get them to play in left and right stereo mode, but they have to be 2 of the exact same speakers.
Now the Sony ULT Tower 9 is using Sony’s wireless party chain and you can pair it up to Sony’s other speakers that are using wireless party chain like the tower 10, tower 9, XV800, XV500 or to the XP700 or XP500… or you can also pair it up to Sony’s smaller speakers that are also using wireless party chain like either the Sony ULT field 7, ULT 5, or ULT 3, or to the Sony XG500, XG300, XE300, XE200 or to the XB43, XB33, or XB23. The only thing is, you can not connect your tower 9 to the ULT Field 1 cause it does not have wireless party chain.
Where as with the JBL Partybox 520, its using aura cast so you can pair it up to other Aura Cast speakers like the encore 2, partybox 120, 320, 520 or ultimate and get them to play in sync… or you can also pair it up to JBL’s smaller speakers that are also using aura cast like the Charge 6, Xtreme 4, Flip 7, Go 4 or clip 5.
And you can also connect your 520 up to any of JBL’s older partyboxes that are using TWS like either the original encore or partybox 110, 310 or 710… the only thing is you can only have a total of 2 speakers wirelessly paired to one another. But also keep in mind that you can not connect your JBL Partybox 520 up to any of JBL’s older speakers that are using Partyboost like either the JBL boombox 3, Boombox 2, Xtreme 3, Charge 5, Pulse 5, Pulse 4, Flip 6 or Flip 5.
But also with Aura cast, you’ll be able to connect your JBL Partybox 520 up to other non JBL speakers that are also using aura cast, 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 and get them to play in sync.
But with all of that being said, I think both of these speakers are great, but they are very different from one another. I think the JBL Partybox 520 is a lot more versatile and portable than the Sony ULT Tower 9. Its smaller and lighter, but it also has an easy to remove battery… its also has those XLR inputs so you can easily plug it into a mixer, it has an audio out jack and its using Aura cast, so you can pair it up to JBL speakers and non JBL Speakers and you can pair it up to JBL’s Partylights. However with the Sony ULT Tower 9, this speaker does sound better than the JBL Partybox 520 cause it sounds more balanced, more open and theres much better definition in the mids thanks to the mid range drivers and quad tweeters. Honestly I think choosing between these two speakers is going to come down to preference, but if you’re looking for something to mainly use in your man cave or at home, I recommend the Sony ULT Tower 9, but if you need something more portable, something more on the go, then I recommend the JBL Partybox 520.