expired Posted by PennyFound | Staff • Dec 25, 2024
Dec 25, 2024 12:04 AM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
expired Posted by PennyFound | Staff • Dec 25, 2024
Dec 25, 2024 12:04 AM
Harman Kardon Go+ Play 3 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Black)
+ Free Shipping$129
$250
48% offHarman Audio
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I'm buying a 2nd one to do stereo pairing.
I listen to this many hours a day in my office and have had multiple unsolicited compliments from friends about the sound quality.
There are 3 hidden EQ modes and 3 hidden bass modes which really change the sound signature. Out of the box this speaker tracks remarkably close to the Harmon curve. Like, better than many $1000+ speakers
I prefer the default sound mode, but the high-cut (1 blink) is nice if looking for less distracting background music. The high boost mode (3 blinks) is interesting I guess if you're really looking for detail. Everything depends on your room acoustics. The Play 3 does an auto EQ everytime it boots and will adjust the EQ for your room. Works great.
The bass modes use the other two buttons, but follow the same cadence. Low bass (1 blink), standard bass (2 blinks), extra bass (3 blinks). The extra bass mode is super useful for outdoor use.
My main speakers are 110lb each, 4-way Canon CT-120s powered by a Japanese import Denon PMA-2000 IV that could charge a Tesla. Before that it was a pair of Vandersteen Treo CTs and a restored Pioneer Spec-1 amp. I've owned every Klipsch Heritage speaker (including the insanely rare Klipsch Belles and Klipschorns, JBL L112s, JBL L65 Jubals, Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 5s, and dozens of other extremely high end speakers, amps, and subs. I've forgotten more about audio than most people will ever know.
All this bragadocio is meant to add weight to my belief this is one of the best pieces of hifi I've ever owned and one of the (if not the) best all-in-one system. The detail, the bass, the warmth. It's insane how good it is. And I have owned Megablasts, JBL Extreme, Klipsch One, B&O Zeppelin, ect. Nothing BT touches this. You have to go to a seperates system to really match it. I'm super stoked to use stero pairing as the imaging is great with the single speaker.
Listening to it right now and it passes the "Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" test. The first verse of that song is screechy and uncomfortable or very dull depending on what kind of bad your system is. You have to usually go to very high end gear to hear just how well it's recorded, the HK nails it, which is crazy.
Same with Norah Jones 7 Years. The guitars in that song are very "squeaky" and distracting on lower tier systems, but the HK reveals how warm and intimate it is. Nick Caves Breathless is another extremely complex recording and although it doesn't quite get everything, it gets 80% of it.
This speaker is special enough I moved the Canton's out of my office as they were just too big. To be clear, they are MUCH better, but for a $120 BT speaker the soundstage, warmth, and bass this puts out is supernatural.
(end of rant)
And just in case there's people having intense FOMO here, if you're not into actively listening to music, this isn't the prettiest or the loudest or the most feature packed. This thing (and Hifi in general) is about the more subtle, hard to define qualities of well recorded music. Unfortunately a lot of the best recorded music is soulless jazz and the vocal proponents of hifi are rich old men with horrible taste.
If I just played music in the background or wanted something for outdoors/events I would get one of the W King speakers or if there's a deal on the party box / superblasts get those. I use the Megablast for events and get togethers because of the omnidirectional sound, size, and sound profile. The Play 3 is like a 11lb bolbous, awkward lunch box and is easily damaged/chipped.
Since it's Christmas Eve and everybody has gone to bed at my house, I'm going to needlessly give album reccomendations on SlickDeals. Particularly if you're just getting into this kind of quality of sound from a standard BT speaker or nicer headphones. Putting Tidal links because to hell with Spotify and their lazy algorithims and culture destroying greed.
1) Dijon - Absolutely. An incredible bit of experminetal production with super catchy pop/R&B songs. Big Mike's sounds like you are in a bombed out house at the end of the world listening to people jam. Mk.gee plays incredibly interesting guitar throughout.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/201810382?u
2) Black Country New Road - Ants From Up There. Hands down the best album of the last 10-15 years released just two years ago by a bunch of young college friends from Cambridge. Moments of transcendent emotional catharsis driven by intricate, orchestral compositions. Concorde and The Place He Inserted the Blade are instant classics. Also, Top 10 band room recording, up there with Sinatra and Buena Vista Social Club. You get to listen to one of this generations greatest lyrical/musical talents have a complete mental breakdown and quit music forever. It should be in a museum.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/201105433?u
3) The Bad Plus - Joshua Redman. Pristine recording of one of the only interesting, but not fully avant garde jazz bands out there. Top 5 living piano player. Drummer who has only ever existed deep in the pocket. Josh Redman doing his sax thing. As This Moment Slips Away peak jazz.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/45214193?u
4) Little Simz - Sometimes I might Be Introvert. Easily the most talented pop artist out right now. Like, not even remotely close. Criminal she isn't more popular outside England. Point & Kill / Fear No Man is perfect.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/252603948?u
5) Tyler Childers - Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven. An amazing album recorded 3 times in different styles. Beyond impressive and interesting, but outside a few tracks disc 1 is the good stuff. Title track is a top 10 country song for me.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/250603598?u
6) Al Green - Lay It Down. 70 year old man records joyous, career defining album. Yes, it's Starbucks-core, but you are dead inside if it doesn't make you feel good. Seek therapy. Auditory Xanax in a positive sense. Lay it Down and No One Like You god-tier adult soul.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/2450491?u
7) Robert Frip / The Grid - Leviathan. Care for 75 minutes of interstellar forbooding? Ominous mystery and wonder floating at the edge of something unknowable and endless? Get something illegal in your body and listen in the dark. Reccomending a particular track is a hilarious idea.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/333615907?u
8) Sigur Ros - (). Yes, the album is a parenthesis and all the tracks are untitled. Yes, it's sung in a fake language by an Icelandic Elf man. Yes, it takes its time to get where it's going. No, there hasn't been a more beautiful album recorded in the 22 years since it was released. The last 2 minutes of track 1 very loud on a good sound system is what it feels like to die happy at the end of a meaningful life. All of track 2 is the same but at the end of a sad one. Track 3 somehow makes 7 notes repeating for 6+ minutes gorgeous.
https://tidal.com/browse/album/101997561?u
There are no "best speakers". It isn't a competition and you having the best kit doesn't mean much at all. I'm excited about this speaker as it legitmately puts somebody in true "hifi" territory for $125!
PS The Canton CT-120s are the best speakers, I lied just now.
124 Comments
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I'm buying a 2nd one to do stereo pairing.
I listen to this many hours a day in my office and have had multiple unsolicited compliments from friends about the sound quality.
There are 3 hidden EQ modes and 3 hidden bass modes which really change the sound signature. Out of the box this speaker tracks remarkably close to the Harmon curve. Like, better than many $1000+ speakers
I'm buying a 2nd one to do stereo pairing.
I listen to this many hours a day in my office and have had multiple unsolicited compliments from friends about the sound quality.
There are 3 hidden EQ modes and 3 hidden bass modes which really change the sound signature. Out of the box this speaker tracks remarkably close to the Harmon curve. Like, better than many $1000+ speakers
I'm buying a 2nd one to do stereo pairing.
I listen to this many hours a day in my office and have had multiple unsolicited compliments from friends about the sound quality.
There are 3 hidden EQ modes and 3 hidden bass modes which really change the sound signature. Out of the box this speaker tracks remarkably close to the Harmon curve. Like, better than many $1000+ speakers
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank lattiboy
I prefer the default sound mode, but the high-cut (1 blink) is nice if looking for less distracting background music. The high boost mode (3 blinks) is interesting I guess if you're really looking for detail. Everything depends on your room acoustics. The Play 3 does an auto EQ everytime it boots and will adjust the EQ for your room. Works great.
The bass modes use the other two buttons, but follow the same cadence. Low bass (1 blink), standard bass (2 blinks), extra bass (3 blinks). The extra bass mode is super useful for outdoor use.
My main speakers are 110lb each, 4-way Canon CT-120s powered by a Japanese import Denon PMA-2000 IV that could charge a Tesla. Before that it was a pair of Vandersteen Treo CTs and a restored Pioneer Spec-1 amp. I've owned every Klipsch Heritage speaker (including the insanely rare Klipsch Belles and Klipschorns, JBL L112s, JBL L65 Jubals, Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 5s, and dozens of other extremely high end speakers, amps, and subs. I've forgotten more about audio than most people will ever know.
All this bragadocio is meant to add weight to my belief this is one of the best pieces of hifi I've ever owned and one of the (if not the) best all-in-one system. The detail, the bass, the warmth. It's insane how good it is. And I have owned Megablasts, JBL Extreme, Klipsch One, B&O Zeppelin, ect. Nothing BT touches this. You have to go to a seperates system to really match it. I'm super stoked to use stero pairing as the imaging is great with the single speaker.
Listening to it right now and it passes the "Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" test. The first verse of that song is screechy and uncomfortable or very dull depending on what kind of bad your system is. You have to usually go to very high end gear to hear just how well it's recorded, the HK nails it, which is crazy.
Same with Norah Jones 7 Years. The guitars in that song are very "squeaky" and distracting on lower tier systems, but the HK reveals how warm and intimate it is. Nick Caves Breathless is another extremely complex recording and although it doesn't quite get everything, it gets 80% of it.
This speaker is special enough I moved the Canton's out of my office as they were just too big. To be clear, they are MUCH better, but for a $120 BT speaker the soundstage, warmth, and bass this puts out is supernatural.
(end of rant)
I prefer the default sound mode, but the high-cut (1 blink) is nice if looking for less distracting background music. The high boost mode (3 blinks) is interesting I guess if you're really looking for detail. Everything depends on your room acoustics. The Play 3 does an auto EQ everytime it boots and will adjust the EQ for your room. Works great.
The bass modes use the other two buttons, but follow the same cadence. Low bass (1 blink), standard bass (2 blinks), extra bass (3 blinks). The extra bass mode is super useful for outdoor use.
My main speakers are 110lb each, 4-way Canon CT-120s powered by a Japanese import Denon PMA-2000 IV that could charge a Tesla. Before that it was a pair of Vandersteen Treo CTs and a restored Pioneer Spec-1 amp. I've owned every Klipsch Heritage speaker (including the insanely rare Klipsch Belles and Klipschorns, JBL L112s, JBL L65 Jubals, Wilson Audio Watt Puppy 5s, and dozens of other extremely high end speakers, amps, and subs. I've forgotten more about audio than most people will ever know.
All this bragadocio is meant to convey I truly belive this is one of the best pieces of hifi tech I've ever owned and one of the (if not the) best all-in-one system. The detail, the bass, the warmth. It's insane how good it is. And I have owned Megablasts, JBL Extreme, Klipsch One, B&O Zeppelin, ect. Nothing BT touches this. You have to go to a seperates system to really match it. I'm super stoked to use stero pairing as the imaging is great with the single speaker.
Listening to it right now and it passes the "Blue Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" test. The first verse of that song is screechy and uncomfortable or very dull on depending on what kind of bad a system is. You have to usually go to very high end gear to hear just how well it's recorded, the HK nails it, which is crazy.
Same with Norah Jones 7 Years. The guitars in that song are very "squeaky" and distracting on lower tier systems, but the HK reveals how warm and intimate it is. Nick Caves Breathless is another extremely complex recording and although it doesn't quite get everything, it gets 80% of it.
This speaker is special enough I moved the Canton's out of my office as they were just too big. To be clear, they are MUCH better, but for a $120 BT speaker the soundstage, warmth, and bass this puts out is supernatural.
(end of rant)
The thing with the Play 3 is the feel of it. It is cliché, but it has an incredibly warm analog sound that you just don't expect from a modern BT speaker. I have no idea the tuning tricks they're doing, but it's called the Harmon curve for a reason I guess.
The UE Boombox was my favorite BT speaker for almost a decade before even my replacement battery gave out, followed by the extremely uncommon MegaBlast, which is more of a BIG sound speaker I use outside mostly.
Some extremely annoying guy on YouTube did proper measurements of the Play 3 and it is crazy how accurate it is. It looks like a planar speaker REW chart.
https://youtu.be/ktjCIpky_Lg?si=
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Hope it's worth the wait.
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