So, it looks great, but how does it sound?

Before answering that question, we should return to a feature that Jawbone introduced to Jambox back in October of 2011: LiveAudio. The software update was the first commercial implementation of BACCH 3D sound on a speaker. Developed in the 3D3A lab at Princeton University, 3D sound creates a three-dimensional audio image by manipulating the level and time that sounds hit the left and right ears. It then filters the audio to reduce crosstalk. In its perfect implementation, 3D sound lets you sit in front of two loudspeakers and locate the position of each audio source, be it a choir member, or instrument in a band or orchestra. It's not surround-sound, it's positional 3D audio accurate enough to create the illusion of a fly circling your head. Jawbone's Jambox implementation of LiveAudio was more gimmick than anything. While noticeable, you had to sit directly in front of the speaker at ear-level and at a range of about three to five feet to experience the sensation. Not so with Big.

LiveAudio experienced on the Big Jambox is something that must be heard to be believed. The Cars's Moving in Stereo is one song, in particular, that exploits the feature rather dramatically, resulting in a spacious sensation of swirling audio not unlike Princeton's metaphorical fly. Of course, the acoustical gymnastics only work if you're in front of Big, but with a range of three to ten feet it's far more forgiving to your listening position than the original Jambox. You can easily switch LiveAudio on and off by simultaneously pressing the "+" and "-" buttons on top of the Big Jambox. Although LiveAudio tends to reduce the overall volume of most tracks, I find myself leaving it enabled most of the time for the perceived stereo separation and boost in detail.

Only select tracks take advantage of 3D audio. Fortunately, Jawbone maintains some rather eclectic Spotify, MOG, and RDIO playlists to show off the feature, and even offers a LiveAudio logo free of charge to qualifying artists.

Big had a good start to the critical listening phase of the review, handling the swelling introduction and lazy cymbal crashes of So What by Miles Davis with aplomb. The track benefits greatly from the positional audio effects of LiveAudio. Then Miles kicks in with that horn, the bass lands, and my preference immediately switches to the much fuller sound of the Sonos Play:3 I used as a reference, making the Big Jambox sound shrill by comparison.

Big's treatment of Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat was overly thin even with LiveAudio turned off. And I Got A Story to Tell by The Notorious B.I.G. was scandalously flat on the B.I.G Jambox, unable to match the incessant baseline recreated by the Sonos. The audition finished with a bass-heavy club edit of Strobe by Deadmau5 which sounded, well, awful by comparison with the much larger Sonos.

At this point, after just a few songs, I realized that for the same money the Play:3 was a superior compact wireless speaker. Unfortunately, the Play:3 is far less portable due to its size, lack of Bluetooth, and lack of a battery. As such, the comparison isn't entirely fair to the governing laws of physics.

I'm a big fan of the original Jambox not because it's the best sounding $199 speaker but because it produces great sound from such a tiny package. From that same perspective, the Big Jambox is an excellent little Bluetooth speaker that goes anywhere. It's certainly a vast improvement over the palm-sized Jawbone Jambox in terms of audio quality, though it loses some portability in the process.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnampfanxye5Fyb29qYWx8q63Wm6annV2Xtqh5yZqkm6eoYsCxscCknKtloprDqrHW