Has pretty good tone and can dial in some good sounds
345591
Has pretty good tone and can dial in some good sounds. Only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is there are a lot of connections and cables to hook up. I think it could have benefited by a little better design to have less cable connects with better switching. All in all I like it.
1211792
Admittedly, I haven't had this speaker long, but I have played a lot of music through it and I am impressed with it's sound quality (although there is room for improvement).  It has decent 360 sound projection, deep bass, and clear highs.  Overall I like the sound.  Although at higher volumes the bass can overwhelm some of the treble and mids.  And I haven't noticed any distortion from higher volumes, but I have yet to push the unit harder than ~75% volume.

The build quality of the unit is also decent, but the volume wheel is not as responsive as I would like, and offers too much resistance.  In some cases, while attempting to turn the volume up, it will actually drop down a tick first, then start going up.  It only happens occasionally but it is a concern.  I've resorted to setting the volume on the unit to 75% and adjusting volume via my device instead of using the volume wheel.

Connecting a device via Bluetooth couldn't be easier.  It was so simple and straight forward that I was able to figure it out without the instructions.  But adjusting the treble and bass is a bit touchy and pressing the button for said adjustments doesn't always register.  Thankfully I was able to find a tuning I liked and haven't felt the need to mess with it further.

The wireless charging is a nice feature if you have a phone capable of using it.  The charge pad is not as finicky as some WRT device placement, but you do need to be somewhat observant while placing you device on it to get it to connect.  Also it seems to charge decently fast, but it isn't going to blow you away with it's quickness.

I have to say my only complaint, really, is the lack of a remote.  I really think that would have been a nice, cheap, add on that really would have made this unit perfect.  And it's a bit bulky for a "portable" speaker, but I knew that when I purchased it so I wasn't surprised or disappointed by it.
542440
I think it has a good sound and plenty of features.
2257713
Given the price the sound isn't bad and the isolation is pretty good too.
2549132
does what it says... and sounds pretty good too!
2663383
Sounds great, has a nice phono jack. Sure wish they had an LED or some marker on the volume knob so I know where it's at before turnign on (I had to put a little white sticker on there).
3722743
It is NOT a full blow sound system in a tube.  But for its size and cost it sounds pretty decent.  Battery life is good, and it does charge devices like my phone pretty well.  The neoprene case kinda sucks.  It is rather tight, and you have to remove the unit from the case to do anything.  I would have been nice to have some cut outs or clear plastic windows in order to operate the buttons while the unit is still in the case.  Other than that I have no complaints.  Money well spent.
4543602
Good bass and sound, however I do wish it had separate buttons for volume/next track (Rather than holding down the button for volume adjust).  Not a deal breaker and like I mentioned, it does have good sound with substantial bass for such a small unit.
4961645
Usable interface for setting up patches, and a lot of sounds to play with including synths and other stuff. Construction feels solid. AC adapter included. The balanced output (switchable between pre/post effect) is very nice to have. The tuner is usable, although it is a little jumpy. The Mark Bass amp simulator is good and many of the other effects are good too.

I think the sound in general is not all that clean. Various amounts of noise are introduced when using effects. And even though each effect has its own little graphical screen, apparently none of them have any meters or feedback - not even a clip light, or gain level reduction on the compressor, nothing.

This is a versatile multi-effects box, especially if you want lots of effects to try out. But not the best.
1485906
The scoops, vents, Las Vegas lighting, and cyborg cladding will appeal to mall rats and lane-changers, but don't let the looks fool you. The HX-Z1 sounds just fine with Ozzy, AC-DC, and other parental unit fare.

The speakers are heftier than they look and are finished attractively, except on the back. Each cabinet has two mid/bass drivers flanking a cone tweeter, as well as a side mounted long-throw subwoofer (bass frequencies get progressively more non-directional with each octave drop, so this is not a problem). The speakers are bi-wired, with separate color-coded thin gauge cables for the subwoofers.

Overall, the bass sounds fairly tuneful, especially compared to the one-note thudding that often passes for bass in this price range. The subwoofer output integrates well with the mid/bass drivers, and there is little of that chesty "voice in a barrel" sound peak dilaed in around 100 Hz to conceals a lack of deep bass. I was mildly astonished to measure usable in-room bass response below 30Hz.

The treble is a little hot on-axis, as confirmed by a test disc and SPL meter, though I didn't notice any sibilance. Also, some transformer hum was noticeable in nearfield listening, but it goes away when you sit back more than 4-5 feet. For this reason, and because they are not magnetically shielded, don't place them next to a computer monitor or directly next to a TV set. These speakers like a little room to breathe.

The main unit's control layout is dominated by a bright, cascading fluorescent and LED display that will turn any room into Times Square. The volume knob is helpfully oversized, which makes it easy to locate when aggrieved neighbors pound on the walls.

The subwoofer control has five settings, but only bass freaks will want the seismic subwoofery beyond the middle setting. The remote (model RM-SHXZ3A -- not to be confused with the RM-SHXZ3, I guess) is unexceptional, with an awkwardly located the volume rocker.

The various surround modes (stadium, dance, hall, rock, and classic) are fine if you like that sort of thing, however "off" seems like the best way to hear what the musicians and recording engineers intended.

The 3-drawer CD changer doesn't impress. While it lets you swap out a CD while another plays, the mechanism is slow and makes thrashy noises as it shuttles discs around. It also will occasionally indicate that no disc is present in a drawer when one is in fact loaded correctly. A single-drawer player with fewer histrionics would be preferable, but that would hardly be in keeping with this unit's bigger / badder / louder design philosophy.

BOTTOM LINE
This sytem is all about playing clean and loud. And did I mention loud? As for footprint, this isn't exactly a compact system -- think three PC towers. All in all, the HX-Z1 offers extended, well controlled bass at a low price. The uninspiring CD changer tempts me to lower it to 4, but solid value argues for a fifth star.
2759884
Pretty sweet. Has a couple different input methods. Bass and treble controls.
4367748
Helps dial in a bass frequency, would help if dials were labeled a little better showing center frequency and Q.
470302
The fit is decent and sound is pretty good.
1420712
For the price it sounds good, some notes are a tad off and the small triforce is a little off center but really I can't complain. It plays well and looks great.
1916849
This unit has has a nice variety of functions and some pretty good sound, with a fair set of EQ settings to taylor the sound to your preferences.  The sound is somewhat mid-focused and spacious.  Though the bass is not the tightest and fastest, and is a bit boomy... and... the sliding door / case has some vibrations / resonances in it at certain frequencies and volumes.  So, if you're a bit obsessive about your sound quality, you may want to look elsewhere.

The sliding door may present some risk of failure over a long period of heavy use.

At the MSRP, or near, it does not present a good value relative to other alternatives - best to buy it at a substantial discount if you can find it.
4366705
still messing with it.but i did dial in some nice tones worth the price
239401
When I opened the box, the first thing that struck me was that this speaker seems to be well built. there's a bit of weight to it and the whole sliding mechanism is pretty neat. It's the kind of stuff that if you put on your work desk a passerby would notice it. Then again, at about 60 bucks you'd expect it to look better than some of those cheapo plasticky mini speakers out there.

The sounds quality is decent. Some reviewers mentioned it has limited frequency range and it does. The bass effect is more or less muted. The mid tone sounds a bit hollow. However, as a whole it's still listenable.

My biggest gripe with it though is that if I were to play an mp3 file through my mobile device, and then plug this thing in and play it again - it really doesn't sound drastically different. May be about 40% louder (and I'm just guessing here, have not really done any scientific measurement), and the sound feels slightly 'richer', but nothing that makes me feel like it was worth paying 60 bucks for. Having said that, I suppose if this speaker is designed to make a whole lot of difference to the output sound, then it'll probably end up draining my mobile device's battery dramatically, or it'll require an external power source.

So I guess at the end of the day, it boils down to whether passive speakers in general are really worth it these days given that mobile devices speakers are improving. I think this is only worth the purchase if the device you're using has a really bad speaker. and you need a quick fix.