INTRODUCTION

   Listening to my favorite music tracks in high volume levels has always been one of my favorite hobbies and that applies not only when I’m at home or in my car but also when I’m on vacation (like now). However although both when I’m at home or in my car I’ve made certain to have a decent amount of volume to cover my needs the same does not really apply when I’m away since the majority of portable speakers are not much larger than a can of soda and thus the volume levels produced (although quite good in some cases) are nowhere close to the ones a complete speaker system is able to. Well luckily this industry never ceases to amaze me and so today we will be taking a look at the latest wireless portable speaker by TDK the quite massive A73 Boombox.

   TDK Life on Record, a leading global brand with a rich audio legacy, is dedicated to personalizing and enhancing audiophiles’ ever-evolving digital music lifestyles. TDK Life on Record audio products are carefully crafted to focus on performance, marrying a clean, striking design with the precision and flexibility of modern technology. This world-class line of premium audio products delivers a warm, authentic, high-fidelity entertainment experience. The TDK Life on Record logo is a trademark owned by TDK Corporation and is licensed exclusively to Imation Corp., a leading global developer and marketer of brands that empower people to capture, save and enjoy digital information. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

   When we first saw a presentation of the A73 Boombox we thought it would be just another Bluetooth wireless portable speaker just slightly bigger to accommodate the 2.1 configuration, boy we were wrong. The A73 Boombox is actually LARGE and by that i mean almost as large as the old stereo cassette players people used to carry around on their shoulders back in the 80's and early 90's when they wanted to stir things up. Luckily the A73 Boombox is quite thinner and weighs a lot less so there are some differences with the "past" however that doesn't change the fact that this is by far the largest portable speaker we've used to date. I only need to tell you that it features two 13cm passive radiators, two 5cm full-range drivers and a 13cm subwoofer all in the same package. All that's really left is for us to see just how much size really matters in terms of sound output and that's exactly what we've been doing for the past week with exemplary results.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The TDK logo along with a large product image and its main features are placed at the front of the quite large cardboard box.

TDK gives extra weight to the Bluetooth v2.1 wireless connectivity of the A73 (as they should).

At the rear we see the features list printed in 14 languages.

The A73 Boombox is safely placed between two foam spacers and inside a protective bag.

I can't say that i was expecting much in terms of bundled items but TDK surprised us there as well so aside the A73 Boombox you are also getting a tiny remote control (with battery), AC power adapter, 3 power cables (EU/USA/UK), warranty paper, warning information paper, registration paper, and the user's manual in 6 different languages.

THE A73 BOOMBOX

We did say that the Boombox A73 is large right? Well it is and measures 430mm in length, 102mm in width and 295mm in height with a weight of 3.8kg. Quality-wise TDK opted for a simple yet quite elegant hard plastic chassis covered with black matte finish and i have to admit that it could feel a bit sturdier (i wish that TDK may launch a similar solution in a rugged casing).

As always to get a better idea on exactly how large the Boombox A73 is we placed it right next to two other Bluetooth wireless speakers and yes as you can see the difference is massive.

TDK has placed two control knobs on both upper ends the left one which aside being the on/off button it also controls the volume levels and the right which is used both to cycle between inputs (AUX/FM/Bluetooth) and to tweak the Tremble and Bass levels.

Of course the most important aspect of any portable speaker is the available speakers/drivers and with two 13cm passive radiators, two 5cm full-range drivers (50Hz-20KHz frequency response) and an 13cm subwoofer at the rear the Boombox A73 can dish out a total of 29W of output power (14W for the drivers and 15W for the subwoofer).

Aside using Bluetooth v2.1 connectivity the Boombox A73 also has an 3.5mm port (AUX) and a headphones 3.5mm port if you wish to listen to FM radio or to the A2DP streaming from your Bluetooth compatible device without annoying the people around you. At the rear we also find the DC power in and a USB port used again for charging the internal battery of the unit.

TDK has engraved their logo at the top of the handle while right at the bottom of the speaker we see a sticker with the unit’s electrical specifications, country of manufacture and several certification logos.

The bundled remote control is nothing special but i liked the fact that TDK has placed every function you'd want to control from it without much fuzz.

Around the first knob there are several LEDs that point both to the current volume level and at the current battery level (if the battery is low a red LED lights up beneath the knob).

On the other hand around the right knob we see the AUX, FM, TREBLE, BASS and Bluetooth markings while right next to it there's a small VFW screen which shows the current selection and can also be used to cycle through stations while in FM mode (you can also select BASS/TREBLE and adjust them via the first knob).

CONCLUSION

   If i had to describe both the volume output and audio clarity of the latest A73 Boombox by TDK with one word that would be FANTASTIC. I really can't think of another word when i have yet to use a more powerful portable speaker that can at the same time output so clear audio with incredible/deep bass and excellent mids/highs (both via bluetooth and wired connection). Simply put if you want POWER, AUDIO CLARITY and PORTABILITY all in a very convenient box then the A73 Boombox should easily cover the needs of even the most demanding consumer out there and even if by some miracle it's not enough then the 3-way Boombox is also available by TDK and packs an even stronger punch. However much like every other electronic we've ever gotten our hands on the A73 Boombox is not perfect and so we'd like to see TDK correct two tiny issues in future versions. First of all the battery according to TDK lasts for around 6 hours when listening to music at acceptable levels and yes we can confirm it does, however when using the A73 Boombox out in the open with the volume at around 80-90% that drops to hardly 4 hours of continuous use and although that's not what I’d call bad still we'd like to have more juice just in case the situation demands it. Another issue we found was the control knobs which although they work fine the feeling while using them is subpar with the rest of the unit and so if only one day TDK was to make them out of a metal alloy instead of plastic that would be more than enough to change that.

   A while ago while i was surfing the web i noticed a portable speaker by Klipsch which was priced off the charts (for my taste anyways) without of course implying that it didn't offer enough to justify the price. So when we received the A73 Boombox specs sheet by TDK and checked their website the recommended price tag of USD349.95 also felt off the charts for us but fortunately recommended price tags are not strictly followed by retailers so currently you can get your very own A73 Boombox for just USD180.19 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 265Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Now i have to admit that the price inside the EU is a bit off so i really do wish that TDK does something about that but when we have smaller solutions like the Jawbone Big Jambox wireless speaker (a solution which is great for its size) that carry the same price tag and offer less in terms of volume levels and audio clarity i can't really bring myself to say that the A73 Boombox is expensive. Still it has some tiny weaknesses (chassis/knobs quality, battery life) and that's why although initialy we wanted to award it with our Platinum award due to its excellent audio quality and superior power output in the end the overall conclusion gets it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Power Output (29W Total)
- Audio Clarity (Excellent Mids/Highs)
- Bass Levels (13cm Subwoofer)
- FM Radio
- Bluetooth v2.1 & 3.5mm AUX Inputs
- Rechargeable Battery
- Remote Control
- Design
- Price (In The USA)

CONS

- Overall Build Quality (Chassis/Knobs)
- Price (EU – For Some)
- Battery Life (Up To 4 Hours At 80-90% Volume)