Q: Our daughter is graduating from college, and we are planning a party. We hired a DJ for her high school graduation party but would like to avoid that this time. She said she can create a playlist for the party and stream it via Bluetooth. Is there a streaming speaker available that can cover an outdoor 12-by-14-foot dance floor? She loves singing and karaoke, so karaoke functionality would be a plus.
A: What you described is a Klipsch Gig XXL Party Speaker. It is a large Bluetooth speaker with eight hours of battery life playing at full volume. One Gig XXL would be enough to cover your dance floor, but two of them can be paired in stereo to cover a large area with spacious sound. It also provides colorful lights that pulse to the beat. The light show can be turned off, leaving you with a great-sounding speaker.
The Gig XXL has an input for guitars and other musical instruments and includes a wired microphone for karaoke or PA duties. It is a perfect fit for your situation. Even if you're not hosting a party, it will be at home on the porch, around the pool, at tailgate parties or anywhere else you want to fill an area with full, satisfying sound.
At klipsch.com the speaker sells for its regular $349 retail price, which is a good value for the capability it offers. But it's on sale on Amazon for $169.99 with a 5% checkbox coupon, bringing the price down to $161.49. That is phenomenal for such a large and capable speaker from a top brand. For that price, you might want to order two speakers and have your dance floor covered and then some. Visit klipsch.com to check out the speaker, then head over to Amazon to order it for over 50% off.
The missing link
Q: I read your column about the Ortofon 2M cartridges. I remembered I bookmarked the 11-cartridge shootout you did online in December 2017. The bookmark took me to some gambling site on the other side of the world. I wanted to find the article because I'm looking for a cartridge for my Technics SL-D2 turntable and was considering the 2M Blue.
A: Some time ago I experimented with the idea of expanding to several different specialized websites, such as Sound Advice Vinyl and Sound Advice Headphones, to complement Sound Advice News. I came to realize it is best to keep everything under one roof. I let the other domains expire, and they promptly got snapped up once I stopped paying for them. After receiving your email, I republished the shootout on soundadvicenews.com.
Check out the $189 Goldring E3 (goldringusa.com) as a 2M Blue alternative. It's my favorite cartridge under $200, and is very musically satisfying. At a higher price point, the $279 Nagaoka JT-80LB is an outstanding performer. Nagaoka does not have a U.S. site but is sold by many online vendors.
Send questions to Don Lindich at donlindich@gmail.com. Get recommendations and read past columns at soundadvicenews.com.
