Cheese
Member
skids said:
After rethinking my original complaint, I think you're right. Although the loss of the hook when you attach a battery is still very annoying.
Maybe they should not have included a hook either? [eek]
Sysrock..Any early thoughts?
- Thread starter skids
- Start date
After rethinking my original complaint, I think you're right. Although the loss of the hook when you attach a battery is still very annoying.
Maybe they should not have included a hook either? [eek]
Cheese said:
Yeah the fact they chose the syslite form I guess is why it's there. The way to go is the Charge 3 from JBL sounds way better and is pretty rugged fully waterproof too, battery 20 hours.
Either way I am returning mine, rather buy something else from Festool like a systainer or something.
skids said:
The JBL is only a bluetooth speaker. I like having a small radio with the option of using it as a bluetooth speaker and I don't want to carry any additional items to use with it besides my phone. Also, nice to be able to answer your phone through the SysRock.
In the audio world it takes a larger diameter speaker cone to produce progressively lower frequencies. Look at subwoofers. They usually start at a minimum of 10" and even then are severely limited in bass response. Mine are quad 15" for movie and music usage. No way a tiny 2 or 3" cone will produce any low frequencies.
My old Milwaukee job site radio is the best sounding one I have heard over the years. It is wide, has a metal roll cage, about 5" bass driver cones. I have looked at the various portable radios sold by the tool companies currently and they have really gone downhill in my opinion. Just selling to a price point.
My old Milwaukee job site radio is the best sounding one I have heard over the years. It is wide, has a metal roll cage, about 5" bass driver cones. I have looked at the various portable radios sold by the tool companies currently and they have really gone downhill in my opinion. Just selling to a price point.
RobBob said:
Yeah but you can just use the Tune In radio app and get any radio station you want. So that's a semi solution for that problem. The only time it would become an issue is when you don't want to stream, which for some may be frequently. I agree though losing the radio is the only thing I'd miss about this little unit. But the JBL blows it away sound wise.
skids said:
The Tune In app is problematic in my experience. It stops unexpectedly. Plus, I like touching just one button to turn on a radio. When I am ready to do some woodworking, the last thing I want to do is spend time fiddling around with the freaking phone, app, and bluetooth speaker.
curt boyer
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I'm using the old 3amp batteries and I'm getting two full work days plus some extra time after work. I listen to Pandora all day without any problems. The Bluetooth works great and is a nice improvement over the giant Dewalt and Makita radios I've been using for the last 20 years. It's plenty loud for what it is. The size alone is its best selling point. If you want to blast music at home get another radio but for the jobsite its small, portable, and with the ability to answer your phone a good radio.
Cheers
Curt
Cheers
Curt
McNally Family
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I already have 18v batteries sitting around doing nothing, so why not. If I want super sound, I have alternatives in my living room. Perfect for my basement shop, and I can still get calls when I need to.
For the price, it is what it is. No complaints
For the price, it is what it is. No complaints
RobBob said:
Never had any issues with Tune In, set and forget it. If it's dropping it's your connection not the app. Shows up on the main screen of my phone to change channels, so really not that different than changing on the radio. Nice thing is it's with you, so you don't have to worry about walking over the radio to change channels. And you still get the benefits of the Bluetooth call capability with Tune In radio, where is with straight FM that no longer works.
To each his own I guess but I don't see the major advantage to having terrestrial radio built in to anything. Hence why there are few to no Bluetooth speakers in the mainstream market with it anymore. But I suppose having both allows for more flexibility if you want it, but not having isn't a deal breaker for me. Especially after you listen to the Charge 3, and see how durable/portable it is.
I will say the thing I like most about the Sysrock is the battery life, mine is still going after three days of long use. But again the Charge 3 gets 20 hours.
HarveyWildes
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I got the small DeWalt Bluetooth speaker last year. I use it a lot in the shop for streaming audio - mostly the Teaching Company's Great Courses - from my iPhone. It does just fine for that. No radio. I have an older Milwaukee big beast (no Bluetooth, does have aux in) for radio that I use mostly for The Car Guys and baseball. I have gotten several speakers similar to the JBL Charge 3 over the past 5 years or so, and none of them has served as well as the DeWalt. The reason is that there is always an extra charged battery for the DeWalt in the drawer. Speakers with integrated batteries have to be plugged in consistently, but the DeWalt just needs a fresh battery available, and those are always available in my shop. I probably get 20-30 hours of play time off of a full battery. Milwaukee has a similar Bluetooth speaker with better sound, but also no radio, and another smaller beasty Bluetooth speaker with radio
If I didn't already have the DeWalt, the Sysrock would be appealing to me, if for no other reason than the size and the radio.
If I didn't already have the DeWalt, the Sysrock would be appealing to me, if for no other reason than the size and the radio.
RobBob said:
No one says you have to run down your battery, do what you want, I am simply poking holes in a weak rationale of needing terrestrial radio. But while you mention it thats another weakness of the Sysrock no USB to recharge phones with crappy battery life. My iPhone battery lasts the entire day on Bluetooth, so maybe if yours runs down quickly it's an Android thing.
There is no denying the convenience of being able to use the Festool batteries with the radio and how long they last, but how much battery life do you need. 20 hours, which a lot of mass market blue tooth speakers provide is plenty. And personally it would require me buying another Festool battery since I only have two and don't want to hog up my drill batteries for a radio-which I would be willing to invest in if the sys rock sounded better. This is something folks needs to consider when purchasing the Sys rock you will want a dedicated battery if you don't have spares laying around.
My point is, when you think it through this thing doesn't present any major advantage to whats available on the market. Other than having terrestrial radio, and Festool battery platform the sysrock is majorly average. The sound is the biggest disappointment for me.
I really don't care if the SysRock has a USB port or not. I want my phone with me at all times. I charge it overnight and it usually lasts all day.
I don't understand all this talk about the sound quality. I use the SysRock in my garage shop or maybe the driveway. Usually, I am wearing SensGard hearing protection anyway. Just as I don't like the inconsiderate people that fill up their car while listening to loud bass thumping rap, I don't want to blast my family and neighbors with loud whatever. The sound quality is good enough for what I listen to most, namely talk radio, sports, news, and weather. I will use Bluetooth to listen to Pandora or something else when there is nothing on the radio worth listening to. I am happy with that combination. If I want hi fidelity music, I'll listen to the system in my house.
I am not looking for the SysRock to provide a major advantage over what is already on the market. The SysRock's raison d'être in my opinion is that it uses Festool batteries, small form factor, radio and bluetooth capable when I want something other than radio.
(The SysRock without the case will fit in most systainers even with the tool inside. Wouldn't work with anything bigger.)
I don't understand all this talk about the sound quality. I use the SysRock in my garage shop or maybe the driveway. Usually, I am wearing SensGard hearing protection anyway. Just as I don't like the inconsiderate people that fill up their car while listening to loud bass thumping rap, I don't want to blast my family and neighbors with loud whatever. The sound quality is good enough for what I listen to most, namely talk radio, sports, news, and weather. I will use Bluetooth to listen to Pandora or something else when there is nothing on the radio worth listening to. I am happy with that combination. If I want hi fidelity music, I'll listen to the system in my house.
I am not looking for the SysRock to provide a major advantage over what is already on the market. The SysRock's raison d'être in my opinion is that it uses Festool batteries, small form factor, radio and bluetooth capable when I want something other than radio.
(The SysRock without the case will fit in most systainers even with the tool inside. Wouldn't work with anything bigger.)
RobBob said:
To each his own, but I disagree for the $120 it should sound better than good enough. And there is a difference between something being loud and something sounding good and being able to reproduce the full range of sound. Sys rock doesn't go beyond mid range/mid bass at best, I don't care about how loud it goes either. And if you haven't played this thing outdoors you should because it sounds weaker outside. For me fidelity matters, I am not looking for hifi, but at $120 I expect it to sound better than it does. After all it's a speaker, it's main objective is to reproduce music, so I would expect it would do that well before anything else.
I can see some people being happy with this thing and thats great. I am just stating the reality, which is unless you want the battery compatibility and Bluetooth there isn't much more about the sys rock thats worth springing for. Sound is sub par which as I stated should be the fist priority of a speaker, and it lacks some of the basic features of the most basic BT speakers currently on the market. And the JBL is smaller, and there are plenty of BT speakers that will fit into systainers.
Bottom line, if you want sound look elsewhere, if you want battery compatibility and Bluetooth and the Festool name get the sys rock.
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skids said:
The Charge 3 looks pretty good though I couldn't find a power spec on it. The 2891 is 40W and has gotten pretty good reviews for its sound quality. I can't imagine the Charge 3 sounds much different. The advantage for me on the Milwaukee is that I can use M12 or M18 batteries (or plug it in). The only thing I wish the 2891 did that it doesn't is charge the M batteries while plugged in. However, like the Charge 3 it does have a USB port for phones etc.
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