Pocket PC Thoughts: Not Quite "Waking Up the Neighbours" -- ThinkOutside's Boomtube H2O1 review

Introduction
MP3 players, whether they are specific devices, or capabilities built into mobile devices such as Pocket PCs and Smartphones, are quickly becoming the personal music centre of choice. And many people are looking for a way to share their love of music with friends, or a way to listen without having to stick those buds into their ears. A little while ago, I introduced the Imaspeaker from TDK , which had an interesting concept of combining external speakers with a CD carrying case, but the sound was rather hollow. The Boomtube H201 from ThinkOutside takes the concept in a different direction – providing a reasonably powered amplifier in a rugged, portable case, with speakers that can be detached up to 2m (8ft) away from each other. A crossover filter keeps the bass notes routed to the central unit which contains a separately powered sub-woofer. Thus, you get the advantages of more power for bass notes (which our ears are not as responsive to) plus better separation of the left and right channels in the mid/treble drivers. Overall, the experience is a much better stereo ‘image’ than single, all-in-one units.

The Boomtube is very similar, both in looks and specifications to the Boomtube EX which was available from Virgin Electronics. In fact, even some of the marketing material looks surprisingly similar. Unfortunately, Virgin Electronics is no longer selling products.

Packaging
The total package provided by ThinkOutside reflects their usual attention to detail – ensuring that everything is there to make the unit usable right away.


Figure 1: The entire Boomtube H2O1 package from ThinkOutside.

Besides the Boomtube H201 itself and the two satellite speakers, the package also includes:

• Nylon carrying case + shoulder strap;
  
• Power adapter for running the Boomtube and/or charging the batteries;
  
• RCA phono to RCA phono cords for connecting the satellite speaker;s
  
• 3.5 mm stereo phone to 3.5 stereo phone cord for connecting to your audio source;
  
• 2.5mm to 3.5mm stereo mini-phone adapter to allow connection to MP3-capable phones.

The package also (optimistically) includes a pair of ear plugs marked ‘for the neighbours’. Kind of a cute marketing touch, although I don’t really think they’ll need them. It shows the good natured humour of the people at ThinkOutside.


Figure 2: Specially added, just for the sake of community harmony :-).

The Boomtube unit consists of two 56mm (2 inch) satellite mid/upper range drivers and a centre woofer unit with two identically-sized speakers of its own. The satellite drivers attach to the central unit via a twist/click mechanism where you line up dots on the sides of the drivers and central unit, then twist the driver about ¼ turn to click it into the central unit.

The centre unit also holds the all the electronics and the rechargeable batteries for the Boomtube. Considering everything is manufactured from anodized aluminum, this is a pretty hefty unit. At almost 3 pounds, it’s not something you will easily cart around in a pocket or laptop bag, but with the included nylon carrying bag, it could easily be thrown into a traveling bag or knapsack for use on the road, at the cabin, or at a friend’s house.

The carrying case is sturdy nylon with reinforcements in all the right places. It has enough room for the Boomtube, the AC adapter and the cables, without having to stretch things out of shape and the package size is such that it would easily fit into a side pocket or the bottom of a knapsack.


Figure 3: The Boomtube H2O1 all snug as a bug...