IS THERE ROOM for a party speaker in your life? How about this question instead: do you like to have fun? If so, then the answer is yes! This sometimes scorned category stands out in my experience because in recent years, whenever I see people having a good time with music, more often than not it’s been some sort of lifestyle, entertainment-friendly, wireless, portable speaker dishing out the tunes. A party speaker.
In the case of the Sony XV800, we’re talking about a really large and powerful Bluetooth-connecting party speaker that operates in two modes, upright 360 sound and horizontally, like a more traditional stereo boombox.
SETUP
What setup? Plug it in, charge it up, connect your phone. Done.
A key point to emphasize is that this Sony is truly cordless, unlike some speakers that are merely wireless but need a power cord. The built-in battery means you can leave all the cables behind if you want. But this speaker also has dual quarter-inch microphone jacks, USB with music playback, a 3.5mm analog aux and optical-digital inputs—so it’s not just wireless.
HAVING FUN
As a city dweller, when I first agreed to do this review, I was not sure what to do with the speaker. So I decided
