Does everything, given patience
Sound quality: Good for a small tabletop. Treble and midrange are clean. Bass response is deep and clean at low levels but there's not enough power to sustain that bass as the volume is turned up. It provides a moderate listening level in a small room but it lacks the power for a large room or outdoors. Treble, Bass, crossfade, and stereo expansion are adjustable.
Controls: The Boom has many features packed behind a crude navigation system. Getting anything done in the Boom requires a tedious process of repeatedly spinning and clicking the dial then pushing the "Back" button just as many times. R2D2 would love it. I hate it. If it wasn't for the fact that it could resume playback when powered on, I'd probably never bother. The screen is awkwardly small and nearly impossible to read while scrolling. Fonts can be changed but it causes some features to display incorrectly. Buttons on the front panel are tiny and sometimes unresponsive. It's a disaster.
Connectivity: Works with Internet radio and Logitech's servers to provide content. Uses a local server for playback of local music and improving buffering. I have Squeezebox Server running on a Mac Mini Server and it seems trouble-free. (Make sure you firewall the ports if it's a public server.) Web configuration allows the Boom to be configured to interact with many online music applications. Whatever you're looking for, it's probably there.
Compared to Roku Soundbridge: The Boom is inferior in audio power, display quality, and navigation compared to the Soundbridge. Given the Roku Soundbridge's notoriously short life, I have to recommend the Squeezebox Boom.
2010-03-22
I have been extremely pleased with the reliability.
Overall, the Squeezebox Boom is a terrific audio device. Well designed, great sound and versatile, it provides audio entertainment anywhere you have CAT5-(cable)or 802.11g broadband access and yes Iphone, Ipod, any MP3 player.
Additionally the Squeeze Network is an amazing resource for local and worldwide radio stations,and music services including Pandora, Last FM, Slacker, and more.
I have been extremely pleased with the reliability, having had a chance to use it for a while.(Purchased on 12/12/2008)
2010-03-21
Excellent internet radio
I purchased this radio mainly for a wifi radio to listen to Pandora. The sound quality is excellent, especially for such a small and compact box. Definitely up there with the Bose systems that I have heard.
Took me about 10 minutes to get it setup from out of the box and connected to my WPA enabled wifi. Also the ability to completely control this through the mysqueezebox website is a very nice feature.
Just today my parents where at my house while I was at work and was able to turn on music for them from the office.
2010-03-20
Strikes and Gutters
Being a radio enthusiast I was excited to try the Boom. My primary use is streaming live radio broadcasts. Although the Boom gives good sound, I returned it and purchased the Squeezebox Radio, which costs one hundred dollars less and is a far superior radio.
The Boom's menu is choppy and cumbersome to navigate. Design is uninspired. Build quality is average. The remote is nice, of course, but it doesn't solve the choppy navigation. After an evening of listening, I knew I loved wi-fi radio, but that this was not going to be my unit.
So I took it back and opted for the next generation, the Radio, whose audio (though through a mono speaker) is to be reckoned as sublime. Jazz with Bill Perkins on WRTI Temple Public Radio, 6-9 EST, though the Radio is a Platonic ideal of a listening experience. One cannot imagine a more perfect radio situation in the history of radios.
I do not know what listeners to individual mp3 music collections will think of the Radio, but radio lovers, who seek more than mere audiophilic titillation, will recognize its brilliance immediately. The art deco design and build quality are smart and appreciated.
Forget the Boom. Get Plato's Radio.
2010-03-11
