Choosing a good speaker is not that easy. One speaker is not the other and it just depends on what you want to listen to with it. Music or movies? Atmospheric in the background or party? We thought these were the best speakers of 2017.
Teufel Boomster
The Boomster speaker from Teufel has been around for a few years now. A new model was launched in 2017, which, as far as we are concerned, scores very well again. This is a large speaker, equipped with a handle so that you can easily take it with you. Despite the considerable weight, portability is one of the advantages of this speaker.Also read: General speaker buying tips
The Boomster also stands out because of its versatility. For example, in addition to a standard audio input and Bluetooth, an FM and DAB + radio is also built in. There is also support for AptX. And the sound quality? Let's say the Boomstar can go hard. Very hard. And that's especially nice with genres like pop, rock and dance.
Read the full review here.
JBL Boombox
Audio manufacturers apparently love the term "boom" in their products. The same goes for JBL with the Boombox. Also in this case it concerns a speaker that is ideally suited for parties, where the roof has to come off. In other scenarios, the Boombox is too loud quite quickly, and you should consider something else.
If you buy the Boombox for which it is intended, you will not regret it. Connecting devices can be done via USB ports, aux or streaming via bluetooth. Finally, JBL has provided the speaker with an indoor and outdoor mode, in which sound profiles are tailored to the environment in which you play music.
Read the full JBL Boombox review here.
The best multi-room audio systems
The above speakers generally sound best in the room in which they are located. But if you want to hear the same music everywhere in the house, you can start thinking about a multi-room audio system. They are generally not cheap. But if you buy separate speakers for each room, you might as well save money.
The nice thing about a multi-room system is that speakers are well matched. This year we have put seven such systems side by side. Sonos, Bluesound, Denon, Samsung, Yamaha, Bose and Raumfeld. Which came out on top in the test? That depends on a lot of different factors.
So read here: the 7 best multi-room audio systems.
HEOS Bar & HEOS Subwoofer
Do you think the sound is even more important than the rest when watching movies? Then do yourself a favor with a good soundbar and accessories. This year, the HEOS Bar came out very well in our test, especially in combination with the separate HEOS Subwoofer. By default, that provides 3.1 sound, but you can expand it to a 5.1 set.
This soundbar is 110 centimeters wide and fits neatly under the TV in terms of height. The sound image can be adjusted to taste in the accompanying app, where you can also connect extra speakers to the set. A full surround set costs a lot of money, but with the soudbar alone it is already a lot of fun. You can always expand later.
Read the entire HEOS Bar & HEOS Subwoofer review here.
Sonos One
We can safely call 2017 the year of the smart speaker. Many tech companies are diving into a voice assistant, which entails all kinds of conceivable applications. For example, the Sonos Play One is equipped with Alexa, which you also know from the Amazon Echo speakers. Unfortunately, she just doesn't understand the Dutch language yet...
The One from Sonos is therefore somewhat handicapped in our country, but that does not alter the fact that the speaker is also simply worth it. The Sonos One is nice and handy, but nevertheless sounds impressive. Two speakers can be linked together for stereo sound, and there is support for AirPlay.
