Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off, I ordered the XB43 solely for an upcoming trip. I was initially going to grab the JBL Charge series due to portability but came across the XB33, which led me to this beast. Took a chance and pre-ordered it instead of going with JBL (always found the sound of their equipment to not be what I was looking for). Have to say, this thing is every bit what I wanted--solid crisp bass and the EQ mixture control helps accentuate any style of music you might be in to (I mainly do rock and EDM, my wife enjoys hip hop and country). Prior to receiving this, I also took a chance and ordered my wife the XB33. Our previous bluetooth speaker was the SRS X5, so clearly both speakers are a marked improvement over what we had. With that said, I have to say that when I take the XB33 out on its own, I don't notice too much difference between the two. The XB33 has every bit the volume and bass you'd want, it's shockingly loud for its size, lightweight, portable and it floats on water--huge bonus. With that said, when I do put the speakers together and play music connected via Party Connect, I do notice a difference in sound. Both speakers have a clean sound, but it's clear that the XB43 has more power and a greater depth overall. Of course, the XB43 is literally twice the size and weight--it's still very portable compared to a wired speaker system, but not as portable as the XB33. The lights on these speakers are excellent, and it's a feature I didn't think I'd care for. In case you didn't like the strobe lighting from the middle portion of the speaker, Sony has a handful of options in their app to have only the LED bars on the side light up, or you can just turn them off altogether. Additionally, the Live Sound feature is one of the coolest addition I've heard--songs you've heard hundreds of time sound completely new in a great way, where the background sound is emphasized appropriately. You seriously can't go wrong with this or the XB33. If you get the XB33, you'll probably never hear a difference in anything you're missing. If you go with the XB43, you're getting an incredible speaker that's able to travel and withstand the elements. Expect to get every bit of the bass and sound you want to hear, but don't expect the bass to blow you away like you're listening to a subwoofer built to never go anywhere--that's not the point of this speaker system.