Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

At first listen, most will wonder how a company could offer a battery operated speaker with this sound quality and volume for $300. When you see and hear the smaller bluetooth speaker competitors that are in the $300 range, just go ahead and scratch your head trying to figure out why they are charging $300 for their speaker if Aiwa can produce this thing and sell it for $300. I cheated and found the answer to that question during my research and read that Aiwa is putting all their money into better speaker components rather than spending it on marketing as most others do. No stores.....no commercials.....no glossy ads.....no big mark up. I am however, scratching my head trying to figure out why the full list of specifications for the Exos 9 is not listed here on Amazon. It most certainly is a huge selling point. If you want the full list, go to Aiwa's home page on the internet. I'll list a few that I feel are very important that aren't listed as of the date of my review: APTX bluetooth codec. If you want good sound, start with a good input source. Neither my phone nor my tablet have APTX, so I purchased an APTX transmitter/ receiver here on Amazon for $35. just so I would insure my Exos 9 was getting the best possible signal to begin with other than direct wire from the 3.5 mm jack input. (Brightech BTX Ultra....works great in transmit mode) You turn off your phone's bluetooth so the Aiwa won't pair with it, connect the small Brightech unit to the 3.5 mm earphone jack of your phone and boom! Instant APTX pairing with Exos 9. The size of the 5 powered drivers......two 1" silk tweeters, two 3" neodymium midrange drivers in their own acoustically isolated chamber to lessen harmonic distortion, and a 6.5" dual voice coil woofer. Two speaker pairing, either left and right channel stereo or both mirroring each other. Class D bi-amplification 200 watts continuous possible output, not peak as some advertise. This thing just flat out sings. Thumps bass, clear highs......whatever your ear's preference to dial in on the 5 band equalizer. Don't even try to compare it to any other battery operated stereo speaker. I say stereo because there are some battery mono PA systems out there that are loud, but sound quality suffers and they aren't stereo. Go to youtube and listen to clavinetjunkie's sound comparisons. After hearing his videos, I preordered direct from Aiwa some 2 months ago and have had the speaker 5 days now and am liking it more each day. Have taken it to the community pool 3 times for low volume listening and the bass/treble even at low volume just sounds so much better than my old set-up. Makes the time under the sun and palm trees that much more enjoyable and relaxing for this Florida boy. It will also be my new best fishing buddy. If your need doesn't require you to carry your speaker in your shirt/trouser/suit pocket or pocketbook/backpack/briefcase to be portable, this is the one. A 1980's boomer style with 2015 components and engineering with a rechargeable lithium ion battery. A great review earlier today by Jeff right below mine pretty much covered my opinion of this fantastic bargain. Just buy it and start a party. It gets LOUD! UPDATE 11/14/15: If you are looking for a suitable CARRYING CASE for your Exos-9, I found my 36 can soft sided cooler by AO coolers works great. (Link: AO Coolers Silver 36 Pack Soft Sided Fishing Cooler) The vinyl side version is waterproof and comes in black, blue, or silver colors. Speaker fits snug, just push down on the top of your speaker and zip her up and buckle her down. $70. and it is a great cooler when not being used to transport your speaker. Makes carrying it a lot easier in addition to offering protection. I have found one drawback.....when people hear this speaker, they want one. I can't count how many times complete strangers have come up to me at the pool and started asking the same questions- "Where did you get it?" & "How much does it cost?" So I'm just saying....be prepared to repeat the story about how great this thing is over and over if you buy one. // End update// 6 MONTH RELIABILITY UPDATE:5/20/16: Well, well. Here we are after 6 months of use, 3-4 times per week, 2 and 1/2 hours or so each time. Still ROCK SOLID sound and performance. I take this to the pool by car in the trunk without my soft sided cooler carrying case 3 or 4 times a week. Let's say 5 months of trips because January is cold even in Florida. That's 20 weeks worth of loading for at least 60 trips with 120 in and out of the trunk handling cycles with no problems yet. Still sounds just as good as new if not better now that the speakers are well broke in. I charge the battery every other trip even though it doesn't need it. Have never come close to running the battery down. The speaker sits in the hot Florida sun the whole time it's playing with no issues. I don't use the control panel at all, although it works fine, as I control song selection and volume with my tablet or phone. No need to use the touch panel for me. I set the equalizer initially and then forget it. And yes.......people are still asking me questions about the speaker when they hear it. It is that good. Worried about reliability? Not me..... 1 YEAR UPDATE 12/06/16....... OK, so here we are after more than 1 year of fairly heavy use as described above AND (drum roll please)....nothing new to report. Sorry. Still works as new, still sounds incredible, and still impresses anyone who hears it. So there.....you really have no reason not to buy unless you are looking for a squeaky sounding little pocket toy. They have their purpose- lightweight portability, but they are no where near in the same league as this beast when it comes to the quality of sound and the volume of sound. Period. You know you want one. Just press the "add to cart" button. 1-2-3.....GO!!! 12/14/17.....I'm baaaaaack...... What a great pool season this year! Plenty of sunshine, plenty of tunes. The machine has weathered the storm for yet another year with no issues whatsoever. I'm talking 90 degree heat on the pool deck, in and out of the car trunk a gazillion times, and she just keeps on PLAYING. Isn't that what you expect when you lay out 3 bills? Yep....still going strong. I don't know what else to say that I haven't already. I charge the speaker about every 3rd trip, play it for 2 1/2 hours each time and it sounds as good as new today.....over 2 years later. I transported this speaker in and out of my car trunk at least 120-130 times over the last 2 years plus with my pool schedule. It's Christmas....treat yourself or a loved one. Listen to awesome sound wherever. Cheers!!!! Happy Holidays everyone!!!!! 12/13/18......Just checking in.....another year of hard use and still no problems. Not too many products you can say that about after 3 years. This is one of them. Battery is STILL strong (which amazes me). These guys built a speaker to last. If I haven't broke it yet, it's solid as a rock. 12/09/19.....It's the holidays, so time for an update! Still sounds as good as new. Haven't been using it as much at the pool as past years due to buying a boat and fishing more often. Cuts into your pool time, you know? Ha! Life is good. I am amazed that I am still running the original battery with this beast with so many charge cycles under it's belt. It's nice to know I can buy a new battery if it ever does go kaput on me. One thing I am noticing reading some of the other reviews- if you are not happy with the volume or sound quality, USE THE EQUALIZER! It makes a BIG difference in both. Listening without the equalizer in just sounds "cheap" and not as loud to me. I use the classic "v" pattern on it....gradually more bass as the frequencies get lower and more treble as they get higher with a flat midrange. It's all up to your individual ears. It's the giving season.....buy this to give. You will be the best Santa on the planet! Merry Christmas everyone.