DOSS SoundBox XL Bluetooth Speaker with Subwoofer, 32W Loud Sound with Booming Bass, Twin DSP Applied sciences, 10H Playtime, USB-C, TWS, 2.1 Audio Channel for Residence, Indoor and Workplace – Gold

UPDATE Aug 28 – Great Sound, Disappointing Build Quality
The DOSS Soundbox XL seem to be plagued either by bad design issues or a high rate of poor manufacturing quality. I recently got one, and took off the cover to remove that speaker grill liner some reviewers said causes a rattle and saw the left tweeter cone was mashed in. I returned it to Amazon only to get a second one with an annoying bass vibration, one recent Amazon reviewer described as a “farting sound” with music with a strong bass line. It actually happens at 54 hz when you use a tone generator and comes from air blowing out the jack/slot holes in the back.I really liked the sound, but I feel this needs to be shared. DOSS needs to get it together before I would even consider a THIRD.UPDATE: Aug 29, 2017Within a short time, I got a reply in this thread requesting my email in order to receive a replacement free of charge from Milla with DOSS. Without that, I would have probably not ordered a third.The replacement arrived a few days ago and I am submitting the following update. Milla was quite wonderful sending me updates as to the status of the arrival of the new unit. The first thing I did was remove the grill to check if the dust liner was loose like the first two only to find that it was attached directly to the inside grill. The drivers looked perfect. After charging a few hours, I was ready for my test to confirm if the air leak problem was fixed. I put on a few bass heavy songs and listened for that telltale air leak. As i turned the bass up to the point of distortion, the cabinet seal held. I got no rattles The top trim plate seemed to be secured tighter as pushing down on it detected no movement indicating bad adhesion. This one as far as build quality was perfect.Rather than evaluate the sound in depth right out of the box, my experience as an audiofile knows that it takes a few hours of playing different kinds of music at various levels to allow the speakers to break in and not sound dry and stiff, but more rounded like live music. After two days of playing off and on, the sound difference as they broke in was quite noticeable in the sense of warmth also with an increase in sonic accuracy. I highly suggest one of the better apps for music playback rather than the generic one that comes with your device if you really want to experience their true capability. As an audiofile, listening to various players using my headset was the test.. After trying/buying several, Jet Audio Plus was my choice. I custom built my home PC with a high end audio card including custom opamps, mil-spec capacitor, low noise motherboard, a case that isolates the power supply, routing the wiring, etc. Windows system tweaks, and special software that as a result compares spec for spec and in sound quality with the more expensive audiofile preamps sold separately.So using this app, I have been listening for hours with everything from smooth jazz, rap, rock, and other types also with various dynamic ranges. I will give my impressions based on other bluetooth speakers i have auditioned.Frequency Response: To my ear, this speaker is flatter and more neutral and natural sounding than most. The bass extension is uncanny for a box this size and not only goes lower, but maintains a sense of focus and tightness to actually be able to hear the low notes, not the boomy blur that seems to radiate out of most of the others at this price range. I actually put a little dip in the bass at 60hz because i felt the bass a little overemphasized for my room proportions. The mids were just fine. The treble has a slight roll off due to the dust cover I presume, but it is easily correctable with your player’s equalizer with just some minor tweaks above 10k.Soundstage: The Soundbox XL creates a soundstage that occurs just in front of the speaker and has a 3D quality of air, that is missing from most of the others. It is so good that on certain songs you can hear each instrument or voice distinctly in their own “space”. Also when placed 12 inches from a solid wall, the soundstage blooms to a room filling wall of sound as the back wall reflections contribute to the sense of space and presence. This also increases the bass to a point you can FEEL. This same effect happens placing it in a corner, but i found that 33″ from the center of the back of the speaker to the corner works without overloading the sound with bass.Dynamic Range: After the speaker broke in, i noticed the sound become more alive in sense that as each instrument or vocal in the music became louder of softer, the overall balance of soundstage pretty much stayed flat instead of the dropouts or peakiness you hear with speakers that have a narrow range of accurate frequency reproduction based on the frequency amplitude “sweet spot” of each driver. It results in a lack of listener fatigue for extended music listening and as a result is more akin to my home rig sound. Overall Loudness: For most listening, esp indoors, I find the volume range more than adequate. This range can be extended using the preamp setting in the equalizer such as the Jet Audio to levels that go beyond the max that is available on the generic device that is set to protect the internal speaker and earbuds. A step or two up is what i found works best. without significantly increasing the possibility of damage.This speaker ROCKS! If I have to find a fault, it is having readjust the speaker volume each time it is turned on. The speaker sounds better with its volume set at max and controlled by your device. If you do this make sure the volume on your device is turned down a lower range before you adjust the Soundbox XL volume to max.In summary, based on their top notch customer service, better build quality and the other attributes I highlight in this review, the DOSS Soundbox XL, especially at the price point, is 5-Star product. There just is nothing better, IMHO. I can’t wait for the pairing option to come and and review a stereo pair! Thanks, Milla.Well done, DOSS!

A POSSIBLE FIX IF OUT OF WARRANTY – SPEAKER WILL NOT POWER UP
I purchased two of these speakers from Doss for bedroom / kitchen use in August 2019. One of the units failed after 10 months of use. Doss was AWESOME and sent me a replacement speaker at no cost. Customer service was great. They did not want the old one back so I decided to have a look around and figure out why the unit was not working. I hate just throwing things away if they can be fixed.Symptoms…- Unit would randomly shut off while plugged in until it would no longer function. Red light on back just blinked next to power cable inlet- While unplugged, it would turn on and off at random by itself powering up and down making the power up and down tones. Would drive you mad with the on / off / on / off tones- Finally, unit would do nothing at all. No soundIssue found:- The internal battery BMS (battery management system) had failed. Battery had no connection at the output. I found no way to unlock this very basic BMS so… it’s dead. Unit uses two 18650 cells (nice). I did confirm both 18650 batteries were still good as I manually was able to charge them and check balance. So the BMS just horked out (not the fault of doss, they do not make the BMS or battery pack)I started to look at small replacement PCB’s to replace the BMS, then I realized HEY! I NEVER use these things portable. I always have them plugged in. So I tested the unit without the battery pack installed. Nope… No-go. When the circuitry does not sense voltage on the battery connection, it does not allow the unit to power up.I ran some tests and the fix is easy if failed this way. Just solder in two jumper leads from the 12VDC input to the battery connection posts. This allows the unit to power up as it senses voltage even though the battery is not present. I have been running it this way for a bit without any issue. Quick and easy for a solder slinger. See photo for added wire leads. Blue is the color I used for positive.Adding a little video on the tube you can search for to show what I did in case the photo does not cut it. In a few weeks I will be doing some affordable upgrades to this speaker to hopefully get the mid-range and treble in-line with the bass (speaker replacement).BTW, this speaker uses an NTP8320 amplifier / dsp chip. Clearly, Doss did some programming to the DSP’s onboard EQ to add this much bass. I wish it was user programmable as this chip has a lot capability.Overall, I feel the speaker is limited by the two super generic 2″ paper cone full range drivers. The sub seems to work quite well in this tiny package with the two passive radiators. I ordered a few different versions of full range 2″ drivers with the same basket so they will be drop in. Hopefully, one of the versions will work better offering more efficiency (louder mid and treble) and some treble extension.For the cash paid, this is a VERY well built little unit. They really spent some time engineering it and most will find the sound adequate for a little room speaker. Far and away better bass than anything I have heard in this price range or even double. Set this unit in the corner of a room and it sounds quite full and much larger than it actually is. Everything from weight, to enclosure assembly is top notch and far better than I expected.

WOW.. What a sound machine.. I feel like I am thunder stuck.. It’s just unbelievable.. The Bass it produces is mind-blowing.. It beats JBL extreme by miles… The best frequency response… 20hz to20khz… And it’s really there.. You’re can hear all the instruments so clearly it’s.. It’s incredible.. It can handle Weather Report to Jethro Tull with such completeness… It’s really impressive.. So what if its little bulky (width is about 12inches).. Itis still very compact… May be not as tracking companion …but if you are musicians or serious audiophiles this is what you have been looking for… It beats BOSE… JBL… Or…SONY…by miles… Definitely in terms of pricing and sound reproduction… Thanks DOSS for such wonderful Product…and thanks Amazon for such a great deal…

Seems a little short on volume but audio quality is good