Customer Reviews

Spracht WS-4010 Aura BluNote Portable Wireless Speaker System with Bluetooth--Stream Music Wirelessly from Any Bluetooth Device

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I purchased this by accident while saving items to my wish list. When it arrived, I immediately contacted Amazon to return the product but thought I would at least see if it provided good sound quality. IT DID and MORE!! It has amazing sound quality! I kept it and use it constantly. I take it outside while I'm working in the yard (on battery power) and use the bluetooth connection feature on my Nokia Xpress Music Cell phone, I take it into my workshop and plug it into a/c connection and I connect it to my HP laptop with the 3.5mm jack. I've even started using it in my truck because it has better sound quality that my factory speakers.

When I was originally looking at it on Amazon, I thought it was a lot larger. This is one of the reasons I was about to return it. It doesn't need to be larger to provide quality sound and also has plenty of volume without very much distortion at the highest volume. I grew up listening to 70's, 80's and 90's Rock at high volumes because I have genetic hearing loss in one ear. This little speaker system is a joy to listen to, anywhere, anytime.

I've been looking for a A2DP compatible speaker to pair with my smartphone for a while. This is really quite the find. Compact, powered by either batteries (4 AA) or AC power (adapter included), it works great. I use it to listen to digital music stored on my phone. But it's also capable as a speakerphone too. Theoretically, you could even use it in your car as a hands-free device, though I'm not sure how well that would work. Alternatively, it also has an audio-in jack for any other music source.

The sound quality is really not bad for a unit this size. There's a bass boost, as well as a "spatializer" to help your music sound "fuller" or more 3-dimensional.

For this price, it's outstanding.

NOTE: Someone earlier posted a poor review because the speaker did not work with his bluetooth. That's not really the fault of the speaker, because it works, provided you have the proper A2DP-capable device. However, looking at the description and even on the box, it is really deceptive for anyone who does not know the basics about bluetooth technologies. "Stream Music Wirelessly from any Bluetooth Device" is completely wrong. However, in the finer details, it does state, "And if your device doesn't include the A2DP Bluetooth stereo music streaming profile, you can still connect it to the AURA via a 3.5mm audio jack."

You must have A2DP for this to work wirelessly. A2DP is a bluetooth standard that allows high-quality audio to be streamed in stereo to a speaker. Not all phones can do this. Check yours first before you make a mistake! Then upgrade your phone.

This is an attractive little speaker, easy to use and had no problems pairing. Works well as a speaker phone. It is small, and produces pretty good sound for its size. But let me emphasize the "for its size" part, because it certainly doesn't produce some miraculously large sound. It sounds very much like a small speaker, about as good as some small $20 computer speakers. I really like the fact that it can be battery OR AC powered, and it's nice that it has an aux audio input. But I would like this thing a lot more if it also had an audio OUTPUT (making it essentially a bluetooth stereo gateway as well as a speaker, in case you have better speakers nearby), and it seems like it would have been really cheap for them to do so. When I was shopping, I didn't look for bluetooth speakers that also had audio output, so I don't know if other ones have that or not, but if I were currently shopping it's definitely something I would look for.

Droid 2 Global, no problems pairing. Sound is very nice. Don't think it's gonna work for loud, thumping volume, but and can handle a decent volume level alright. For a comfortable level in an office or room it sounds great.

6/22/11 Edit: Wife uses this on battery power quite a bit too, like laying out in the sun, etc. Works good for that and doesn't seem to bad on the batteries either.

I was surprised at how easily this unit paired with my iPhone 4. Very nice sound for a such a small unit. Works great as a Bluetooth speakerphone. Seems a little reluctant to pair with my Macbook Air. But I'm still trying. Amazing deal for $39,99.

Very impressive sound quality and nice to look at too!

Pairing with my iPhone was very easy. Sound quality maintained when moving to adjacent rooms, within about 25 feet.

Especially like that it can be powered by AC cord or AA batteries, makes the option of traveling cordless so much easier when using cheap, widely available battery format. Will also be nice to have for the typical winter storm power outages. Great product!

When it worked it was decent. I bought it at a local electronics store and used it on a couple of occations. The original four AA batteries still have power as I'm using them in my keyboard now, but the speaker was used on the AC adapter partially at times also. I cannot really comment on the features because I never really had a chance to try them. I played music on it, and it did that Ok for a speaker its size. Now, it sits on my computer desk uselessly staring at me. It stopped working 2 months after I got it. Too late to take it to the store, and Spracht hasn't gotten back to me yet, its been 3 weeks. Their website support form didn't work, the phone number too me to a voicemail on some person's cell phone, so I email them at their support email address using outlook and have yet to hear back. I still have the original reciept and everything, but it's about as useless as the speaker if I can't get it replaced.

So what's it do now? It turns on, flashes a few times slowly, then immediatly shuts itself off. No audio sounds are made whatsoever. It used to "do do duh" when it turned on, and vice versa turning off. I've checked the volume, bluetooth settings, and have tried using the line in jack in the back with a standard 3.5mm m/m cable. I cannot keep it to stay on, AC adapter or batteries, and I cannot get any sound out of it anymore bluetooth or line in audio.

Update: After contacting support they had an rma replacement issued. Sent it in and waited, and waited some more. After an extended period I called in and talked to the person who issued my rma, after a few moments he realized this process has been going stale, and he issued a replacement immediately. He had it shipped over night...nice! It's working now after a quick testrun with my phone's media player so I'm not complaining.

There aren't many options for bluetooth stereo speakers, but these do the job.

My expectations were not too high, as for under $50.00 I was hoping this would at least work with a new ipod touch. It really exceeded my expectations. The sound quality is not the best, but it is loud, and small, and even has a bit of bass. The really upside was the ease in which it paired with my ipod touch, Nexus S, Palm Pre and PC flawlessly, without drivers.
I'm going back for a second one tonight.

Good volume.
Decent sound.
Bass fairly decent.
Pairing can be a little quirky.
Interference can be a problem too depending on location.
All in all a good purchase at a fair price.
Glad I bought this unit.

Bought this to use with my Asus Transformer tablet and it greatly improves the audio. Runs on 4 AA batteries or included power supply, I would recommend rechargable batteries if you have them.

It also works great with my Samsung Galaxy S phone and iPod Touch.

For the price you can't go wrong!