When I got the iK63 I immediately plugged it in to watch MI:3; the speaker sounded great, but 20min in it faded from the factory charge on the battery. To recharge the Li battery, it came with a micro-B to USB that plugs into the back of the speaker. Hmmm...that meant not plugging it in to use the battery of the Fire. I used the Fire's USB to AC adapter to recharge it, but that meant not charging my Fire. I really wish iHome would have packaged a AC adapter that had 2 usb ports for charging the speaker and the fire at the same time. It is also only 1 speaker and when you plug it in, the Fire's speakers turn off; making it a mono setup. The instructions suggest getting a 2nd speaker and you can daisy chain them to go back to a stereo setup; but I said, hell with that. Not gonna pay $60+ for stereo speakers that I will have to recharge each speaker individually, along with my fire. In defense of the product, the speaker did sound much better than the onboard speaker of the Fire. It just did not fulfill my wants and was too much of a hassle to deal with.
Back to using my Sennheiser HD 202 II Professional Headphones (Black).
Buy iHome Rechargeable Portable Mini Speaker with 3.5mm Headphone/Audio Jack, Black and Red Now
I bought this when on Gold Box sale, it's a bit pricey at the regular price. However, the build quality is good and this little speaker delivers.Now your expectations must be realistic. It is a single speaker (mono) in a very small size. It is very lightweight and portable. It looks nice. It has an audio out which is rare. So some nice touches, especially at this price. (Note you can chain two speakers for "simulated" stereo, but a single speaker is mono. Not a big deal for casual listening, but something to be aware of, especially as the specs in the product description are not clear on this.)
So how does it sound? Well, surprisingly good for its size and being a single speaker. These new small drivers are now showing up in lots of systems like this and they deliver pretty amazing sound for their size. In this case the amp has been "tweaked" for added bass response. Overall, it sounds good for casual, personal listening at normal volume levels. At very high volumes (and it can get surprisingly loud) it sounds a bit harsh to me, but at normal levels, fine. The bass response is adequate for music and the vocals (mid-range) and highs are there. This won't challenge your good stereo/audio system, but it will be pleasant for use with your Kindle Fire, ipod, mp3 player or other portable device (it will work with anything that has a 3.5mm headphone/audio output). So thumbs up for its intended purpose.
It comes with a special combined micro USB and audio cable for charging the internal battery and hooking up to the audio out of your device. I would have preferred a separate audio in jack and separate USB for charging, but that's a minor nit pick. (It would allow greater flexibility in use and most people aren't going to use the audio out provided anyway, so there's room for it. But again, not a big deal.) It has nice rubber feet on the bottom, a blue/red LED light on front for charging and power status, and an on/off switch in back.
I tried this out with my laptop/notebook and it worked very well. It's actually even better, as there the combined USB cable and audio cable makes more sense. However, you can also get stereo speakers for around the same price for laptops and their large size is not as much of an issue for this purpose. Still, this very compact lightweight speaker is an attractive option if you're really traveling light.
This is a solid, good value in a very light weight portable speaker. Perfect for it's intended purpose. It will be great for movies/video, audio books and music on the go.
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(Tip: Plug this in and charge the battery for 4 hours or so before use (or even overnight) to get maximum time from the internal battery in later use.)As far as quality goes, this little honey works exactly as advertised which is why I'm giving it five stars. However, when it comes to portability, I find earphones or ear buds much more convenient. When it comes to better sound, a Kindle Fire can be hooked up to any sound system with RCA input jacks using a 1/8" stereo plug to 2 RCA plug cable like this one, which I find much more convenient than constantly having to recharge the speaker. Frankly, if you don't have a problem with headphones or ear buds, you have a sound system with RCA input jacks, and you don't do a lot of travelling, then you may not have much use for this product. Verdict: This powered mini-speaker is a real humdinger, but it doesn't really fit my needs, so I decided I wanted my money back. Your mileage may vary.I use this speaker with my kindle when working on my Massage Therapy Clients. It works great the sound is very clear from such a small speaker.
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