Product review: JVC Kaboom Box

Let’s say that you want to listen to some music. Maybe you just moved, or bought a new house. You don’t have a lot of money. But you really want to enjoy your music whether on the radio, CD’s, or on your Ipod. What will you do?

Well you could buy a cheap all in one stereo. But the sound quality of those are abysmal, and at higher volumes the sound quickly becomes distorted. You could get better earphones for your MP3, but they your friends couldn’t enjoy the music. You could outfit your MP3 with speakers, but again the quality is limited, and not nearly full.

The choices on a limited budget is far from thrilling, luxurious, or quality. Unless you own a JVC Kaboom. This is the answer most are looking for.



The Kaboom box starts at about $275, but can be found on the internet (eBay) from reputable sites for about $210. At either price it is affordable and worth every dime. The Kaboom Box RV-NB1 is unique in several ways. It is powerful, compact, portable, and versitle.

The Kaboom Box weighs about 20 lbs. So it’s not exactly light, yet it is very easily moved or taken on the road. You will need about ten D batteries, which will add to the weight, but portable is an option if there is no outlet.

The reason so many batteries are needed, and why the weight is high is because this has 52 Watts of total power. Now I know you might wonder how powerful is that. Well to give you an idea, imagine this. At full power you can place this in the basement of a 2 story brick house of decent size, and hear the music in the attic. I kid you not. I own this and at full power I cannot hear my doorbell standing next to the ringer. It’s loud enough that you can have a block party with this, or be heard outside your house with all the doors and windows closed.

But there is an added bonus. This is not just loud, it is clear sound. At full volume the distortion is minimal to the average ear. That is playing rock, or classical, or jazz. And then there is the bass.

The Kaboom Box comes with a Super Bass Exciter and sub-woofer controller. So you can add extreme bass if you wish. At full volume with a bass heavy song you can vibrate everything in a room, even if that room is over 15 feet long. There is no question that everyone out of earshot will know the music you like.

But the Kaboom box also supplies another bonus. It has the ability to play AM/FM radio, CD’s, and has a connection for an iPod MP3 and/or an electric guitar. No let me be clear, when I say Ipod I mean just that. There is no universal connector, so if you have a different MP3 player it won’t work, I tried and the connection is wrong. And if you are old fashioned and own cassette tapes, you are in luck it will play them too.


But if you have the right connection cords you can hook up your Kaboom Box to your computer and run music streaming from the internet through your Box. Which can be huge fun and allow for an awesome collection of music.

Some of the exact stats are as follows:

• 2- 3 3/16" Front Firing Full Range Speakers and 2- 6 5/16" Subwoofers
  
• 15 AM and 30 FM Station Memory
  
• Full Function Remote Control
  
• Width: 27 3/16"
  
• Height: 9 7/16"
  
• Depth: 11 11/16"
  
• 52 Watts Total Power, Bi-Amplified
  
• Active Clear Sound (ACS) to improve clarity for better balance with deep lows
  
• Carrying Strap with Remote Control Holder
  

Full-Range: 6 watts per channel, min. RMS, driven into 4 ohms, from 150Hz to 15kHz; Super Woofer: 20 watts per channel, min. RMS, driven into 4 ohms, at 60Hz

I own a Kaboom Box, and I recommend them to anyone that wants to have quality sound at reasonable prices.

Woodworking for Wii

In America one of the biggest concerns that few are speaking about is the loss of creativity in our students. Cutbacks in school funding across the nation has caused the end of band, art and shop programs. Add to this failure to stimulate the minds and hands of our youth the invasive predominance to play video games over other social or creative activities and the future innovators in America look scares and bleak.

Of course this is hardly an event that is isolated to America alone. Across Europe and in England similar combinations of obsessive game play and re-orienting of curricular schedules is becoming the norm, though in far lesser degrees. But unlike in America some educators and creative competitions are not giving up the ghost yet.

This is something that I think we need to pay attention to. One of the best solutions I’ve heard in some time hails from Britain. It is a combination of providing the youth with a creative spirit and feeding their need to be digital.

In Neath and Port Talbot there is the Fitchett and Woollacott Student Woodworking Competition. This competition is open to teenagers from 11 to 18 that have made woodworking projects.

Teachers are able to submit the handicraft of the labor of these nimble minds, and the students are the one that can gain the double bonus of winning. The winners’ school will be the recipient of specialized woodworking tools to further enhance their creative outlet, and those of future generations. But that is not the only prize. The winning students will also gain something as grand as being acknowledged for their efforts. They stand to win a popular and oh so must have iPod or Wii gaming console.

I love this idea. The children are getting what they want while gaining something far more important and life changing in the process. This is the kind of stimulus our children in America need. It’s the kind of education that America must have, and in a decade or less will be screaming for. So let’s be proactive.

No Child Left Behind is a failure. Rote memorization is fantastic for zombies and robots, but does nothing for the inventive spirit that has led America to lead the world in technology and economics, to say nothing of freedom. Britain has given America many things over the years, from items to intangible ideas. I think this idea is just one more that I feel we need to integrate.

Do you agree? Is this the kind of education you want your child to get? Or can you improve on the Brits?