BackGadget review: The House of Marley
This Bluetooth speaker is packed with eco-friendly materials
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You can buy a well-designed Bluetooth speaker with decent sound for ₹ 7,000, so when one costs ₹ 19,990, it has to have something special. The House of Marley is banking on the use of eco-friendly materials, classy design and simplicity of operation for its Get Together speaker.
The House of Marley, named after reggae legend Bob Marley, focuses on making high-quality, earth-friendly audio products. Marley’s son Rohan Marley is a director of the company.
The front and back panels of the Get Together speaker are made of bamboo. The slightly coarse material on the top and sides is what the company calls REWIND fabric. It is made from reclaimed hemp, organic cotton and recycled plastic bottles. The attention to detail is apparent. The panels fit the frame perfectly, and the REWIND fabric is evenly stretched out. The look is reminiscent of JBL’s much more expensive Authentics L16 speaker.
Setting up the Get Together is quite easy. Long-press the Bluetooth key on the top panel to switch it to pairing mode. The source device (phone, tablet or laptop) will detect the speaker and take a couple of seconds to connect.
It takes some time to warm up to the sound. One expects window-vibrating bass from a speaker this big—it is more than a foot long. But the sound signature is well balanced. The lower frequencies are effectively managed—subtle, without the booming or spillover that spoil the mid-frequencies and vocals.
The idea clearly seems to be to make this work with as many genres of music as possible. A lot of portable speakers struggle to reproduce the details of rock music tracks and end up sounding too sharp. The Get Together held up well during the tracks of rock bands Metallica and Staind.
It also handles the spoken word with a soft touch. Even at 70% volume, the vocals don’t sound too sharp or get overshadowed by another frequency. The sound stage is quite wide, and you will hear a lot of detail—the different elements are well segregated.
The Get Together has an edge over some of its competitors when it comes to playing music at a loud volume. The Harman Kardon Go + Play Wireless, for example, maintains a reasonable sound quality till 75% volume. But the Get Together can go a step further.
One reason for this is the solid enclosure, which kills vibrations before they can spoil the music.
The built-in battery lasts about 7 hours if you use the Get Together at 50% volume, which means you can use it for an entire evening without needing to plug it in.
A price of ₹ 19,990 is a lot for a Bluetooth speaker, but the Get Together’s unique look and materials do hold your attention.
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