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Georgie Fame sounds like he's singing inside a cardboard box filled with those polystyrene packing peanuts instead of live at the Kentish Town Forum and, worse still, when you play something a bit more demanding, such as TV On The Radio's complex album, Return To Cookie Mountain, you start to hear distortion in the upper registers. It's not distortion in the traditional, analogue sense - but the faint tickling noise that accompanies every loud, pounding beat soon becomes extremely tiresome.

Verdict

I'd love to like this bigger BlackBox as much as I do its smaller sister - the more pocketable mini - but I'm afraid I just can't. It looks wonderful with its Eighties sci-fi red LED display, it's pretty portable, goes very loud and even comes with a remote control and carry case.

It has plenty of potential and sounds very good when hooked up with a standard 3.5mm cable, but alas it doesn't work as well when you fire up the Bluetooth connection. Given that you're paying a premium for the privilege of being able to play music wirelessly, I don't think it's too much to expect to be able to do so without suffering a huge loss in quality. Unfortunately, you do, and I'd therefore recommend you go and spend your £80 elsewhere.

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