JBL Boombox 1 Speaker Watts

Front view of the JBL Boombox BT speaker.

The JBL Boombox 1 speaker by Harman Kardon is a moderate to higher power, boom box style unit with enough RMS watts to fill bigger rooms with full sounding tunes. It also has a built in power bank for recharging light, medium, and some duty phones and tablets.

But what do the watts a BT speaker has, tell us about how good it is? Firstly, the watt is a measure of how much power the speaker requires and outputs. Plus, this metric is a nifty comparison measure. Why? Because generally speaking, speakers with more watts of audio output tend to play louder than those with less.

While they do cost more, have bigger, heavier batteries and chargers, along with larger drivers and magnets, they nonetheless offer some big plusses. They have more dynamic range, a deeper bass response, and the models that play in stereo offer typically a broader soundstage and better sound imaging to listeners.

The JBL Boombox 1 speaker, all connected up and, recharging.

Thus in general, the more powerful the speaker, the better it sounds, even at lower volume. You get improved clarity due to higher accuracy reproduction of the bass, midrange, and treble parts of the music. Plus, more reserve power likely means less clipping distortion too, even at higher volumes. So, the speaker’s maximum watts output is a primary indicator of speaker quality and performance. And as such, this value is of great interest to audiophiles and novice listeners alike.

In this case, the Boombox, as a medium size Bluetooth speaker, is a decently loud model. Its watts can fill a medium to large size party space with clear and full music. See below for details on its power output.

JBL Boombox 1 Speaker Watts: The Details

1. Battery Capacity: 74 watt-hours (7.4 volts, 10 amp-hours).
2. Charger Power: 80 watts (20 volts at 4 amps).
3. Power Bank Output Power: (5 volts, 2 amps). *
4. Play Time Per Recharge: Up to 24 hours.
5. Total Audio Output Power on AC (RMS): 60 watts on AC power, 40 watts on battery power.
6. Total Peak Audio Power on AC Power: 84.84 watts.
7. Total Peak Audio Power on Battery Power: 56.56 watts.
8. Output Power per Channel on AC Power: 30 watts RMS (two channels in this speaker).
9. Output Power per Channel on Battery Power: 20 watts RMS (two channels in this speaker).

* = Estimated.

Notes on JBL Boombox 1 Speaker Watts

1. This unit may not input enough enough power from even the included AC adapter to keep the battery from discharging when playing at full volume and heavy bass. How much it drains depending on what you’re listening to. So it could happen that even with the Boombox connected to external power, you could still see the music shut down abruptly. Thus on the (rare) times that this occurs, just stop playing the speaker for an hour or two, to let it build up some reserve battery power while charging. Then, fire it up again for continued party enjoyment.