Harman Kardon HARM ONYXSTUDIO4K Harman Kardon Ony

Coming from a 7 year old Onyx 2...(which still sounds great) I was shocked to see how little the sound changed between the that and the 4...almost the same speaker. They both sound great and very clear...but they both suffer from the battery issue many have complained about here. The Onyx 2 no longer works without being plugged in (and I fear this will be the case with the 4 in a couple years)- but I needed something for my pool. My search began: Remember - portable for the pool - so I looked at everything and not being a JBL fanboy I decided on the Marshall Middleton the Onyx 4 and the UE Hyperboom. Marshall - really sounds great - very crisp sound and they get a lot out of this little speaker. If I was traveling a lot and bringing it to my room this would be my speaker. The most portable of the three - but the smallest sounding (which again, is still pretty damn good). Good bass - but not like the other two considering its $300. UE Hyperboom - This is the best sounding - but really not by enough to justify the price tag. I was willing and I was actually rooting for this one. But when you are at a pool and the water feature is going on...are you really gonna see much difference in clarity? If you want to crank it - this is a better option. If you have neighbors and live on a golf course...it won't matter and the clarity of the the HK and the Middleton are both great...again $400..I did not see a significant jump in sound that "blew me away." HK Onyx 4 - I have a 19 speaker HK system in my vehicle and my friends say it is the best sounding system in any car they have ever heard...and I tend to agree. My tastes run from Klipsch home systems to now the upgraded Sonos Arc with 4 surrounds and the large subwoofer....so I like good sound. The HK will not blow you away with power - it will sound great at a pool and your friends will say...WOW that sounds really good! If you want power go with JBL...but to me they all sound the same and again - to get something that will give you that kind of power....your back to over $400. The batteries on the HK 2 I had sucked and I fear this will be the case with the 4. I am very disappointed that the sound is not much - if at all - different...but the 2 was pretty perfect. I also got the HK 6 a couple months ago and played it for maybe 30 seconds - boxed it up and returned. Horrible in my opinion. I also dabbled with the Sony SRS-XG300. A beautiful speaker which sounds like it is playing underwater...again I did play with all these on the equalizer settings (which the HK does not have) to give them all a fair fight. So if your gonna crank it up...$400 is no issue...go with the Hyperboom. Sound will not be that much different (especially if there is background noise like water features at pools etc.) But, it will crank louder than the HK and still give you some great sound quality. Portability with travel...you are not gonna get much better than the Marshall Middleton if you are willing to eat that $299 price tag. The HK gives you a lot but again that battery issue should have been resolved...they know about it and have done nothing in the way of battery (or sound really in my opinion - which again is not a bad thing) for the last 7 years. The price is a little high - but the sound quality is still 5 stars and that is what I am rating it on. Good luck in your own search - and when in doubt between 2...get them both and compare - Amazon makes it easy for returns.