STEREO GUIDE verdict
The Tribit Stormbox Lava leaves an ambivalent impression. It offers rich bass at normal levels and also scores highly in terms of workmanship and features. But if you listen a little louder, which the 2.3 kilo Bluetooth speaker invites you to do, the sound quickly reaches its limits.
Pros
- Flexible application options
- App with very good EQ
- sounds really powerful quietly outdoors
Cons
- Bass too spongy, indoor boominess
- thin, bland sound at higher volumes
- Too big/heavy for the joy of playing on offer
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Tonal balance / transparency7.4
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Bass / Dynamics7.5
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Usability / Connectivity8.4
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Price/Performance8.8
Journalists are said to like to make things as easy as possible for themselves. For our review work, we have to vehemently disagree, because we put every single Bluetooth speaker through its paces. However, we could have made it easier for ourselves with the features table and visual description of the new Tribit StormBox Lava and copied the review of the JBL Xtreme 3 – the most important data is almost identical.
Less well-meaning tongues could also claim that the Tribit is a conceptual copy of the JBL classic in the Bluetooth boombox sector: roller-shaped on the shoulder strap, 2 kg class, slightly slanted side feet with recessed passive membranes, and the promise of plenty of bass for the open-air party.
With protection class IP67 , it can also be used on the beach and at the lake without any problems. In the first practical test, we liked the shoulder strap and the cord, which makes it easy to transport the somewhat heavier roll. The JBL delivers slightly more power (100 instead of 80 watts), while the Tribit has a runtime of 24 hours on paper, slightly ahead of the JBL at 15 hours, but in practice this depends on the volume anyway and drops significantly at maximum load.
Two-way stereo, two passive diaphragms
The similarities continue with the acoustic concept: two silk domes on the outside of the front promise stereo sound and hi-fi qualities. In the bulbous middle of the cabinet are two bass-midrange drivers with a diameter of around 8 centimeters. They drive the air in the roll to the rear, which in turn drives the two outer passive diaphragms as bass resonators for depth and pressure.
The manufacturer promises 43 Hertz from the black roll, which would indeed be very low. The two active bass-midrange drivers are each powered by 30 watts, which in combination with effective passive cones should also ensure a high level. These are concealed at the side in ring-shaped feet, which also allow the StormBox Lava to be used in an upright position. Thanks to its shape, it even stands quite securely on a level surface.
Many options, many connections
With Bluetooth 5.4, the latest standard is available. The manufacturer offers SBC and AAC as codecs. The usual aptX variants for Android smartphones are missing, but their sound advantage over the existing codecs is hardly noticeable with a Bluetooth speaker in this class, so we see this more as a sensible cost-saving measure. The simultaneous connection of two Bluetooth devices worked without any problems in the test. This is particularly important if you want to play music from your laptop and use the Tribit app on your smartphone at the same time.
An analog jack input is located behind the rubber lip, which also conceals the USB-C charging port and the USB-A port that can only be used as a power bank.
Big Buttons
It is operated via a row of buttons at the top of the reel. While the central control button marked with a circle (where the important pause function requires some minor double-clicking tricks) and the volume selection are very prominent in white, the remaining buttons remain almost invisible from a distance or in the dark. Unfortunately, this also includes the on/off button and Bluetooth pairing.
The bass boost called “X-Bass”, on the other hand, is rarely missed in our experience in the sound test. The same applies to the button for activating party mode, which can be used to link a series of Stormboxes to play the same music in synchronization.
A practical feature is the built-in microphone, which also makes the Lava a hands-free device in case someone calls while the party is going on. However, the speech intelligibility was far from today’s standards.
Detailed EQ in the app
Like other models from the manufacturer, the Tribit StormBox Lava is supported by the Tribit app. Of course, after pairing, an update is first installed, which takes about 5 minutes. New features such as a 10-band equalizer with many sound presets are then available. Although this will please budding sound engineers, it is also a rather complicated matter for occasional users.
The typical Tribit sound presets are also available here, although we don’t understand the meaning of Jazz, Audiobook and Classical. There is no linear or natural setting for this. Even in the preset “X-Bass Off”, the bass is boosted. Also somewhat confusing: preset and user-created presets are kept separately in two lists. Otherwise, there are extra points for the EQ variety.
The app also offers useful standard functions: Playback control, percentage-accurate battery display, standby time and activation of voice prompts.
How the StormBox Lava performs in the sound test
In the product advertising of a large mail order company, the manufacturer claims “80 watts of booming sound”. We were able to confirm this in our first sound test in rooms, unfortunately in a negative sense: The StormBox Lava mobilizes a terrifying earthquake potential and sounded impressively fat at room volume even without a bass boost. However, the low beats were also muddy, spongy and far too massive, and the bass thunderstorm was concentrated in a very narrow frequency range.
When it came to kick bass and speed, the tuning failed: with rock and oldies, the StormBox Lava didn’t allow itself any major mistakes and sounded quite balanced, but also rather small and slim. In the treble range, it remained a little on the homogeneous side, less on the lively side, but as a result it also remained quite inconspicuous in both a positive and negative sense.
Other speakers that had already ignited too much bass fireworks indoors then proved their qualities in the open-air test. We can only attest this to the Tribit StormBox Lava with severe limitations: At moderate volumes, its low bass was definitely fun on the sports field, and for a speaker that is still relatively compact, the vocal range came through surprisingly well even at a distance of a few meters. Unfortunately, our test specimen had a small, rather annoying rattling problem at certain bass frequencies. We were able to narrow it down to the passive diaphragm on the left side, which seems to be hitting something internally. In this respect, we assume that this is a production error, although this raises doubts about the quality control.
Always nice and easy
However, if you turned the volume up above the 50% mark – and we’re not talking about party volume here – the bass thunderstorm disappeared completely. What remained was a rather powerful but midrange-heavy sound that was also quite different at different angles. The tweeters, which are actually wide-ranging by nature, only seemed to spread a little brilliance in the uppermost range and let the powerful midrange take precedence. Although they did a decent job, they were also unobtrusive, which further dampened the already moderate joy of playing.
However, changing the volume while the music is playing is no fun for another reason: the StormBox Lava cuts out briefly every time the volume is changed, which we think is out of place at open-air parties.
The Tribit Stormbox Lava reproduced less beat-heavy and bass-heavy music without any major faults, but also without any particular accents. Voices sounded quite homogeneous and balanced, perhaps a little overly lean in the body. In general, the thick roll clearly lacked fundamental tone, the bass was somewhat separated from the midrange. So although it delivered a decent performance at normal to high volumes without fat bass, it didn’t really shine. You’re supposed to lug 2.3 kilograms to the beach for that?
Tribit StormBox Lava: Conclusion and alternatives
Somehow, we couldn’t help suspecting that the Tribit StormBox Lava is primarily trying to impress with its low price, great values in the table and an over-fat low bass performance at low volumes. However, in practical use and sound, the more compact and similarly priced competitors clearly pull ahead. The smaller JBL Charge 5, for example, delivers slightly less fat bass, which is an advantage indoors, but doesn’t fall to its knees at higher volumes like the Stormbox Lava. And it also delivers significantly more beat and enjoyment.
Technical specifications Tribit StormBox Lava
- Manufacturer’s recommended retail price: around 130 euros
- Dimensions (W x H x D): 31 x 14.7 x 15 cm
- Weight: 2.3 kg
- Battery life up to 24 hours
- Special features: Waterproof to IP67, carrying strap and handle included, app with 10-band EQ
- More at: www.tribit.com
