monster vision wireless bluetooth speaker with lcd display factory

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If you have been in this business long enough, you will be well versed with Noel Lee’s company Monster Cable (later Monster Inc.). Within six years of founding the private company in 1979, Monster’s revenue exceeded $50M with over 400 employees. The flamboyant “head monster” Noel Lee soon became known for hosting the best parties at CES and their trade show booths were often slathered with high-end cars dipped in gold or silver. If anyone ever wondered if high-end cables and connectors had any margin in them, they do, and Monster’s outrageous public spending gave the air of a company with “more money than god”, but also one with the Midas touch.

By 2008, the money-making Monster machine had diversified beyond connectors, and everyone wanted to work with the brand. In a deal brokered by Noel’s son Kevin, known as the “Little Monster” the company signed up with musician Dr. Dre to build the original Beats by Dr.Dre headphones. In 2012, Monster reported sales of $1 billion, primarily driven by Beats headphones. There’s been many white papers reflecting on what a terrible deal Kevin Lee signed with Dre and his business partner Jimmy Iovine, including the partnership termination clauses that were later initiated forcing the Lee family out.

We all know this story went very badly for the Noel and Kevin Lee and the relationship soon sours between Monster and Dr. Dre. Lawsuits fly, but to no avail and the partnership that created the original must-have-celebrity-headphone is over. Monster is out and a few years later, in 2014, Apple buys Beats with no Monster ownership for $3.2 billion. If you were to meet Noel Lee in a bar today, chances are he’d tell you that he invented the headphones known as Beats and the company was stolen out from under him.

Later, son Kevin leaves the monster family business and starts a new headphone company called Sol Republic (once an entrepreneur always an entrepreneur). Over the late 2000s, the Monster Inc. company continued along and launched an accessories company selling a range of products from computer wipes to furniture. In 2018, Noel Lee, who no one would argue against being a branding genius, was still looking for that next thing and started developing a platform to mine Bitcoin but that never got off the ground. Great idea, bad execution.

At CES 2019 right before the pandemic, Noel Lee announced that the company was rebranding as a licencing business called “M4.0 Licensed to Sell” and instead of manufacturing their own products, Lee would focus exclusively on licensing the Monster name. That direction secured several lucrative contracts with brands like ProMounts that sell a line of TV mounts under the Monster banner and also with Xtreme Cables and JEM Accessories, who are really the heir of the Monster name today. Xtreme has done a great job keeping the Monster name alive by securing an extensive deal with Walmart to sell Monster cables. Monster remains a great name today and the company still holds a ton of brand recognition.

And with that history lesson over, it brings me to a portable projector manufactured by the New Jersey-based company called JEM Accessories, the parent company of Xtreme Cables and also the licensee partner for Monster branded products as well as products under the Energizer Connect and Armor All brands. All JEM Accessories are exclusively distributed by Gentec International in Canada including a line of portable projectors branded as Monster Vision.

Gentec recently shipped me the new projector kit called the Image Stream +, a compact projector that arrives as a kit with a 120” diagonal cloth screen and aluminium frame. Also in the kit is an HDMI cable and a remote control that all fit into a black nylon storage bag. (Could you have not added two AAA batteries in the box as well? Jeez!!!)

The projector allows for 1920×1080 Native Resolution or what we call 1080p and the player can connect to mobile devises wirelessly through WIFI or a laptop through HDMI or via a usb connection. This projector is not intended to be used as a dedicated everyday home theatre and should not be compared or rated against projectors that can cost over 10 times what this compact player sells for. This is a convenient portable player to take along for the ride.

Where the Image Stream + projector excels is as a secondary player. Let’s say you have rented an Airbnb and want to watch a movie under the stars or you are a road warrior sales executive that doesn’t want to take anything to chance by plugging in to a potential clients AV, so you carry your own. Let’s say you are a student that wants to stream funny YouTube videos from their phone so the whole dorm can join in the fun. These are the scenarios where the Monster Vision Image Stream + projector really shines and should be branded toward.

For our review, we found a glorious fall night and set up the screen outdoors. The frame comes with multiple aluminium short bars that are fitted with a series of plastic connectors. The screen is fed through the top tubes and the sides of the screen are secured with multiple Velcro tabs. Aluminium feet keep the screen upright and the kit comes with tie-downs similar to those you use with a tent. We snuggly weighted down the feet with pumpkins for it is the season!

The Monster Vision + projector supports both Android and iOS connectivity and a few tweaks both on my MacBook Pro (like setting the sound from my laptop speakers to the projector) and on the projector (picking HDMI as a source) we were quickly in business watching Russell Crow in “A Good Year”.

There’s something to be said for watching a movie outdoors. We created a “camp” with our 1976 VW bus that also became the power source for plugging in the projector.

This projector is rated at 3000 Lumens and as expected the picture continued to improve the darker “our room” became. Sound from the Image Stream + projector is OK. Two small internal speakers on either side of the projector performed as best as you’d expect for their size but we improved performance by adding a hard-wired external, battery-operated speaker connected to the projector’s headphone jack. That the Image Stream + projector has a headphone jack is a handy bonus especially if you happen to be in a campsite that has noise restrictions or are living in a University dorm. By way of experiment, I unplugged my external speaker from the projector and re-plugged the speaker into the laptop. Mac has made a big deal on the sound card performance from the new Macbook Pro and this turned out to be an ideal setup and with no latency between voice and picture detected. All video, image and audio formats are supported with AV/USB/HDMI.

Another fun experience is streaming photos directly from your mobile phone to the player via WIFI and if you were to use the projector in a business application the Image Stream + supports wireless phone mirroring via WiFi, allowing you to transmit photos and videos while still managing to read your presentation on your phone.

While the Monster company from back-in-the-day is long gone, the company has managed to establish licensing partnerships with manufacturers that are respectful of the name. JEM Accessories have developed a well-priced Monster projector with solid connectivity options as well as being WIFI ready. With the Monster name being now over 40 years old, there’s plenty of credibility in the name that will aid with consumer awareness.

You wouldn’t turn this projector into your everyday screen but when the moments arrive when an outdoor movie with the kids is going to create a lasting memory, or an impromptu family gathering motivates you to share your photos and video from that last epic holiday, the Monster Vision Image Stream+ projector is a fun accessory to have for a price that won’t stretch the budget.

Currently, select VIZIO televisions support pairing to Bluetooth devices such as headphones. To determine if your TV supports this option simply press the Menu or Settings button on your VIZIO TV remote and look for Bluetooth Headphones. You can also check your TVs manual to see if this feature is available to you. To find your TVs Manual, please visit ourFind Your Manual Tool

To pair these devices to your TV all you need to do is put your device into pairing mode following the manufacturers instructions and selecting the name of the device from the list of Bluetooth devices in your TV Bluetooth Headphones Menu. If you don"t see your device you may need to select the "More Devices" option.

We’ve tested 365 portable Bluetooth speakers specifically for this guide. Some competitors came close to our top picks in performance and value, and they may be worth considering, depending on your priorities. Here’s a list of some of the more recent models we’ve considered, in alphabetical order.

The Altec Lansing Soundbucket XL is what its name says it is—a big, bucket-shaped speaker. In our tests, it had a dull sound that made voices somewhat muffled and bloated.

For such a small speaker, the Anker Soundcore Mini 3 is packed with features, but in our tests it tended to vibrate on a table when it played deep bass notes, and the Tribit StormBox Micro 2 played louder.

Our panelists thought the Anker Soundcore Rave Neo 2 would be a good choice for someone who wants a loud, decent-sounding speaker that’s fairly easy to carry around. It was too bassy for our panelists in Bass Boost mode but a little bit trebly without it, although that could be fixed with Soundcore’s app. What they liked most was that it played loud (93.8 dB in our tests) and has a big, comfortable carrying handle.

The Anker Soundcore Rave Party 2 is like a bigger version of the Rave Neo 2 with a microphone input added. It sounds a lot like its little brother but played 5 dB louder in our tests. As with the Rave Neo 2, it’s too bassy with Bass Boost on and a little too trebly without it, and deep bass notes can cause chuffing sounds from the rear port. Still, it’s a good deal if you need a lot of volume on a low budget.

The Avantree BTSP-850 is a very affordable and versatile Bluetooth speaker, with SD card playback and FM radio (with stations tunable by number or auto-programmed). It has hardly any bass and it doesn’t play loud, but as a system for light background music in a cubicle or office, it’s a good choice.

Bitty Boomers’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian – The Child is surely the cutest Bluetooth speaker ever, but in our tests Baby Yoda played only a couple of decibels louder than a good smartphone could.

The Blackfire BBM9113 by Klein Tools has a cool, super-rugged design with a mounting strap and a magnet that allows it to attach easily to many surfaces. But it doesn’t have enough bass for our taste.

We like the Bose SoundLink Color II a lot. At its previous price (around $130), it lacked volume compared with some others that cost about the same. But we’ve recently noticed the black version selling for much less, in which case it is a good alternative to the Wonderboom 3 or EarFun UBoom L, if you prefer the SoundLink Color II’s design.

The Crosley CR3029A is an adorable little speaker styled to look like a tiny record player; it’s fine for what it is, but it doesn’t play much louder than the speaker built into a good smartphone.

A campsite-friendly speaker with integrated LED flashlights, the Doss Traveler plays clear and loud, but our panelists liked the Tribit XSound Go better.

We loved the way the Edifier MP230 sounds and operates, but its styling and “flipper”-style buttons don’t lend themselves to portable use, so we included it in our best home Bluetooth speaker guide.

Our panelists thought the House of Marley Get Together 2 was one of the best speakers they heard, with sound that reminded them of a good desktop stereo speaker system. But they didn’t think its bulky, bamboo-faced chassis made sense for portable use.

Although the JBL Boombox 2 sounds good and plays very loud, both the JBL PartyBox 110 and UE Hyperboom play louder and sound a little smoother and more natural with voices. If you want a boombox-style party speaker, we think the Sony SRS-XG500 is a better choice.

The JBL Flip 6 has a nice, full sound for its price, and it plays pretty loud, too. But its midrange is accentuated, and it can sound harsh with some vocal music.

The LG XBoom 360 XO3QBK has a spacious, natural, full sound that we enjoyed. Technically, it’s a portable speaker because it has a rechargeable battery and a detachable carrying strap, but it’s clearly styled and designed for home use.

By a small margin, the Marshall Willen is the best sounding speaker of the ultra-portable Bluetooth models we’ve tested, but it costs more than twice as much as, and plays only slightly louder than, the Tribit StormBox Micro 2.

The Monster Blaster 3.0 played pretty loud in our tests, hitting 98.6 dB, but it distorted badly on deep bass notes and had a rough, coarse sound on voices.

The Positive Grid Spark Mini doubles as a Bluetooth speaker and a digital guitar amp that can be programmed with a huge variety of sounds and effects. It excels as a guitar amp, but its boosted midrange made it sound shouty with voices when used as a Bluetooth speaker. (The company says it recently retuned the sound for Bluetooth music playback, but we haven’t heard the new version.)

The Raycon Everyday Speaker has a cute, ultra-portable design with a pretty smooth sound in its Balanced mode, but it lacks bass and doesn’t play very loud for the price.

The Rocksteady Stadium speaker is interesting in that it’s available in a system with two speakers, a wireless subwoofer, and a carrying case. However, voices sounded a little buzzy and distorted when we played the speaker loud, and when we turned it down to where the sound was clearer, it wasn’t loud enough.

The Sony SRS-XB33 is a former “also great” pick. It’s still an excellent speaker, and we actually prefer it to its replacement, the SRS-XE300 (see below). It seems to be discontinued, but if you can find one, we still recommend it as among the best you can buy for around $130.

The Sony SRS-XE300’s design struck our panelists as rather strange. While no one found much to complain about with its sound, they found it a little dull overall.

The Tribit MaxSound Plus is a good-sounding, affordable speaker that falls between the UE Wonderboom 3 and the Tribit XSound Go in price and performance. If we had more picks, this model might be one.

We didn’t like the Tribit StormBox as much as its predecessor, the 360° Sound Speaker (a former top pick), because its sound seemed brighter and more sibilant than what we heard from the previous model we tested.

The Tribit XSound Surf costs a little less than the XSound Go, but it sounds a bit distorted, and the design makes it a little less convenient to carry because there’s no provision for a lanyard.

Our panelists really liked the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3 for its features and rugged design, although we preferred the fuller sound of speakers such as the Sony SRS-XG300.

The VisionTek SoundTube XL is a great option if you want an inexpensive speaker that sounds full, plays loud, and slings over your shoulder. It sounded smoother than the similarly priced Anker Soundcore Rave Neo in our tests, but the Rave Neo played about 5 dB louder, enough to fill a backyard instead of just a patio.

The Victrola Music Edition 2 has a great retro design with a feature we love: a built-in Qi charger. However, its sound is thin, and many competing speakers at its price play a substantial 6-plus decibels louder.

Edit: It worked! After 2 hours of charging, the green light on adapter turned off and now to test the speaker, I have been listening to good music for good half an hour on battery.

After reading article on internet, I found that batteries can be charged with normal direct current too. It is just given the charging took 2h, that time should not be exceeded as there would be no stopper when battery is full.

SpeakerCompare simulates the sound of home and car speakers through your headphones. It lets you compare sonic characteristics between speakers so that you can make a more informed shopping decision.

SpeakerCompare tailors your listening experience to the exact headphones you have, so that what you hear is comparable to auditioning speakers side-by-side in person. Knowing which model headphones you’re using lets us remove any sonic coloring from your experience.

In an actual listening room, you"d find that some speakers play louder than others when fed the same amount of power. In equal power mode, you"ll hear these differences in loudness as they naturally occur between speakers.

In equal volume mode, we"ve made the loudness of each speaker about the same. This gives you a more direct comparison of subtle voicing differences between speakers.

SpeakerCompare gives you a sense of the sonic differences. But performance in the real world is affected by the acoustics of your car or home, your choice of amplification, and your source material. We still believe that the gold standard for auditioning speakers is hearing them in your own environment — that’s why we offer a 60-day money-back guarantee.