ION Audio Tailgater (iPA77) | Portable Bluetooth PA Speaker with Mic, AM/FM Radio, and USB Charge Port

The is one of the BEST Bluetooth Speaker you can buy today that would work for a backyard or house party. Period!PROS:Battery Life is ALL WEEK long! It is so good that I wonder if I open it up if it would be all battery inside. You do not need to plug this thing in once it is fully charged. Our party started at noon and it was full bars all day for the battery until 11:00 pm when it went down by 1 bar. I think it is rated up to 50 hours battery life.Sound Quality is GREAT! Apart from the average FM/AM signal which varies depending on where you live the Bluetooth and aux in sound is excellent. I have streamed SiriusXM, YouTube and iTunes from my iPad Mini 4 to the Tailgater and it was loud and clear for our large backyard (100 feet by 70 feet) party with 50 guests. The Tailgater’s secret is it uses its own master volume independent of the source volume. This means you can combine the volume of your iPad, or source, with the master volume of the Tailgater for louder sound. The downside of this is when you use the Microphone, which has its own independent volume control, it can get confusing which volume to turn down and which volume to turn up. That said it is not going to give you night club beach rave loudness but enough for a back yard or house party with 30 to 50 guests lounging.Set Up and Portability is great! This will fit in any car from Smart Car sized to Escalade XLT size. There is no cigarette 12V power cord in the kit so you will want to buy your own or you will want to buy a car that has the three prong outlet. That said the battery life once charge should last you all day sun up to sun down of continuous play or several days of off and on use! The unit also has grip handles on the side as well as a cradle-tray on the top to hold your iPad Mini4 or 8” sized Tablet device. There is no microphone holder so you will have to carry the Mic in your pocket and it is a big Mic!CONS:None really but if you want to nitpick:The Microphone cord is not that long and I wish the Microphone was cordless. This would be cool but the obvious trade off of a wireless Mic system would be shorter battery life. I’m pretty sure you can buy your own Microphone and use so this is a fixable nitpick.You can use this for Karaoke since the Microphone system has an independent input and volume control to the Music. However you can’t combine the Mic with the FM/AM. The Mic only works with the Bluetooth/Aux-In. This is why I think a wireless Mic would be cool for a Karaoke type set up where you can have your performers not have to stand directly adjacent to the Tailgater.That said if you Karaoke is that important for what your needs are then you would be better off buying a specific Karaoke device and not this “general” Bluetooth Speaker.Another nitpick about the Microphone is the volume can get confusing. To use the Mic you need to turn up Mic Volume above half-way, turn down Master Volume to half-way or lower. HOWEVER if you want to do Karaoke or use the Microphone over music at the same time you have to turn up Mic Volume to half way or higher, turn up Master Volume to exactly half way and turn up the volume at the source (your iPad, etc…) to maximum loudness. It took me a while to find a sweet spot for this to work but in the end it was what worked for me.Basically I wanted to which my daughter a happy birthday on the Microphone while Steve Wonder’s Happy Birthday Song was playing off the Music Source. I wanted the guest to hear both my voice and the music. It worked perfectly!Price on Amazon is higher than I’ve seen these selling for in local discount stores. I’m sure the Tailgater (even though it is made in China like the rest) is above and beyond those other kits in quality but if money is short you can get these as cheap as $50 in your hood. Also if you don’t need a Microphone then you can get one very cheap.

I bought this speaker over several alternatives because, while other folk who reviewed it had some issues, it seemed like ION's support staff were responsive and showed a definite desire to help.First, the positives: pairing via bluetooth was easy. Sound is good, fills the room.First I bought a refurbished unit. The issues here apply to that.Then we come to the not so positives.1. Adjusting the volume via the main control caused a crackle, and occasionally sound to just cut out completely. I'm suspecting a loose connection but I'm not about to dig around inside. **This now appears to have resolved itself.2. The battery won't charge. It arrived at half charge (per the indicator), and following the instructions I let it charge overnight. Woke up in the morning and the indicator still shows half charge.3. Bluetooth is flaky as all hell. I've tried with several devices. The speaker will just fade in and out while a song is playing. Then it'll be fine for a minute or two, then start flaking out again.I need the speaker for a couple of events coming up but after that I think I will have no choice but to return it.Oh, and it arrived without a microphone, but Amazon has come through and are shipping one overnight at no charge.I returned the refurbished unit and bought a brand new one, since overall I was happy with the sound and features. Below applies to the new unit.1. Sound is great - I use the speaker for various events and it is decently loud and room-filling. Would like separate hardware tone controls but I can live with it as is.2. Battery charges quickly and seems to last a decent while. I had the speaker playing music for about eight hours on Saturday and again on Sunday and it is now showing half charge, from full. Since most of my events last 2 1/2 hours, this is more than adequate.3. Bluetooth connects quickly and (again, new unit) has yet to flake out.4. The unit seems pretty sturdy and robust. Would like for it to be waterproof, but I didn't expect it to be, and it stood up to a light rain with no issues. I wouldn't leave it outside during any heavy rain though.

Alright this spaker has more to it than I gave it credit. The battery last longer than I believed it would, it charges phones, and the sound quality is great for its size. I have a bunch if small speakers for bluetooth around the house but now I will only use this beast.I used it for my wedding (with a better woreless mic) for the ceremony outdoorand playing music during cocktail hour (then the DJ came with his cool gear thats better) and this little box worked perfectly. I originally bought it to sell it after my wedding but I am 100% keeping it now and ill be using it every chance I get.Ps. The mic it comes with is complete shit. Like it works, but getting a better mic reallllly changes the game.

Brilliant design, Amazing battery life, Kicking bass response.Equipped with hefty batteries promising hours of playback on a single charge.It punches well above its SIZE, playing loudly and distortion-free. Loved the additional features of charging USB and docks to park my Pods.Absolutely fantastic and helpful customer service.

très bon produit ,un son du tonnerre meme a fond il ne sature pas ,en bluetooth il fonctionne très bien avec le mp3 sony nwe-a15/a17 'connection dans les 5 sec , mais je pense qu il ne tient pas les 50 heures annoncé ; je le recommande tout de meme

Excellent Quality

Top Lautsprecher der tailgater 2016...Hatte einen großen schweren der rund 20 kilo wiegt...war mir zu schwer für schnell mal hier und da musik dudeln..Der tailgater 2016 wiegt fast nichts und ist handlich...klar hat er weniger leistung als meine größere box aber reicht zum krach machen für wohnung und Grundstück. Der akku hält super und ist tauschbar...so eine box ist fix in die hand genommen...zum grillen und feiern perfekt...hat sogar radio eingebaut...Bluetooth empfang ist schnell verbunden und geht weit, auch stabil..ich hab 2 tailgater per Bluetooth gekoppelt und höre nun mit doppelter power....das ganze per mini mischpult klanglich gesteuert, mit powerbank mobil steuerbar von weiten....top der tailgater 2016 ipa77