iLive Bluetooth Tailgate Party speaker (model ISB380B): Cheap, light, and fun

With USB and SD card playback, as well as a microphone input, this Bluetooth speaker is a versatile party animal. It’s also surprisingly light. Just don’t expect audiophile sound.

- JON L. JACOBI

The iLive Tailgate Party speaker (model number ISB380B) looks heavy but is startlingly light. In fact, it looks so much heavier than it is that I almost launched it the first time I picked it up. Knowing that heavy magnets generally mean better sound, it was a bit of an uh-oh moment. Learning it goes for a street price of just 50 bucks didn’t do much to dispel that notion.

But you know what? While the sound is strictly mediocre (it’s no Mackie Freeplay Live [fave.co/3fqUrbB]), it’s workable for casual occasions and because of the look, it’s fun. Okay, camp might be a better word, but it’s also decent low-cost, low-volume, super-portable party speaker and PA.

DESIGN AND SPECS

Basically, the model ISB380B (iLive has a whole series of Tailgate speakers [fave. co/3Cel1hS]) is the guts of a normal Bluetooth speaker transplanted into a largish body made of lightweight plastic. Its enclosure measures a little less than 10 inches at its widest point, around 9 inches at its deepest, and just under 17 inches at its tallest.

The ISB380B looks like a bling-laden (active RGB lighting), eighties-style boombox crossed with carry-on luggage. The latter effect is due to the retractable handle and wheels that allow you to pull the speaker around. It’s so over the top that it makes me smile.