Review: Harman Kardon SoundSticks Wireless

Thirteen years ago, Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit against Napster, geocaching became a thing, and Harman Kardon released the Jony Ive-designed iSub 2000 Subwoofer and SoundSticks.

Today? Napster's had its lifeforce sucked out by Rhapsody, geocaching is a bigger thing, and the timeless design of the iSub 2000 Subwoofer and SoundSticks keeps on keeping on with new guts and connectivity options.

At $230, the SoundSticks Wireless are almost identical to their turn of the millennium counterpart – or if you like, the SoundSticks III, an updated version of speakers and sub that Harman Kardon cranked out a few years ago. In fact, as far as I can see (they are transparent after all), very little about the hardware has changed this go round. The sole exception is the fact that these SoundSticks let you stream audio from a smartphone, tablet, PC, or Mac via Bluetooth. Unfortunately, that's as far as the "wireless" goes with these things.

The whole package includes a beefy subwoofer with a 6-inch bass driver and two satellite pods with four 1 1/8-inch drivers each. Everything is connected together by thick cables. Also, unlike most Bluetooth speakers these days, the satellites don't have an internal battery to keep them thumping along away from an electrical outlet. That's probably for the best, as the hardware weighs over 11 pounds. You wouldn't want to be shifting the whole rig around the house too often anyway.

Harman Kardon also gives you the option to add an additional audio source to the back of the subwoofer via a 3.5 mm jack. Should you decide to connect two devices to the SoundSticks using a Bluetooth connection and the 3.5 mm jack at the same time (say, your computer and an iPhone), there's no way to separate the audio streams. That means you can expect to hear new mail and Twitter notifications from your laptop while streaming music on your phone's Rdio app. I didn't mind this, but if you’re a hardcore music nut, you might object to those interruptions. (You can obviously just choose to just turn them off.)

In order to maintain the hardware's clean lines, some ergonomic compromises were made to the SoundSticks Wireless' controls. The system's power button and level knob for the subwoofer are located on the back of the unit. This certainly keeps things looking neat. But considering most people put their subwoofers under their desks, it can also be a pain in the ass. Mercifully, the SoundSticks Wireless' volume is controlled by a set of capacitive buttons on the base of the right speaker pod. They are easy to use and responsive enough, and I wish Harman Kardon had decided move the sub level and power controls to the base of one of the pods too. Doing so would have made using the hardware a lot less frustrating.

From an audio standpoint, the SoundSticks performed admirably – for a Bluetooth speaker setup. The 40-Watt output from its two directional satellites and thumping big subwoofer made every piece of music, in-game audio, and HD movie I threw at it sound great. The speakers have crisp, clear highs, a smooth mid-range, and deep skull-shaking lows – even with the sub on a lower setting. Unfortunately, I found that the signal was often interrupted by pops and cracks, no matter where I moved the SoundSticks or my laptop in the room. I know it wasn't my laptop or the environment causing the issue, as I tested two other Bluetooth speakers in the same position using the same music without problems. You could always forgo a Bluetooth connection and use the setup's 3.5 mm port instead, but honestly, there's already too many wires connecting this "wireless" set of speakers as it is.

Given the basic design of this sound system hasn't changed in close to a decade, you'd think Harman Kardon would have some time to sort out the Bluetooth connectivity hiccups. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have happened.

WIRED Iconic design that never gets old. Deep, thumping bass and crisp mids and highs.

TIRED Poorly placed sub level and power controls limit where you can conveniently place the system's subwoofer. Wireless only in name. Frequent interruptions to Bluetooth audio destroy what could be a great listening experience.