SoundTouch 30

The largest of the company’s wireless speaker systems, the SoundTouch 30 is breathtakingly big — at 43cm wide, 24cm high and 18cm deep at its thickest point, plus a bit more required for its stickingout mains plug, it dwarfs even the Bluesound Pulse 2i or the Sonos Play:5 (or new Five). And side by side with the current Sonos Play:5, it proved difficult to establish a preference — the Sonos could make the Bose sound a little box-bound and mild, but the Bose could make the Sonos sound a little over-exuberant and bright. While at lower listening levels we found the bass could be distractingly dominant, especially off-axis, the SoundTouch 30 excels when you crank the volume higher and higher. Really high it can go, sounding bigger and bigger right up to big old party levels.