One Of The Most Immersive Speakers I've Tested Is Not Made By Sonos Or JBL

ZDNET's key takeaways

• The Fender x Teufel Rockstar Cross speaker is available now on Amazon for $250.
• With massive sound and an immersive option to punch up the highs and lows, this speaker is a brilliant option for those who love it loud.
  
  
• The Rockstar Cross immersive option might be a bit harsh for some listeners.

Bluetooth speakers are a dime a dozen. You can find them on the end caps at your neighborhood drug store, and if we could somehow meld the 80s and now, you'd probably find them as toy surprises in cereal boxes (yeah, I just aged myself).

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Of course, not all Bluetooth speakers are created equal. Bluetooth speakers are almost always a "get what you pay for" proposition, meaning cheap speakers will often sound like cheap speakers. Once you get into the midrange prices, you'll find plenty of speakers that sound pretty good. Every so often, you land on a mid-priced speaker that redefines what a Bluetooth speaker in the $200 to $300 range can be.

Such is the case with the Fender x Teufel Rockstar Cross Bluetooth speaker. This speaker is a part of the collaboration between Fender and Teufel (a popular European audio brand), which includes three different speakers and a backpack. The Rockstar Cross is the mid-sized speaker in the lineup.

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When I first unboxed this speaker, it immediately conjured images of guitar amps, with its gray metal grill and Fender logo. I wanted to grab my old Kramer guitar, channel the spirit of Randy Rhodes, and crank it up. Speaking of Randy Rhodes, the opening of "Mr. Crowley" gave me sufficient chills through the Rockstar Cross. Oh, yeah.

Instead, I had to settle for cranking up a song or two featuring Mr. Rhodes (RIP).

The word of the day is "wow."

Before I get into it, let's talk specs.

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The specs

• Speakers - two fabric tweeters, a single 5" fabric subwoofer, and two passive radiators
• Frequency range - 50 Hz to 20,000 Hz
  
  
• Enclosure - closed
  
  
• Connectivity - Aux, Bluetooth 5.0, Micro USB, aptX, Bluetooth microphone
  
  
• Battery - 16 hours at medium volume
  
  
• Amplifier channels - three
  
  
• Dimensions - 15" x 6.3" X 5.1"
  
  
• Weight - 5.3 pounds
  
  
• Price - $249 on Amazon
  
  

My experience

When I first connected the Rockstar Cross, I did my usual playthrough of Rush's "Signals" album. My initial reaction was, "That sounds pretty good." I cranked up the volume beyond what would normally be acceptable outside my office, and my reaction evolved to, "Okay, that's impressive." 

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Then… I hit the immersive sound button on the back panel and took a turn for the "OMG." All of a sudden, every track I tossed at the speaker came to life in ways a Bluetooth speaker should not be capable of.

After going through "Signals," I cranked up Devin Townsend's new single, "Powernerd," and rejoiced in the brilliance of that mad musical scientist. I cranked the speaker up yet again and found it to handle the increased decibels without distortion. Once I hit roughly 80 dB, I started worrying about our cat's comfort and turned it down.

Yeah, it handled it far better than I would have thought… because this thing rocks.

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Okay, let's talk about the sound quality. One thing I should mention is that I was weened on the mastering of early Van Halen albums, so my ears tend to prefer a good balance of lows and highs. If you've listened to enough albums mastered in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, you understand what I'm talking about.

The Rockstar Cross is a perfect match for such an EQ curve. For some, there might be too much in the low-to-mid treble (between 2K and 5K). With the wrong music (at the right volumes), that frequency range can wear on you. If you find that's the case, disable the immersive sound feature, and you'll find the sound a bit more comfortable.

As far as bass is concerned, this baby has plenty of punch. Place your hand on the speaker, and you can feel the sub doing its thing. Although the lows might not be defined enough to please an audiophile, if you want your music to sound big, crank it up, and you'll get just that.

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The soundstage (the space between instruments) gets crowded with the Rockstar Cross, but that's fairly common in Bluetooth speakers. That's not to say there is no soundstage with this speaker, but if it's your priority, you'll want to look elsewhere (and into much higher price ranges).

One of my favorite choral numbers, "The Long Road" by Ēriks Ešenvalds was breathtaking as it spilled from the Rockstar Cross. If you've never heard that song, do yourself a favor and listen to VOCES8's take on it. It's gorgeous, and this Fender speaker does it justice. Each voice is present and distinct (which is saying something because some speakers tend to blend them a bit too tightly).

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Sound aside, one of my favorite aspects of this speaker is the side handles, which allow you to grab and go without concern that you might drop the Rockstar Cross. Given the device's very grippy rubber coating, you can snatch this up with confidence. On top of that, you don't have to worry about it sliding off whatever surface it's on when the decibels hit the rafters.

ZDNET's buying advice

I'm not going to say this is a perfect Bluetooth speaker. It's not. At $250, though, I'm hard-pressed to think of a more impressive speaker than the Rockstar Cross. I love how this thing handles volume gracefully and never falters in clarity. Although not everyone will appreciate the immersive sound feature, the standard sound is still good enough to get the party moving, the people dancing, and the music blasting.