Skip to main content

Polk classes up the Bluetooth joint with new Camden Square and Woodbourne speakers

polk audio brings posh style wireless arena camden square woodbourne speakers 9 edit
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Polk Audio today unveiled two new entries into the boundless wireless speaker market, the Camden Square and the Woodbourne. True to their posh titles, the new devices represent a higher water mark of quality and features than many entries we see in the wireless segment, designed for the discerning listener who’s willing to pay a little more for convenience, performance, and style. Let’s take a quick look at both of these sleek new devices and see what they have to offer.

Camden Square ($300)

Named after Polk’s stomping grounds in Baltimore, the Camden Square Bluetooth speaker is carved into an elegant block of sound CamdenSquareOnWood editthat’s designed to come along for the ride. The speaker boasts an impressive estimated 24 hour battery run-time, and while it’s not exactly pocket size, Polk claims the speaker is relatively light in weight and includes a shoulder bag to pack it with you. Beneath the front screen’s swirled lines, the Camden harbors four active full-range drivers and two passive radiators. The system runs through a batch of Polk’s proprietary DSP that promises distortion-free listening and a decent helping of bass below the 200Hz line.

Recommended Videos

The speaker’s most intriguing feature, however, may just be Polk’s new DJ Stream app, designed specifically for the Camden Square. Through the iOS and Android compatible app, up to four devices can be connected to the speaker at a time, which can then feed a playlist from their music libraries controlled by a host device. The app also allows for up to 128 other users to sit on stand-by, ready to jump into the action when one of the active four users drops out. Other features for the Camden Square include a 3.5mm Aux input, and a set of onboard controls circled around the Polk emblem on the speaker’s front face.

Woodbourne ($700)

Designed as an elite wireless home sound solution, the Woodbourne incorporates both Bluetooth with Apt-X, and Airplay to deliver hi-fi wireless audio from its arched, post-modern frame. While Polk is mum on the the specific size of the drivers that rest beneath the speaker’s elegantly curved front screen, we do know the stereo system is powered by a 4-channel amplifier that delivers a whopping 180 watts of power, run through proprietary DSP and Dolby Digital processing.

The Woodbourne is constructed from a medium density fiberboard (MDF) acoustically suspended frame and offers elegant touches like a woodgrain finish and a minimalist uniform design, aptly melding form and function. Aside from its wireless connectivity, the speaker includes multiple connection options for your TV and other accessories including ports for USB, optical, 3.5mm, and Ethernet connection. A succinct control interface rests at the center of the device, and the system also includes a long-range remote. While the Woodbourne’s refined style is certainly poised to spruce up any living room, at $700, we’re hoping this speaker sounds as good as it looks, if not better.

We haven’t gotten a chance to listen to either of Polk’s latest additions but we’re hoping to get our hands on them soon, so we’ll let you know how they stand-up in the prodigious wireless speaker segment. Both of the new devices are available tomorrow at Polk’s website, and will be in select Best Buy stores starting November 3rd.

Topics
Ryan Waniata
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Waniata is a multi-year veteran of the digital media industry, a lover of all things tech, audio, and TV, and a…
Bluetooth on Sonos’ new Era speakers isn’t what you think – it’s better
Sonos Era 300 close-up of Bluetooth button.

When Sonos recently debuted its two newest wireless speakers -- the Era 100 and Era 300 -- it broke with years of precedence by adding Bluetooth, a connection option that has never been offered on the company’s non-portable speakers. At the time, I thought Bluetooth on an Era speaker worked the same way as it does on the Sonos Move. I was wrong.

It turns out, the Era speakers use Bluetooth in tandem with their Wi-Fi connections, as opposed to the Move, which treats Bluetooth as a completely separate mode. That has some profound implications for what you can do with one of the new Era speakers within a Sonos system, as well as a few caveats about what you can’t do.

Read more
Sonos’ new Era 100 and Era 300 wireless speakers go all-in on spatial audio and Bluetooth
Sonos Era 300 and Era 100 side by side.

Sonos has officially unveiled two new wireless smart speakers -- the $249 Sonos Era 100, and the $449 Sonos Era 300. While the Era 100 is effectively a new version of the aging Sonos One, which it replaces, the Era 300 is an entirely new type of speaker for the company, with six drivers (including an up-firing tweeter) and compatibility with spatial audio formats like Dolby Atmos.

The leaks pretty much nailed it. Both speakers will be available on March 28 in 26 countries including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, and Australia, with preorders beginning March 7.

Read more
Marshall’s latest Bluetooth speaker has four drivers for 360 sound
Marshall Middleton.

The Marshall Middleton ($299) is the company's latest addition to its lineup of guitar amp-inspired Bluetooth speakers, and it's available starting January 31 at marshallheadphones.com. The Middleton, as its name somewhat suggests, sits in the middle of the Marshall portable family -- it shares the same rectangular shape as the Emberton II but is heavier and more powerful than the Stockton II.

What makes the Middleton stand out is its unique quad-driver configuration, which places speakers on all four sides. There are two full-range drivers, each with its own 20-watt amplifier, and two tweeters, powered by a pair of 10-watt amps.  The Middleton uses the same "true stereophonic" system as the Emberton II to achieve what the company calls multidirectional, 360-degree stereo sound.

Read more