Tivoli Audio

Andiamo Portable Bluetooth Speaker

$329.00 RRP

We all remember our first time. Mine was a funky, boutique hotel on trendy Fitzroy Street in St.Kilda, Melbourne.  

The marketing material boasted designer furnishings with a fun and 'grown-up' vibe. It had that in spades.

'Hotel Urban' spruiked about its Tivoli Audio radios in each room. It was well over ten years ago now, and the hotel has changed hands, and name, but looking at its website, the radios remain.

It was my first exposure to Tivoli Audio, and I remember thinking that the bedside radios must be something special if they were making such a big deal made about them. And they were pretty cool, in a retro kind of way.

After a bit of a lull in the late noughties, the brand has now evolved and is enjoying a resurgence as it embraces today's tech including Bluetooth, wireless multi-room audio, and voice control such as Alexa, on selected products.

I was lucky to get a sneak preview at the High-End show in Munich earlier this year of the products that would become available later this year, and as they promised, they've arrived.

The new star in Tivoli Audio's show is its ART collection which enables products within the range to wirelessly stream music throughout one's home. 

But there's another range which shows Tivoli has its finger on the pulse.

The first release in the brand's Go range is the Andiamo Portable Bluetooth Speaker. Andiamo, in Italian means "let's go", and that sums up exactly what this $329 Bluetooth speaker is all about.

It's available in two finishes, a stylish Silver with tan coloured leather wrap and carry handle. Or the more industrial looking black on black, also sporting the leather wrap and carry loop. 

Tivoli says it's durable thanks to its sturdy aluminium housing and after living with it and even travelling with the Andiamo for around six weeks, I'd agree.

Featuring Bluetooth 3.0 for pairing with your smartphone or another Bluetooth-equipped device, it also offers a 3.5mm stereo auxiliary input. 

Measuring 135mm in diameter, sound emanates from a single 2.5" full-range driver rated at a humble 20 watts, while a 3" passive radiator helps deliver a full-bodied sound, thanks to the built-in 24-bit Digital Signal Processing (DSP).

Charging comes by way of a 12VDC bullet plug, which when fully charged offers up to 20 hours of playtime. 

The majority of portable Bluetooth speakers we come across these days operate on 5V and utilise the readily-found micro-USB connection. So our advice then is don't forget to pack your Andiamo charger as you prepare for your next getaway.

And so the timing was perfect for a mid-year getaway to the South Pacific Island of Vanuatu for some downtime, and of course an ideal opportunity to put the Andiamo through its paces. Let's go!

As luck would have it, an upgrade on arrival saw my wife and I enjoying ocean views from a private villa with a plunge pool, and an alfresco area complete with a suspended queen sized day-bed. Alas, no Tivoli Audio radios at this resort.

Fortunately, the Andiamo was fully charged and in just seconds, paired with my smartphone and extracting every last bit of bandwidth from the remote island's poor Wi-Fi signal. 

And as we sipped Long Island Ice Bulls (look it up!), the sunshine lit the white sands and crystal clear blue water of the historical Port Havannah Harbour. Life's good, or, la vita è bella!

There was still a job to do though, and while streaming Spotify and TIDAL, I couldn't help but be impressed by the sound from this oversized hockey puck.

I was reminded of the fantastic sound quality from the last Bluetooth portable speaker that left me impressed, the KATCH from Dali.

Tivoli Audio's Andiamo comes in more compact though, with less than half the number of speakers and amplifiers, but similar in terms of amplifier power. It also offers similar battery life. 

But at a whole $370 cheaper than the KATCH ($699), it more than delivers and punches well above its weight. There's more than enough grunt to fill an ordinary room, and even more surprisingly, a bottom end that keeps up.

Take it on holiday, outside when entertaining or room to room. You'll soon come to depend on Andiamo for your music-fix while on the Go.

This review has also cost me $329. The Andiamo has become the prized possession of my six-year-old daughter. She still believes it's a microphone as well though (it's not, but don't tell her that).

Considering the durability, sound quality and output, battery life and price, we have no choice but to give the Tivoli Audio Andiamo our StereoNET Applause Award. 

For more information visit Tivoli Audio.