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Entries by Michael Kaye (965)

Friday
Jun202014

Kinivo M2 Bluetooth Stereo Speaker System Review

Many of you may also have a home gym setup of some sort, small or large, either way it's nice to have some sort of a sound system you can connect your music too so you can have the beats playing while you do your workout. We all know that having some motivational tunes playing helps us get in and stay in the mood while working out.

I already did a review on my Kinivo BTH240 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones which I really enjoy for when I need to keep my music to myself like when I am at my local gym or working out later at night and need to keep the volume down a bit. Make sure to checkout that review if your in the market for a pair of great sounding inexpensive Bluetooth Headphones.

Since I was so happy with my first experience using Kinivo audio gear, I decided to hit up Kinivo once again about getting a pair of their M2 Bluetooth Stereo Speakers and they sped me off a pair ASAP. I've been playing around with them for about a week now, positioning them around areas of my home, both inside and out, in small closed in rooms and even large wide open areas and I can definitely say the Kinivo M2's have lots of volume and more than enough bass to be used for most purposes. Even on my outside deck that opens up to a large pool area, I can clearly hear the Kinivo M2 Bluetooth Stereo Speakers, the bass remains strong and the mids and highs cut through no problem. Even when I was making a bunch of noise working on getting my pool ready for this summer.

Volume is one thing, the overall sound quality is good, the M2's are not as smooth as the Kinivo BTH240 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones I reviewed but this is pretty normal for a box and satellite system since they tend to have a bit less midrange then a pair of stand alone bookshelf styled speakers. Don't get me wrong, I played all kinds of styles of music and the mixes through the Kinivo M2's and  everything sounded great. You are just going to get a bit more of that high and low end from the M2's.

The Kinivo M2 Bluetooth Stereo Speakers are not marketed as a "portable" system but they are compact and light enough to be easily moved around so you could use them in your gym one day, bring them down to your deck for an outside party, plug them into your computer system for some gaming and then connect them to your home entertainment system for a movie and some popcorn.

In the box you will receive the Kinivo main 6.5 inch watt sub cabinet that houses the 56 watt internal amplifier along with base, treble, source and Bluetooth controls. You also get a pair of 14 watt each 2.5 inch satellite speakers, an RCA to 3.5mm mini stereo jack cable and the Kinivo M2 manual.

For $69 at the time of this review, you really can not go too wrong, that's a lot of quality sound for a small amount of cash :)

Here are some of the specifications for those of you who like the techie stuff:

Product Description

The Kinivo M2 Bluetooth speaker is a top of the line stereo speaker system featuring a powerful subwoofer for a rich, deep bass experience and an auxiliary input cable to connect non-Bluetooth devices via the 3.5mm headphone jack. Features bass and treble dials and a large volume control for easy volume adjustment. The M2 supports NFC for quick and easy Bluetooth pairing with NFC capable devices.

Key Features
- Powerful subwoofer for deep, rich bass audio
- 56W of premium sound for home and open areas
- Play audio from 3.5mm audio source or wirelessly from Bluetooth capable devices 
- Source button to switch between Bluetooth and auxiliary input
- Large lighted volume dial
- Bass and treble dials for adjustment
- NFC for quick and easy Bluetooth pairing with NFC capable devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Google Nexus 7 

Device Compatibility
- All Bluetooth (A2DP) capable devices 
- All 3.5mm audio output capable devices 
- Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 computers with a Bluetooth adapter
- Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, iMac, Mac Mini, etc.
- Tablets - Windows, Apple, Android, Kindle
- Smartphones - Android, Blackberry, Windows, iPhone 
- All MP3 players, CD players, laptops, tablets and other music devices with a 3.5mm audio socket 

What's in the Box
- Subwoofer 
- 2 Satellite Speakers
- RCA to 3.5mm Stereo Audio Cable
- User Manual

Warranty
The Kinivo M2 is backed by a 1 year warranty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Product Details

  • Brand: Kinivo
  • Model: M2
  • Dimensions: 16.00" h x 10.00" w x 11.00" l,

Features

  • 2.1 speaker system is designed for computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, iPod, iPhone, iPad and Android devices
  • Easy to wirelessly pair and connect Bluetooth enabled devices with NFC. Satellite speakers are wired to the subwoofer, but you can wirelessly connect the smartphone / tablet / pc via Bluetooth
  • Rich and powerful 56W speaker system enhances your audio experience for music, gaming, movies, and other entertainment
  • Front facing volume control and adjustable bass and treble dials in rear of subwoofer system
  • Play audio from a 3.5mm audio port or seamlessly stream audio from any Bluetooth (A2DP) capable media player

Wednesday
Jun182014

June Update Video - Back From Vegas - Up a Few Pounds - Kinivo M2 Speakers

A quick update video for June... I've been back from Vegas now for a week and a bit, I did a full workout set last week and started this weeks workouts, kind of taking it easy after being off for a week while in Vegas. While I was in Vegas I managed to pack on about three pounds of fat which was the plan with all the eating and drinking. I was feeling rather week sitting at around 5-6% body fat prior to my trip, my energy was low and my food cravings where high. That's all sorted out now that I'm back up to around 197 pounds and around 7-8% Body Fat. The plan is to stay around this weight and try and eat right at my maintenance or just a hair above and over the next few month perhaps put on 2-3 pounds of muscle, then do a final cut during the last month before the November Physique contest I plan to compete in.

I did a review of the Kinivo BTH240 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones last May and I really liked them, I asked the good folks over at Kinivo if they could send me out their Kinivo M2 Bluetooth Speakers to test and review and they generously provided me with them. I did have to go and pick them up from a US location as they are not yet available to ship into Canada but the trip was worth it. I will be doing a full review shortly but for now I can say that for the rather low cost of about $69, they offer impressive sound and you will have no problems using them in a gym situation or even a large room or outside patio. They would also be perfect as a computer audio system, multimedia system and are light weight and portable enough to move around from location to location easy enough!

Anyways here are a couple photos for you till I come out with my official review for the Kinivo M2 Bluetooth Speakers.

Friday
Jun132014

Importance of Health and Fitness for the Entire Family

For many people Health and Fitness starts with getting motivated enough to get yourself eating more healthy and getting more active, hopefully once that happens you can get your spouse on board which I've already mentioned in another video, discussing how to approach this subject if your spouse does not seem to be interested in Health and Fitness...

So what's next, well if you have kids and they are not already active in some sort of sports program then find out what they are interested and get them involved in something they will enjoy, there are lots of great activities and not all of them have to cost a bunch of money. The key is to not push your kids into something they are not up to doing or it could turn them off of the whole fitness idea.

If you're not already following a healthy meal plan at home, make sure to do so and include the entire family, too many kids are drinking way too much pop, eating far too much junk food and consuming more processed food than they should be. Again, you can not out exercise a bad diet as I discuss in this video here.

In this YouTube video I talk about the "Importance of Health and Fitness for the Entire Family" and have my kids show off a bit by doing some chin-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and some Karate moves.

Thursday
Jun122014

When Your Spouse is Not Interested in Health and Fitness

It's not like relationships aren't hard enough as it is but what happens when one person in the relationship is interested in Health and Fitness and the other person isn't?

Generally speaking, Health and Fitness is a lifestyle, not just some sort of hobby or part time activity a persons does when spare time exists. Health and Fitness for many people can be the foundation they base everything else around so when only one person in a partnership or relationship is on board, this can cause a lot of discourse.

It's not just about having a hot body for your spouse! Usually the Health and Fitness partner will genuinely be concerned for the overall well being of their partner if they are not living a healthy and or active lifestyle so this further compounds the problem.

In this YouTube video I talk about living by example and not putting pressure on the partner who is not interested in Health and Fitness. Over time they will see the benefits that Health and Fitness has in their partners lives and hopefully will begin to become curious and interested in how it could also benefit them.

I discuss the merits of working through other non-Health and Fitness relationship problems because until you get closer and more in harmony as a couple, the idea of your partner being interested in something you believe in will not be important to them. You most likely need to address something that is important to your spouse before they will consider looking into something that is important to you.

I am one of the lucky ones since my wife is already on board with the Health and Fitness lifestyle concept but she still does think her own way and on her own terms. I may think I'm an expert on the subject but my wife has other ideas at times ;)

Watch my YouTube Video where i discuss When Your Spouse is Not Interested in Health and Fitness:

Monday
Jun022014

45 Years Old - 6 Foot 1 Inch - 193 Pounds - 5-6% Body Fat - Update Video

So here it is... my update video showing my somewhat final results for my pre-test Physique competition prep. Basically I have been bulking and then cutting since January of this year to initially put on some muscle and then cut off as much fat as possible to get my body in what I was hoping would be Physique Competition condition.

In January I started out at 182 pounds at around 8% body fat and then bulked up over two months to as high as 204 pounds with a body fat percentage of 11-12% body fat, I then took a month to level out where I watched my calorie intake but was not cutting so much and stripped off 1-2% body fat at right around 200 pounds. Over the months of April and May I did my hard cut dieting and was able to get my body fat down to between 5-6% at a final weight of 192-193 pounds.

Overall I am very happy with my progress considering last year around this same time I was only 175 pounds lean, so there has been at least a 15 pound increase in lean body mass over the course of one year.

My plan now is to repeat this 5 month bulk, level off, and cut process but less extreme this time and get to as close to 200 pounds but still in that 5-6% body fat range so that I will be ready for my Mens Masters Physique competition in November of this year.

Watch my YouTube video to see how I look and let me know what I need to work on...