Bluetooth receiver dual amplifier class1 NFC (black) [Japan Import]

The Elecom LBT-PAR500AV was purchased by me on Ebay.  I’m not in any way affiliated with Elecom.
 
The price was about $50 when I bought it.
 

 

 
 
About me:
I’m a 42 year old music and sound lover that changed my focus from speakers to headphones and IEM’s about five years ago. At that time I realized that it wasn’t realistic for me to have all the different setups that I wanted and still house a family of four children and a wife so my interest turned first to full sized headphones and later also IEM’s.
 
My preferences are towards full sized open headphones and I believe that also says something about what kind of sound signature I prefer (large soundstage in all directions, balanced and organic sound).
 
My music preferences are pretty much all over the place (only excluding classical music, jazz and really heavy metal). My all-time favorite band is Depeche Mode although I also listen to a lot of grunge/indie, singer/songwriter/acoustical stuff as well as the typical top 40 music.
 
I do not use EQ, ever.
 
I’m a sucker for value for money on most things in life, Head-Fi related stuff is no exception.
 
Built and accessories:
The Elecom LBT-PAR500AV is a Bluetooth receiver with an integrated amplifier and remote control. Since the sound is transferred via Bluetooth the device also acts as a wireless DAC.
 
It also hosts a microphone so that you can use any of your favorite IEM’s or headphone as a headset.
 
The amplifier is actually quiet powerful with a total of 200Mw output at 16Ohm which is enough to use it with even most of my full sized cans.
 
The device is really quiet simple with buttons for on/off, hold, play/pause, next/previous track and a button on the back for establishing a Bluetooth connection to your device of choice. There’s also a volume control button on it.
 
Pairing the LBT-PAR500AV with your phone or tablet is quiet easy, you just push the pairing button on the LBT-PAR500AV and search for available Bluetooth devices. The LBT-PAR500AV should show up as available for pairing. If you got IEM’s or headphones connected to it you will get a sound indicating that it’s paired to another device.
 
In everyday use everything works as expected and the only slight problem is the volume control solution that has a wheel that you need to push to the left for lower volume and to the right for higher. This works fine but it takes a little bit of force to make the adjustment and while doing this I’ve accidently pushed the play/pause button several times as it’s located at the natural place to put support while adjusting the volume.
 
As far as I understand the volume output on the device itself is fixed and the volume you’re adjusting is actually the volume on your phone or other device that it’s connected to.
 
Battery life is said to be 18 hours while playing music and 350 hours in standby. I’ve not clocked the time but my feeling is that the 18 hours of usage is pretty correct and I’ve only ran out of battery on a few occasion. Unfortunately there’s no battery indicator telling you when the battery is running low. It’s a sound coming out of it (if it’s connected to a headphone or IEM) right before the power goes out but a battery indicator would’ve been welcome.
 
Charging is made through a standard micro USB port and charging time is about 2 hours. It is possible to use it while charging if needed.
 
There’s also a 3,5mm audio output jack and a clip on the back to attach it to you cloths, bag or wherever you’d like it to be attached.
 
When the LBT-PAR500AV is connected to your phone is also acts like a microphone for answering calls. The play/pause button is used to answer and hang up a call and double pressing it will redial the last number you called.
 

 
 
You’ll get both the ringing signal and the callers voice in your headphones/IEM’s and talk back into the LBT-PAR500AV (the mic is located at the top of the device next to the 3,5mm output). The microphone seems to be of high quality and people that I’ve talked to through it are not able to tell that I’m not using the microphone on my phone. Just remember to turn the LBT-PAR500AV off when you’d like to use you phone to answer phone calls. I’ve forgotten this more than once and of course the caller cannot hear me, or I hear them, when I try to answer on the phone.
 
The Specs:
 

The specs are from Elecom’s website and I’m pretty sure that the “Communication Range” which is stated up to 100 meter is a misprint and should be 10 meter. In any case 10 meter is maximum range in real world usage. I can put my phone at a central spot in my house and move around listening to music without any interruption as long as I stay on the same floor.
 
The Bluetooth connection is pretty stable and there’s less drop outs on the LBT-PAR500AV then on my Brainwavz BLU-100. That being said I’ve still experienced occasional drop outs from time to time.
 

 

 

 

 
 
Sound:
I’ve used the LBT-PAR500AV at home, while travelling, while working out and in my office for the last 6 weeks. I’ve used it with my Sony Z3Compact phone most of the time but it works great with my old HTC M7 and Chuwi Vi8 tablet as well.
 
The overall sound signature is crisp and clear and I’m not able to detect any bass role off. The sound is fairly neutral and I’m not able to detect any added warmth or bass on it.  Although it’s quiet difficult to A/B the sound from the phone and the LBT-PAR500AV there’s no doubt (after weeks of use)  that the latter has better clarity and separation and also offers significantly more power. For my preference the sound from the LBT-PAR500AV outperforms the sound from my phone even with easy to drive IEM’s and with more power hungry IEM’s/headphones the different is even bigger.  
 
The only drawback I can find in the sound department is that there’s a slight background hiss with easy to drive IEM’s but this is not a problem with music playing.
 
Summary:
The Elecom LBT-PAR500AV is as great device for anyone wanting to have more freedom to move around in the house, while working out or in the office. It combines good power with excellent sound quality and let you use your favorite headphones or IEM’s as a headset even if it’s not equipped with a microphone originally. It may or may not offer a better sound quality than your phone but will almost certainly supply more power.
 
The purchase of the LBT-PAR500AV has stopped my search for a cheap amp with small form factor to pair with my phone. I’ve tried a few and they’ve all introduced EMI that I’ve found way more annoying than the slight background hiss the LBT-PAR500AV has with some IEM’s. The LBT-PAR500AV also offers a lot of other features that you won’t get from a regular amplifier. At about $50 I consider it a great value.
 
I’d like for the next generation of this kind of device from Elecom to have a screen so that one could be able to browse through the phones or tablets music library straight from it.