It wasn’t until about a month ago I got word of Twelve South’s Book Arc for iPad which was also the occasion I first learned of startup Twelve South. Strange that I hadn’t heard about Twelve South until that point because they had been pushing out some awesome Mac accessories for over half a year. With the intention of creating twelve unique Mac accessories each year, Twelve South has already kicked off with over half a dozen kick-ass accessories to your Apple products from items simplistic yet ingenious to things with a little more oomph.

I myself love some decent audio, and I’m not afraid to pay a little more for a decent pair of headphones that pump some bass or cough up an extra 30 cents for a tune from iTunes Plus. Despite this fact, I’d still sit on the lowest end of anyone labeled an audiophile. When I stumbled across the aforementioned BassJump from Twelve South I knew I wanted it; I was getting it. Sure, the MacBook (Pro) drives out some pretty high decibels for a laptop however it doesn’t do anything close to justice when laying down the beats on the low end of the scale. Luckily that’s where BassJump jumps in, and does a damn good job too.

After a couple weeks of contemplation on whether I wanted to toss out 80 bucks on what more or less seemed like a sad 5 inch USB-powered subwoofer I finally went ahead and picked this puppy up from the Apple Store. Normally I would be the first to say that detailing my unboxing experience is kinda lame, but damn, Twelve South does not fail to impress. Neatly packed in a a two-piece box, Twelve South does away with cheap industry standards of flimsy cardboard or industrial plastic requiring a Sawzall to open. Lined with foam padding and made with a snug fit you know you’ve just paid for quality before you even get a good glance at the product inside. Lifting out this slick subwoofer measuring five inches wide both ways and just over two and a quarter tall I was almost surprised to see the clever Twelve South logo instead of a half-eaten apple on the side of the beautiful aluminum casing. Digging deeper through the careful packaging you’ll find a mini-USB to USB cable measuring about two and a half feet with a pure white coating like any USB cable you’d see from Apple, as well as a slick neoprene carrying case with a wrist strap so your BassJump is nearly as portable as your MacBook. The carrying case has the annoying issue that accompanies any Incase sleeve which is the unprotected zipper teeth eager to gash lengthy scratches along the beautiful aluminum finish. Luckily you can fold the lips of the case back as you slide your unit in to this soft enclosure. The case is a little loose which is honestly my only disappointment with this product, but I can’t blame them as already it’s fairly snug sliding the BassJump in. As I pass over three hundred words detailing the packaging I feel it would be a shame to leave out the Apple-esque ‘thank you’ pamphlet with a quick and straight-forward note about downloading the accompanying software and a final insert with 12 honestly good ideas for re-purposing the slick casing.

After taking a moment to install the lightweight driver software the BassJump Sound System inserts itself as as a pane hidden away in the system preferences with quick access through the menu bar. Proving to be as simplistic as the device itself, the preferences pane is loaded with a simple On / Off toggle and a few default combinations of the BassJump volume and crossover frequency for the type of music you’re listening to with the option to set them both yourself. There’s no need to work with two different volume levels non-stop either, BassJump is integrated right with your system volume controls as it creates a beautiful harmony between itself and the already powerful system speakers.

BassJump featuring alongside a 17-inch MacBook Pro

Plug in the BassJump via the included USB cable (remember, no additional power!) and a couple seconds later BassJump begins dropping some heavy beats to your music. In all honestly when I first plugged it in I sat with a ‘this is it?’ impression somehow expecting the internal 3-inch wide subwoofer to make my windows rattle. I immediately threw up the system volume and that of the BassJump to maximum heights and still kinda sat with disappointment as I was convinced I should see the water in my glass in rings. I continued to listen to music for another 30 minutes searching for some bass-heavy tracks with the BassJump plugged until I decided to go ahead and turn it off. Whoa. A difference indeed, a distinct difference. The BassJump really is one of those ‘you don’t know what you’re missing’ kind of experiences.

Sure, the MacBook does have some great sound, but it could be even better. At 80 bucks it’s not one of the easiest justifications to make, but if you’ve ever used or considered getting some external speakers for your MacBook, get the BassJump instead. It gives you ‘surround’ kind of feel, in fact turning off the BassJump speakers will make your stereo speakers sound mono. This is definitely a product I’d recommend, especially so if your MacBook or MacBook Pro (or, uh, Air) is your main computing device. I have an iMac as my main machine with a pretty decent speaker system, but that didn’t stop my from buying the BassJump to carry along with my MacBook Pro. Whether it’s a presentation where you really need to give the viewers an accompanying audio experience that is far from below par or a get together where you don’t want your music to sound like it’s being played through a 3 inch tube, then the BassJump is for you. It’s 80 bucks; available online or at an Apple Store. And even if BassJump is not your cup of tea, peruse through the rest of TwelveSouth’s products. At least one of them is sure to grab your attention.

Although it’s pretty much given reading an Apple-centric review site, the BassJump is Mac only (as are all Twelve South products) as the driver isn’t available for other OSs.