Laptop Speakers?

[osiris3mc]

Hey all,


I am going to study abroad in Europe (leaving in two weeks) and want to get some tiny speakers to take with me so I can listen to music and watch movies on my laptop. I don't want to spend all that much money, but I don't mind spending around $50 bucks say??? I have no idea what a decent pair would cost. Also important is that they are tiny! Oh, and preferably USB powered.

Thanks a bunch, any help would be so appreciated!

- Matt

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

What about a nice pair of headphones?

 

[osiris3mc]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
What about a nice pair of headphones?

Oh, probably should have mentioned that my girlfriend will be with me a lot of the time and we wanted to watch/listen together! Doh!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: osiris3mc

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
What about a nice pair of headphones?

Oh, probably should have mentioned that my girlfriend will be with me a lot of the time and we wanted to watch/listen together! Doh!

Fair enough

If you can't plug them in though you're going to be limiting yourself a lot.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but you could get a splitter cable for your laptop and hook up two pairs of headphones. I don't know if that would appeal to you though.

 

[osiris3mc]

If a USB speaker set is going to be very limited, I guess I can do a plug-in one....Is there one that will do both (in case I want to take the speakers on the road)?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: osiris3mc
If a USB speaker set is going to be very limited, I guess I can do a plug-in one....Is there one that will do both (in case I want to take the speakers on the road)?

What USB speaker sets are you looking at?

 

[osiris3mc]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: osiris3mc
If a USB speaker set is going to be very limited, I guess I can do a plug-in one....Is there one that will do both (in case I want to take the speakers on the road)?

What USB speaker sets are you looking at?

Good question - I don't even have one in mind. I searched on ebay and found some random ones that people are selling - I'm sure they are total crap. Any suggestions yourself?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: osiris3mc

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: osiris3mc
If a USB speaker set is going to be very limited, I guess I can do a plug-in one....Is there one that will do both (in case I want to take the speakers on the road)?

What USB speaker sets are you looking at?

Good question - I don't even have one in mind. I searched on ebay and found some random ones that people are selling - I'm sure they are total crap. Any suggestions yourself?

I don't even know of any off the top of my head. I think the JBL creature IIs may have USB as a connection option, but that may just be for signal input as they'd likely need a power outlet too.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How portable do these have to be by the way? Like what would max size be for one speaker?

 

[osiris3mc]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
How portable do these have to be by the way? Like what would max size be for one speaker?

Hmmm....Well if they are flat then they can be a little bigger than if they are more boxy. I just want something fairly small, like have them be able to fit in my hand (just for size).

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you can find some really small bookshelf speakers, you could hook them up to a battery powered sonic t-amp.

I can't find it anymore, but ecost used to sell t-amps for about $20.

 

[alcoholbob]

I'm gonna plug the Klipsch 2.0s again. I don't even have them, although my room mate picked them up and they were a reasonable upgrade over the 2.1s, although the bass is a bit anaemic. (Although still perfect for movies/music playback on laptop, since you really just need the midrange and some sparkling highs).

Most 2.0 "hifi" MM speakers aren't particularly small since they need the amplifier built in as well. Bookshelves might be a bit more frail for travel, whereas Klipsch's plastic satellites can take (literally) quite a beating. They aren't "huge" though, each speaker is about the size of 4-5 small mice stacked on top of each other. Computer mice.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Astrallite
I'm gonna plug the Klipsch 2.0s again. I don't even have them, although my room mate picked them up and they were a reasonable upgrade over the 2.1s, although the bass is a bit anaemic. (Although still perfect for movies/music playback on laptop, since you really just need the midrange and some sparkling highs).

Most 2.0 "hifi" MM speakers aren't particularly small since they need the amplifier built in as well. Bookshelves might be a bit more frail for travel, whereas Klipsch's plastic satellites can take (literally) quite a beating. They aren't "huge" though, each speaker is about the size of 4-5 small mice stacked on top of each other. Computer mice.

Don't those need to be plugged in though? I would have suggested them too...

 

[Tu13erhead]

Anything that doesn't plug in will likely either sound like crap or won't put out much power. USB doesn't provide for much power. You're probably better off sticking with your laptop speakers if this is the case.

These are outstanding speakers for the size, a friend of mine has them and they sound awesome. The only downside is the price.

EDIT: Just saw the Bose links in YOyoYOhowsDAjello's sig, do you have any input on these speakers?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead
Anything that doesn't plug in will likely either sound like crap or won't put out much power. USB doesn't provide for much power. You're probably better off sticking with your laptop speakers if this is the case.

These are outstanding speakers for the size, a friend of mine has them and they sound awesome. The only downside is the price.

EDIT: Just saw the Bose links in YOyoYOhowsDAjello's sig, do you have any input on these speakers?

Haven't looked into those specifically... but my guess would be way overpriced for what you get.

 

[Tu13erhead]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead
Anything that doesn't plug in will likely either sound like crap or won't put out much power. USB doesn't provide for much power. You're probably better off sticking with your laptop speakers if this is the case.

These are outstanding speakers for the size, a friend of mine has them and they sound awesome. The only downside is the price.

EDIT: Just saw the Bose links in YOyoYOhowsDAjello's sig, do you have any input on these speakers?

Haven't looked into those specifically... but my guess would be way overpriced for what you get.

They are a bit expensive, but they sound much better than any of that size I've seen.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead
Anything that doesn't plug in will likely either sound like crap or won't put out much power. USB doesn't provide for much power. You're probably better off sticking with your laptop speakers if this is the case.

These are outstanding speakers for the size, a friend of mine has them and they sound awesome. The only downside is the price.

EDIT: Just saw the Bose links in YOyoYOhowsDAjello's sig, do you have any input on these speakers?

Haven't looked into those specifically... but my guess would be way overpriced for what you get.

They are a bit expensive, but they sound much better than any of that size I've seen.

What are you comparing them to?

For reference, looks like the size is about the same as the Klipsch set except a few inches shorter.

 

[Tu13erhead]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead
Anything that doesn't plug in will likely either sound like crap or won't put out much power. USB doesn't provide for much power. You're probably better off sticking with your laptop speakers if this is the case.

These are outstanding speakers for the size, a friend of mine has them and they sound awesome. The only downside is the price.

EDIT: Just saw the Bose links in YOyoYOhowsDAjello's sig, do you have any input on these speakers?

Haven't looked into those specifically... but my guess would be way overpriced for what you get.

They are a bit expensive, but they sound much better than any of that size I've seen.

What are you comparing them to?

For reference, looks like the size is about the same as the Klipsch set except a few inches shorter.

I guess just other two speaker sets I've seen. I mean, there aren't a lot out there, and it seems that which is out there is cheaply made. I haven't seen the Klipsch 2.0's only the 2.1's.

At any rate, they're probably worth at least checking out in store and giving them a listen, Best Buy, Circuit City, Compusa all carry them, I think.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

reviews of old Bose computer speaker set

 

[osiris3mc]

Okay, so should I go with the Klipsch set then? I'm leaving in two weeks so I wanted to order the speakers within a couple days...

Thanks a lot guys, huge help!

Edit: Are we talking about these - Link? Is there a set that's smaller (or maybe just thinner)? If not, perhaps I will just go with these.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: osiris3mc
Okay, so should I go with the Klipsch set then? I'm leaving in two weeks so I wanted to order the speakers within a couple days...

Thanks a lot guys, huge help!

If they're small enough for you (10.5" H x 3.25" W x 6.5" D) and you don't mind having to plug them into an outlet (probably need a power adapter too?), then I think that's a good option.

If you can, go to Best Buy or somewhere and listen to them first that would be a good idea.

These are $100 by the way if you didn't notice that.

If you wanted to look into the small bookshelf speaker option, $100 would get you a lot more options than a $50 budget, but I don't think you'd find anything as small as the Klipsch set. The benefit would be the sonic t-amp would allow you to skip having to plug them in though.

Also, going back to headphones again, $100 would be enough to get two nice sets that would sound better than anything in the speaker market at this price point.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: osiris3mc
Okay, so should I go with the Klipsch set then? I'm leaving in two weeks so I wanted to order the speakers within a couple days...

Thanks a lot guys, huge help!

Edit: Are we talking about these - Link? Is there a set that's smaller (or maybe just thinner)? If not, perhaps I will just go with these.

Yeah, those are them. I have the dimensions in my post above.

 

[osiris3mc]

What do you guys think of these?

They are USB powered but sound fairly decent. Any thoughts?

 

[alcoholbob]

Altec Lansings tend to have very clear midrange due to their multidriver designs...unfortunately, the bass is either nonexistant or sounds like different volume levels of the same drum beat. Highs are also "not" there, given they don't usually have tweeters.

Altec Lansing is where Bose would be without the marketting...Although I would pay for Altec Lansing, since their small speakers actually look good.