Good quality portable speakers?

[T i m]

Hi All,

My missus is working long hours at the moment (PC type work) and last year I bought her one of the Sony MP3 / WMA / CD players because she liked the medium of CD (no file transfers etc) and it lasted ages (80 hrs?) on a pair of AA's, and the Sony didn't 'jog' like similar (cheaper) solutions. ;-(

For this years 'outside office hours' use I would like to get her some compatible portable speakers (she sometimes walks to work and can't leave any personal property 'at' work). She also uses a Mac (with no speakers) and wouldn't be 'allowed' (nor want) to use that as a music centre in any case.

By compatible I mean something with reasonable battery life (like the Sony player), and sound 'good' at reasonable 'desk' volumes (remembering these are a 'portable' solution of course!) ;-)

Working on the 'you get's what you pays for' saying, is there anything out there with a good 'rep' to fit the above please?

I bought a pair of 'Ross' folding speakers but with them and the Sony at full volume the levels are only just acceptable (over background noise etc). There is no distortion so it may be that the input sensitivity of the speakers is be quite low (or the o/p of the Sonly low etc).

So d-i-y question (to keep the net police happy ) is I wonder how difficult it would be to make / buy / install a small pre-amp into these speakers? There could be space in the enclosure but thery are only powered by 3V and the speakers / amp are only reated at 250mW (each) anyway (ie would it be worth it)?

Something that looks like it could be a good match (all be it fairly expensive (for us)) is:

"JBL Harman On Tour Portable Music Box Speaker System" (big name for small speakers eh)? ;-) (I believe these are 3W each?)

heard / have any of these please, if so, what do you think of them?

Any other (UK) options welcomed / investigated .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

p.s. I posted similar on uk.rec.audio but as yet no reply (is there somewhere better)? She would like a solution this year and I know many (but not all ) of you are into tecky / audio stuff. ;-)

[Roly]

If you hadn't have mentioned those JBL On-tour speakers, I would have done.

They sound perfect for the needs that you outline. You're unlikely to find a better sounding or more portable speaker that's a small as that.

Unfortunately, a really tiny size does limit the audio quality. There won't be much bass response, but I've heard these speakers and they sound much better than their size suggests they should sound like.

The fact that JBL are a famous loudspeaker manufacturer and that they're prepared to put their name to this product is obviously a good thing.

As you know, you can get cheaper speakers, but these ones are worth their price.

[T i m]

Well .. I think that's something you just have to come to terms with isn't it. 'Natural' bass needs bigger cabinets and drivers (for us to hear in balance anyway) and as you say these things are small.

Well thanks for that Roly .. I have seen a few up on eBay of late but they seem to go for the same price as Amazon ..?

All the best ..

T i m

[Rob Morley]

Are wireless headphones not an option?