Advice on speakers for laptop in small space? (connect, system, reviews)

[JaxLiving]

Until we sold our home to rent a small condo in a very desirable location, I had an office set up with a large desktop computer, surround sound, printer, scanner and all equipment at my fingertips. Now, my "office" is a 15" laptop on the eating area table and I have no speakers (to speak of) except a cheap one that clips onto the laptop. I am not whining but I do miss that good woofer and speakers that I used daily while doing my work at home. I am wishing for a good speaker system that doesn't take up much space but will give me decent sound for my music. My work area is half as big as the one in the house, so it doesn't have to be huge and I don't want to pay a lot of money for a Bose (paying for the name?) Wireless would be great too but I do have a place nearby to set up a small system. Any recommendations?

[vmaxnc]

IMHO, from 25+ years in the AV business and being a hobbyist...

Wireless is not a good option for quality, if you mean wireless speakers. The issue is that they are assumed to be about convenience, not quality. The amplifiers built in to (most) wireless speakers are weak.

Bose is not expensive. So even if you're paying Bose prices for some other setup, you're not necessarily paying a lot. But I have yet to find a comparably priced product that doesn't outperform Bose by a significant margin. They have some useful products, but their standard speakers are not competitive at all. Bose has a couple catch phrases coined by people in the AV business, but my favorite is "Better Sound Through Marketing".

I've had a lot of success with this:

Wireless Home Music Systems and HiFi Music Players from Sonos

The Sonos lets you access many online music services, plus any music you have on your computer(s), and another music source as well. Your computer or smart phone is the controller.

I like their Connect:Amp, which you would then connect any pair of speakers you want, and a powered sub if you choose. I've been told by a reliable friend, but haven't heard for myself, that their Play:5 and Play:3 sound pretty good, but I'm skeptical of anything that small.

Hope that helps.

[JaxLiving]

Thanks for the link and especially for confirming my impression of Bose. I bought some Bose headphones for my husband and when I tried them they didn't sound any better than my $20 Sony hphones. I'll find something that works for me and if you have any other thoughts, please feel free to let me know - I'll check this site often to see what's up.

[vmaxnc]

Originally Posted by JaxLiving

Thanks for the link and especially for confirming my impression of Bose. I bought some Bose headphones for my husband and when I tried them they didn't sound any better than my $20 Sony hphones. I'll find something that works for me and if you have any other thoughts, please feel free to let me know - I'll check this site often to see what's up.

Read through the Sonos website and check out their videos. For someone who is not involved in audio stuff a lot, it's a very different product. I've owned several in the last 5 years, but didn't realize how versatile it is until I started designing system for other people using the Sonos gear. It's easily expandable to other rooms too, including to existing sound systems.

If the Sonos doesn't do it for you, consider one of the shelf systems by Yamaha. They are no frills and simple, but more performance oriented. You can connect your laptop to them but not wirelessly, I think.

[hoffdano]

If you want high quality portable sound for the laptop in a fantastic package, consider the Jawbone Jambox. It is bluetooth, known to have outstanding sound for the size, etc.

Jawbone JAMBOX Wireless Speaker | Hi-Fi Audio, Speakerphone & more

Read the professional reviews.