decent cheap travel speaker

April 7, 2005 9:34 PM

I'm looking for a decent, small travel speaker to attach to my laptop so I can listen to music in the hotel.

For convenience sake, I'd like to go with a single small speaker, as a pair of speakers would be so close that separation wouldn't matter. Basically, I want a Tivoli Ipal, ($80 on ebay) with that "room" filling sound, but just the amplified speaker and nothing else, ideally for around $30. Yes, I know this is a tall order. It'd be great if it was loud enough to use in my noisy small car when commuting. I've seen these little "loud mouth" brand speakers at Flying J truck stops for just this purpose, but I don't trust their sound quality given the source.

posted by craniac to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

It's a bit outside your price range, but I have these JBL 'On Tour' speakers, and they make a full, powerful noise for their size. I'm always impressed by the bass response they manage for such small speakers. They run off mains power or AA batteries, and take a standard 3.5mm input.
posted by chrismear at 9:43 PM on April 7, 2005

These, maybe? (<$50)
posted by kickingtheground at 11:10 PM on April 7, 2005

You might try the Soundbug - you attach it to a solid surface like a mirror or desk and it turns the whole thing into a speaker. Bass is a bit weak but they are very portable.

Second time I've used that link this week!
posted by blag at 4:33 AM on April 8, 2005

Another option is to carry a minijack-to-RCA adapter so you can use the speakers on your hotel TV. Most have front plugs.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 11:56 AM on April 8, 2005

How good would hotel tv speakers be? Blecch.

The travelsound speakers are only $25 on Ebay shipped, so I'll check them out.
posted by craniac at 9:04 AM on April 9, 2005