@Oakiris:
wow, this TBI-System looks indeed very promising! the size of a single speaker seems to be exactly what i had in mind. the price is a bit high that's true, but maybe it is worth it, i would love to hear this system.
still what i don't like about it is the fact that the amplifier is not built in, so again you need some wiring first, and then if you want to put it to some meters away, you have 3 parts to deal with, or even 4 including the player. that's a bit annoying. i would even have preferred a single speaker of a similar size as this TBI-System, but with built in amplifier and battery. even if it was mono, it wouldn't matter, because for portable use the stereo-effect is not that important for me but rather the overall sound-impression i get.
yes i tested lot's of speaker systems out there:
unfortunately most of the commercial ones are designed for ipods and work as docking-stations. as i don't use ipods but other players and even the PSP as wlan-listening solution for my garden, i didn't even look at most of ipod-specific speaker-systems which are the majority.
the only one i have, that are designed for ipod are the logitech mm50. those sound really nice and are relatively small, because they are flat. they have a round and full sound for their size, but they cannot produce any power and outside in the open field they sound really thin and lost.
better in this regard does sound the tivoli pal/ipal. it has more volume and the sound is really good for a mono-speaker. there is only one drawback: you cannot play too loud and it doesn't like bassheavy music. if you turn a bit too loud, the amplifier starts to distort. so for listening at home in a kitchen or bathroom they are perfect, but when you are outside and have to turn a little louder they are lost as well.
on the left in the background you see the boomtube. this one really kicks a**
they are about the size of a thermos and quite heavy, probably because of the battery. these speakers are rated with 40 watt output and you can turn up really loud. if you put the woofer on the floor the bass is really prominent and the sound is big, bigger than what you would expect out of such a compact enclosure. you can easily use them for a loud garden party and still tease your neighbours with them. but as i already mentioned, the battery life is 5 hours maximum, if played loud about 4-4.5 hours. for a garden party maybe enough, but if i wanna take them to the beach, i would need 8 hours at least. the boomtube has maybe not the finest sounding treble, but the overall sound is the best i have heard so far. you don't have the impression as if some part of the music was missing, even if the bass doesn't go down to 20Hz.
i bought the saitek A-250 which you see on the left in the foreground, because it is a 2.1 system too and i thought it would sound at least comparable to the boomtube. the size of the saitek is about the size of the boomtube. don't get me wrong, they don't sound bad, but compared to the boomtube they are a bit on the weak side. they sound rich though, if you put them near a wall, so that the bass-reflecting opening which is situated on the back faces against a wall. this way they come close to the boomtube, but again outside in the open field they rather sound thin and unspectacular. outside the mm50 and A-250 sound more or less similar, without any bass. the only gag of the A-250 is that you can use them as wireless speakers. i often stream music from my computer to them without any wires. and i carry them from the kitchen to the bathroom or wherever i need them. but sometimes i lose signal if i go too far away from the transmitter.
i also have another 2.1 cheapo-system:
these ones are really tiny and take 4xAAA batteries. i always found that they performed impressive for their size, but unfortunately it is some kind of no-name product, which is put together somewhere in taiwan and the woofer-case is rattling if you turn up louder. but otherwise they perform similar to a mm50 or a tivoli ipal soundwise while being much smaller. but i think that these speakers show that there is lots of potential to get a big sound out of small enclosures. and i think that TBI is probably on the right way, but it is still not perfect and rather expensive.
by the way: the best sound out of a small speaker that i know i am getting out of my tivoli model one. this one has also a single driver and a bass-reflex case and sounds huge! unfortunately it only works with power supply, so it is not suitable for the beach, besides the wooden case wouldn't like sand and water too much, and who needs a radio above all?
so i am still searching, and maybe if i become rich i will test out the TBI-system. who knows?
by the way: i ordered the Saitek A-200 speaker some days ago. i thought it should be a compromise between size and sound. if it sounds better than the mm50 and the tivoli ipal, i will be happy.
