Does it have a generic AC connection, so we don't have to use AAA batteries? Buying batteries is so annoying!

Looks like this is gonna by my first "real" woot; my other was the odd stock market woot-off lights/Book of Chaos thing. Been seeming like a lot of recent woots have been way out of my price range. Not to mention I've been thinking of getting an speaker for my Sansa fuze... yeah, no-brainer here.

darubez wrote:Does it have a generic AC connection, so we don't have to use AAA batteries? Buying batteries is so annoying!

It appears not, although you could probably use rechargeables. Since this apparently has a long battery life it seems this might not be as big a problem as it could be.

Those who plan on using two of these speakers for stereo output should remember to put them in directional mode. In other words, place them on edge rather than laying them flat facing up. Stereo is directional so both speakers should be aimed at the listener. If you lay them facing up for 360-degree mode, you'll get weird results due to wave interference patterns. Just imagine dropping two stones into water about 12" away from each other. The ripples from each stone will cross with one another leading to constructive and destructive interference.

Just got back from a camping trip recently and a friend was using this speaker. I was very impressed with the sound quality, and really happy to see it on woot. Not sure what the tweeters are made of, but the bass response was better than expected. for the price (and i still had a $5 off coupon from the bday), they are right on.
and to bridog, I think the channels are bridged together, so you shouldn't lose either channel.

bridog6996 wrote:One speaker means it's mono, which may make some songs sound weird, or just "not as good." Since it's a two-pack, though, you may be able to jury rig both speakers into a stereo set-up using an adapter from Radioshack or something.

Edit: You should be able to make the two speakers into a stereo pair IF you use the correct adapter. A simple "headphone splitter" type of thing won't work. You'll need a specific type of splitter that splits the line into separate "ring" and "tip" (or left and right) lines.

KFuette wrote:These would be great for.....

These would be great for......

What would these be great for?

To replace the crappy speaker on my Garmin?

crowdis wrote:You have small daughters

...and plastic hands. You might consider seeing a doctor about those.

darubez wrote:Does it have a generic AC connection, so we don't have to use AAA batteries? Buying batteries is so annoying!

The inability to use an adapter is one of the major criticisms. You can use rechargeables, however. Another complaint is that the batteries are hard to remove.

A solution might be to make your own adapter jack. The jacks themselves are only $2.99. Simply attach two wires from the jack to the appropriate contacts (matching + and -) in the battery compartment and you're set. Shouldn't take more that 5 mins. If you wanna make it look professional, you'll have to drill a hole, etc.

Click here for some options

Here's an example:

I got one, I'm content with mono, I am going to use a splitter anyway just to get MORE sound, albeit mono.

wtfwtflol wrote:The last time i got a 2 for tuesday was the turbo air blower by WD40. What a piece of junk. Really. It was like... should i really explain how bad it is? I ended up smashing them against each other, then one of them shorted and caught in smoke, it was so much fun.

I hope not need to do this with the speakers.

Yeah but the WD40 blowers got pretty miserable reviews throughout cyberspace. These speakers, on the other hand, got pretty good reviews, i.e. 136 Amazon.com users give it an average of 4 out of 5 stars.

JonnyNeedles wrote:
and to bridog, I think the channels are bridged together, so you shouldn't lose either channel.

You're right, but that's not what I meant though. Mono doesn't mean it simply drops a channel, it means the two channels get summed together, which can sometimes lead to oddities when playing back stereo music due to phase cancellation and such.

bmxjimp wrote:
The only difference in battery life would depend on the volume level of the iPod. Louder requires more power, because the audio signal is being amplified more.

Exactly. I suppose if you connected some full size headphones they might draw a little extra power from the iPod, depending on the impedance rating of the headphones, but it wouldn't be enough of a difference to really be noticeable in terms of battery life.

It's pretty much a non-issue although bigger headphones won't be as loud at the same volume level so you would probably turn the volume up higher than with earbuds, thereby draining the battery a bit faster.

sdc100 wrote:Those who plan on using two of these speakers for stereo output should remember to put them in directional mode. In other words, place them on edge rather than laying them flat facing up. Stereo is directional so both speakers should be aimed at the listener. If you lay them facing up for 360-degree mode, you'll get weird results due to wave interference patterns. Just imagine dropping two stones into water about 12" away from each other. The ripples from each stone will cross with one another leading to constructive and destructive interference.

Despite the fact that you can position these speakers thusly, they don't have "modes," so it really doesn't matter how you place them in terms of preventing overall acoustical interference. It's all about the position of the speakers relative to the listener. But what you say is true in that ALL sound is directional. Stereo or mono, it doesn't matter. If the speakers aren't directed towards you, the sound will arrive to your ears via reflection from whatever surfaces are around, which is always destructive (unless you happen to always listen to music in a perfectly tuned studio). If the speakers are pointed at you, the acoustical imperfections in your listening space are still there, but are much less apparent since you have that direct line to your ears, which your ears/brain perceive as louder, so it will sort of "cover up" the acoustic reflections to a certain extent. So yes, any speakers will sound better when pointed directly at you, whether listening in mono or stereo.

darubez wrote:Does it have a generic AC connection, so we don't have to use AAA batteries? Buying batteries is so annoying!

The altec lansing in this woot doesn't seem to have AC connection of any kind, AAA battery only; it's why I didn't snap it up.

The generic/unbranded speakers I wrote about a couple hours ago though does, sort of (it has a cable, you would only need to supply a powered usb port, which means getting an old powered usb hub you're not using, or picking up a standard "usb ac adapter"; you can pick one out for $6 shipped so it's cheap enough to be considered disposable or replaceable in case you get a bad unit (mine had no problems, I might get more).

Big difference is, I just don't know how the generics (which I got) sound compared to the altec lansing here, but I can tell you they sound comparable or better than a lost of laptop speakers I've heard.

And the main reason I snapped up the generics is b/c of the option to take outlet power. The second reason was it would use little power. A bonus was it sounded better than I expected, plus it still takes batteries if you want. And it was only $6 to try.

Check it out if these altec lansings don't feel right?

I'm in. I use portable speakers constantly with my baby son, and I've been hunting a good deal. So here's hoping these are as good as my gut instinct, several good reviews, and my knowledge of a dependable brand say they are.

in for 1. the speakers on my HP 2710p tablet are a joke. anything is better than them, and this looks like a good, travel size. no way they can't be an improvement, and even if it doesn't work out, I know a little girl that would love to have this to hook up to her DS.

bridog6996 wrote:Despite the fact that you can position these speakers thusly, they don't have "modes," so it really doesn't matter how you place them in terms of preventing overall acoustical interference. It's all about the position of the speakers relative to the listener. But what you say is true in that ALL sound is directional. Stereo or mono, it doesn't matter. If the speakers aren't directed towards you, the sound will arrive to your ears via reflection from whatever surfaces are around, which is always destructive (unless you happen to always listen to music in a perfectly tuned studio). If the speakers are pointed at you, the acoustical imperfections in your listening space are still there, but are much less apparent since you have direct line to your ears. So yes, any speakers will sound better when pointed at you, whether listening in mono or stereo.

Two comments:

1) All sounds are not directional when it comes to human psychoacoustics. Frequencies we consider sub-bass (especially subsonic) are not directional. That's why you only need one subwoofer and not one for each channel. In fact, the subwoofer can be placed behind you, beneath you, to your right, left, etc and it wouldn't matter. Studies done on subsonic whale and elephant communication show that we humans cannot distinguish where the source is, but the animals can.

2) There is a difference between stereo and mono when it comes to whether the speakers are pointed toward the listener. Stereo, by definition, is a recreation of the original microphone placements to simulate human ears. The depth of field depends on speaker separation and placement. With monaural sources, you're not trying to simulate anything. There is no depth of field, so placement is not as important. With monaural sounds, the wave interference depends only on phase since the signals are identical. It's much more complicated with stereo sources because the right and left channels are not outputting identical sounds (yet at the same time, they're not discrete either since they will have sounds in common given that the two mikes were placed in the same room).

how to connect them in a dual configuration:

http://www.alteclansing.com/images/quick/A13184%20R01%20ORBIT%202-PK%20QCC.pdf

I am interested to know how these compare to my lovely mint green cube speakers I received from my Christmas baby of the cosmos... Any clue? Airport security seems to think the cube is a small bomb, whether checked or in my carry on. I get the lovely TSA has searched your bag notice every time I get home.. It must be the wire that wraps around the cube that gets them, or my really cute undies

I wonder how these would sound making a ghetto Talk Box with these...

sdc100 wrote:Two comments:

1) All sounds are not directional when it comes to human psychoacoustics. Frequencies we consider sub-bass (especially subsonic) are not directional. That's why you only need one subwoofer and not one for each channel. In fact, the subwoofer can be placed behind you, beneath you, to your right, left, etc and it wouldn't matter. Studies done on subsonic whale and elephant communication show that we humans cannot distinguish where the source is, but the animals can.

2) There is a difference between stereo and mono when it comes to whether the speakers are pointed toward the listener. Stereo, by definition, is a recreation of the original microphone placements to simulate human ears. The depth of field depends on speaker separation and placement. With monaural sources, you're not trying to simulate anything. There is no depth of field, so placement is not as important. With monaural sounds, the wave interference depends only on phase since the signals are identical. It's much more complicated with stereo sources because the right and left channels are not outputting identical sounds (yet at the same time, they're not discrete either since they will have sounds in common given that the two mikes were placed in the same room).

Two comments in reply to your two comments:

1. I suppose you're right about how we perceive sub bass frequencies, but nevertheless, extreme low frequencies are still directional as you even said yourself. The reason a sub can be placed anywhere is that we "feel" the vibration of those frequencies much more than we actually hear them. If we could hear those frequencies more accurately, sub placement would be more of an issue. But anyway, these speakers aren't going to reproduce frequencies anywhere near that low, so it doesn't really matter in the first place.

2. I agree with you that there's a fundamental difference between stereo and mono. I never said otherwise, although how you describe stereo I don't think is exactly true. Stereo just puts sounds into a 2-D field, it doesn't necessarily try simulate human ears. Binaural stereo recordings do attempt this, but stereo inherently does not. In order for that to happen, all sources contained in a recording would be have to be recorded in stereo. Often times, in stereo recordings, most or all of the sounds in the mix will be from mono sources. But I digress...

All I said is that basically speakers will sound better if faced directly toward the listener due to unpredictable room/environment acoustics. Is placement perhaps more important overall when listening in stereo? Sure.

Pterion wrote:So these are mono. Two mono speakers do not equal stereo. I guess this is ok if all you listen to is Phil Spector.

With a special Y-Connector, they probably could be. Problem is unless you make the Y yourself its probably $20.

angerbender wrote:Portable mp3 player speakers are great for drive-in movies.

Quit being cheap and go to a movie theater like the rest of the world.

If you want these for occasional use (like playing an MP-3 player/radio during power outages) and don't like disposable batteries, this is a perfect use for Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries. You can recharge them just once a year if you don't run them down by playing it. I use them in my Logitech speaker dock.

in for 2 sets.
why?
1 for me
3 for xmas presents for the nieces and nephews

--------------
3 ipod speakers = $23.50
Shipping = $5

Watching my nieces and nephews terrorize my sister and brother-in-law at christmas with these = priceless

Just purchase a dual adaptor, two armband straps and they're great for joggers.

Any power port for an adapter? How long would rechargeable batteries last?

My local walmart just had these on clearance for $5 each so I bought two of them there. They normally retailed there for about $15 each. They are nice little speakers with pretty good sound.

I have dropped one of them twice and it's still kicking. The only thing that happen was the speaker cover popped off, but that was easy to get back on.

Dman27 wrote:same price for one at tiger

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3296573&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

Ya except for the fact that you get two of them.

any idea how loud these things get before they get garbled?

In for a pair. Gotta love 2 for Tues.

Someone asked what you could use these for... I was on the verge of getting a JBL On Stage IIIP so I could listen to iPhone music around the house, especially in the kitchen so I could catch up on some podcasts while making dinner, etc. But at $130, the JBL is a little pricey and money's tight right now. These little speakers fit the bill and will do what I need for the time being, plus I really don't mind not having an AC option for them.
At $20 they're half of what you'd pay for two of these on Amazon, so what the hell... I think I have some kid's toys that need AAA batteries around the house, so I can get rechargeables and use them for more than just these speakers.

thanks Woot!

Does anyone know if this will work with the new generation Shuffle?

I've not had any luck with other headsets/earbuds. I'm 99% certain it's because of the integrated controls on the earbuds that came with it.

Apple added an extra band to the earbud connector for the inline controls and I suspect the Shuffle is looking for that before it'll start playing anything.

Anyone? Anyone? Something economics?....
Oh wait, the Ben Stein references were 2 page ago.....

I would call this a pretty good deal. Seeing as I can't find one for less than about $20 for 1. Two for $15, pretty good deal. I'm sold.

wootevil wrote:Does it use any more battery than earbuds?

No. It is a self amplified speaker that uses 3 AAA batteries. The speaker is powered from the 3 AAA batteries and not the MP3 unit.

djcozmik wrote:If you wanted, you could get an 1/8" splitter and use two of these for separable stereo sound!

This is still a dumb item.

u sonovabiscuit i was gonna say that.

even though all it would do is increase the sound and not actually turn it back in to stereo sound.

Walgreens has little speakers that look just like this for $5, but you cannot hear them in the busy outdoors. Does anyone know if you can hear this thing at the beach with all the extra outside noises around???

claudicina wrote:What kind of material is the actual speaker made of? Paper? And how loud can this go? Is there a decibel rating?

I have this speaker & it really is very good. It has volume control and actually has really good sound. the only downside is the batteries. They do wear out very quickly. I paid $30 for 1 a while back this is a very good deal.

sunnybun1 wrote:Walgreens has little speakers that look just like this for $5, but you cannot hear them in the busy outdoors. Does anyone know if you can hear this thing at the beach with all the extra outside noises around???

yes sound is very good

Will these work as earrings? I think they would look cool if they dangled down!

Swimmin' M

what is the frequency range on the speakers?

Well don't you just feel smart now! Since you know where I live send me some of these speakers!