Those little laptop speakers...

Externet

Well-Known Member

• Mar 15, 2016

• #1

Hi.
Canibalized some from defunct laptops as needed miniaturization building a project, and surprised to see them labeled as 8Ω-0.5W in about 28mm mylar. Are they that powerful, or is it just hype ?

And some are sold as 1W ! ----> **broken link removed**

And 2W also ! ----> **broken link removed**

What is to believe ?

 

DerStrom8

Super Moderator

• Mar 15, 2016

• #2

There is no way those things are 2W. Notice they're coming from China, so I can almost guarantee it's just hype. 1W is pushing it, I would expect, but I'm not experienced with audio. audioguru perhaps you could provide some insight?

 

audioguru

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 15, 2016

• #3

I have never tested or destroyed one of those crappy tiny speakers.
Music and speech averages a power that is much less than the occasional peak power so maybe the speakers are rated at the occasional peak power. The speakers would probably be destroyed if fed a continuous low frequency full rated power sinewave or acid rock.

 

S

spec

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 17, 2016

• #4

Some interesting reading: https://www.doctorproaudio.com/doctor/temas/powerhandling.htm
spec

 

audioguru

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 30, 2016

• #5

I use an American (not a Chinese) Name Brand (Sylvania) powered 2.1 speaker system for my computer and TV. Its ad says Total Output= 150Watts, and RMS= 75W. But inside it has two little class-AB amplifier ICs with little heatsinks glued on top and a small transformer that is labelled "9VAC/1.1A" (9.9VA). It probably heats with 4W so its actual total electrical output is only 6W. I figure each satellite speaker gets 1.5W and the woofer gets 3W. I like it and it sounds good. It costed $25.00.

 

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audioguru

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 30, 2016

• #6

My neighbour was going to throw away computer speakers and asked if I want them. He paid $45.00 for (Chinese) Logitech Z213 powered 2.1 speakers. The box says, "Full Deep Bass, 14 peak". They sound awful with the woofer resonating at about 120Hz and the tweeters screech like car tires. The tweeters are modulated by the mains AC whenever the woofer is active so I thought the long cable from the speaker and its power supply to the on-off switch has too much resistance so I wired it to be always turned on, it made no difference so I doubled its total power supply capacitance to 4400uF and it also made no difference.

 

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Rich D.

Active Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #7

You get what you pay for! In this case $0 gets you ...?

 

audioguru

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #8

Rich D. said:

You get what you pay for! In this case $0 gets you ...?

Click to expand...

I think the Logitech (hey, it is Swiss, not Chinese but is made in China like everything else) speaker system was made as bad as that since it doesn't have distortion. Its frequency response is all over the place with boomy upper bass, no deep bass, peaking upper midrange and a missing crossover network to keep the bass away from the tweeters. They make and sell that junk and people buy it without knowing how bad it is.

 

AnalogKid

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #9

Got tired of the uneven bass response in various "computer" speakers. Took my parent's old receiver (Cambridge something, all discrete, about 20-30 W/ch), replaced all of the small signal transistors with MPSxx audio types, replaced all of the aluminum electrolytics, mostly with larger values to open up the bottom end and greatly improve the power supply, and hooked it up to my ancient EPI 50's. Total success. The speakers had been unused for years and I had all of the parts left over from other things, so it was a "free" upgrade. Could not be more happy with the results, never going back.

ak

 

audioguru

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #10

I bought two Name Brand clock radios for $1.75 each from a surplus electronics store. They sound really bad. In one I replaced its output capacitor with a much larger higher capacitance one and put a jack disconnecting its crappy tiny speaker. It feeds a speaker I made that has a 6.5" low resonance woofer, a dome tweeter, an 18dB crossover network in a ported cabinet and it sounds fantastic.

 

S

schmitt trigger

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #11

When my daughter was in college, she purchased a boombox for her dorm.

On the back, it had a label with something like 150 + 150 watts audio output.

Yet a couple of inches away, there was the label which has the electrical input info: 120Volt, 60 Hz, 95 Watt. Made in China.

So I thought to myself...hmmm, these guys are really, really smart! They can create power out of thin air! They should receive the Nobel Prize!

 

Rich D.

Active Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #12

They create power out of really polluted air...that's the secret.

 

audioguru

Well-Known Member

Most Helpful Member

• Mar 31, 2016

• #13

Rich D. said:

They create power out of really polluted air...that's the secret.

Click to expand...

It is the other way around. The awful weak sound is polluting the air.