Small speakers revisited, and we have a new winner: Sony XB-20

Tried Bose soundlink mini, Marshal MS-2, XS Hive 2, and lastly (out of desperation or dogged determination) a Sony XB-20.

Here are the reviews so you guys don't have to spend money like I did:

- Bose - great sound, 20+ms digital delay, unplayable as a result.
- Marshal MS-2, weakest sound, with lots of EQ it got close but won't go very loud, it's a 9v battery powered tiny thing from yesteryear, none of the sophisticated stuff found in a Bose or similar type speaker. But it does produce a credible Marshal tone on overdrive if you are into that kind of thing.
- XS Hive 2 - All the way from Amazon UK, I had high hopes for this one, but it has a noise like a faint string buzz, maybe mine was defective, but it failed my ear test.
- Sony XB-20 - In their lineup of portable speakers this is the second smallest from the bottom, it has Bose quality sound and no delay. It even has a bass port in the back So DING, DING, DING, we have a winner! Aux in 1/8 stereo jack only though, so need a pedal or pre with a headphone out.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N5V0FVK/

The Sony sounds as good (and nearly as loud) as my Yamaha THR-10, and that's a hard act to follow, so I'm giving pretty high praise here.

All of them are under 2 lbs (and about the same size/shape except for the Marshal), nice hard cases are available for the Sony and the Bose, I bought them all, so you don't have to. Enjoy.

In the pic, the pedal is just there so you have a reference for how tiny it is:

Attachment 177543

How are you using these, Kurt, as an amp for playing out, or as small & accurate studio monitors for recording playback? I'm on the hunt for the latter, so these would be pretty innerestin' if so.

If you have a sub, and are willing to tune it for flat, it could be ok, the clarity is there. But I wouldn't normally mix into something like a Bose or a THR. They may sound great, but don't know if they are carefully tuned to be flat like a studio reference monitor is. The Sony at least had a button to disable bass boost. The Bose did not, it always boosts bass. And none of those tiny speakers goes much below 100 hz, not an issue for mandolin, or even an OM, but needs a sub for more general purpose use.

My target is live music, so I adjust my sound for how it sounds in a PA. The QSC K10 is my goto there. It is tuned to be flat, and lets me know my live sound well enough to avoid surprises live.

I would use studio monitors for mixing a recording, that's what they are best at AFAIK. The narrow field means you have to sit right between them to hear the acurate sound. If you want monitors I would buy monitors.

My purpose for the travel speaker is for use on vacations, hotel rooms and small family gatherings. We are a musical family. I need enough power to keep up with a few singers, and am willing to pay for decent sound in a tiny suitcase-friendly speaker. They have never heard me play electric before, the vacay is in two weeks, and I think I have a usable setup at this point.

FYI, Vacay was a success. I ended up using a zoom pedal directly connected to the speaker (1/4 mono to 1/8 stereo cable). Even with the impedance mismatch it sounded great.

I took the emandola and accompanied some decent singers with powerful voices no problem. Exactly what I had hoped for.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bbcee

How are you using these, Kurt, as an amp for playing out, or as small & accurate studio monitors for recording playback? I'm on the hunt for the latter, so these would be pretty innerestin' if so.

---

Try the Adam A3x. Might be a bit pricy at 350 each, but man are they great for a nearfield system.

IMHO, links to the manufacturer site is more useful than Amazon
which only funnel a buy it from them not learn anything about it..

https://www.sony.com/electronics/wir...eakers/srs-xb2

I bought a Roland Mobile AC, I plug into it directly, not with a phone bluetoothsource, and all that..

It runs off flashlight batteries when no AC for the wall wart is around..


A few years back I saw one used as a stage monitor by Evan Marshall he laid it on it's back on the floor..

about the size of an old portable radio.. .. from the neolithic era.. :whistling:





....

In my experience, for both electric mandolin and mandola, the winner is the ZT Lunchbox. I use one at home and for gigging, with the extension speaker. It sounds good and is very portable. The new model looks even better.

Wow - if that little Sony box compares favorably with the Yamaha THR-10 that is definitely a high bar. I have the Yamaha THR-10 which I use for many things - most often simply for listening to music played off iTunes from my laptop, but also as a guitar and bass practice amp, for small jams, for transcribing stuff, and to amplify backing tracks for practice. I was always partial to tube amps, and until I heard that THR-10, I was never satisfied with the tone of modeling amps that tried to capture the tone of tubes using a DSP chip and software. The THR-10 was the first modeling amp I heard that I thought really did a credible job. The small form factor, programmability, headphone jack and the ability to mix in a stereo signal from a phone or MP3 player make it a pretty compelling package. It's pretty incredible what amazing sound quality can be achieved these days from such a small box.

The Sony has no modelling, can't go quite as loud as the THR-10, it's just a clean PA speaker (all-range unlike a guitar amp like the lunchbox mentioned above), I was only comparing the clean sounds when I made that statement. :-)

It has a single aux-in, and no instrument in, but a small passive mixer can allow multiple ins if needed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lukmanohnz

Wow - if that little Sony box compares favorably with the Yamaha THR-10 that is definitely a high bar. I have the Yamaha THR-10 which I use for many things - most often simply for listening to music played off iTunes from my laptop, but also as a guitar and bass practice amp, for small jams, for transcribing stuff, and to amplify backing tracks for practice. I was always partial to tube amps, and until I heard that THR-10, I was never satisfied with the tone of modeling amps that tried to capture the tone of tubes using a DSP chip and software. The THR-10 was the first modeling amp I heard that I thought really did a credible job. The small form factor, programmability, headphone jack and the ability to mix in a stereo signal from a phone or MP3 player make it a pretty compelling package. It's pretty incredible what amazing sound quality can be achieved these days from such a small box.

---

I have the THR10C which I run my tenor guitar through - such a good piece of kit. We use it on stage and run from the headphone out.
Job done. Brilliant thing. You have to disable the wide stereo effect though.
Plus when it's sat on my AER compact 60 it looks like an amusing stack.