# Half-Decent Speaker For A Phone?



## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

Anyone know of a good one that I can plug me phone into? I've got fifty quids Xmas money to buy one with. I had one of these:






that was surprisingly bassy considering its size but inevitably it shook itself to bits because I played it too loud all the time.

So I'm thinking of something more like this:





that is a bit louder and might last longer if I play it at a decent volume. I'm not too bothered if it's big and not really that portable as it'll probably live in my bathroom most of the time.


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## Onket (Dec 27, 2013)

/Subscribes to thread.


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## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

This one's 20 watts but costs £100. I'm really good at setting a budget for myself and then immediately wanting something that's twice that.


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## skyscraper101 (Dec 27, 2013)

Lot of people I know have been waxing lyrical about MiniRigs. I've heard them and they're not bad either. But they're currently £94.

http://minirigs.co.uk/

The logitech UE is currently reduced from £79 to £49 at Amazon






http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-UE...&qid=1388145923&sr=1-21&keywords=ipod+speaker


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## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

skyscraper101 said:


> Lot of people I know have been waxing lyrical about MiniRigs. I've heard them and they're not bad either. But they're currently £94.
> 
> http://minirigs.co.uk/
> 
> ...


That looks pretty good, cheers. The speakers I've got for my computer are Logitech and they've lasted me well even with my bass-abusing ways.


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## ruffneck23 (Dec 27, 2013)

minirigs are the best ones ive come across but a bit pricey, but then you can link them up and get some massiv noise


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## killer b (Dec 27, 2013)

Our sam brought a jambox for chritmas this year that was brilliant - small, but with quite a meaty sound. They're about a hundred quid apparently. They look really cool too.


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## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

They're surprisingly bassy, some of those little ones aren't they? That Marware one I had was only 25 quid iirc but it had a really full sound. Pity they couldn't have made it a bit more sturdy.


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## Onket (Dec 27, 2013)

Is there a cable available to just plug it in to something else?


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## stuff_it (Dec 27, 2013)

ruffneck23 said:


> minirigs are the best ones ive come across but a bit pricey, but then you can link them up and get some massiv noise


Exactly what I was going to say. If you can afford one get a minirig.


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## killer b (Dec 27, 2013)

Onket said:


> Is there a cable available to just plug it in to something else?


 presumably there is, but I guess portability is also desirable.


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## Onket (Dec 27, 2013)

killer b said:


> presumably there is, but I guess portability is also desirable.



Of course.


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## Shippou-Sensei (Dec 27, 2013)

unfortunately i found size does matter  in most cases.

i got a set of the x-mini and  it  kinda sounds  a it  weak and tinny.   when i plug  more of the buggers in  it  still sounds weak and tinny   there is just more of it.

i got a warfdale one  that's about the size  of  two lage  boxes of  matches  and  that was a bit  better for quality but  i couldn't chain it  and  it  ate batteries  like they were going out of  fashion.	also  not  that loud.


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## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

I've gone for the Philips twice-my-budget 20 watts 100 quid one. Fuck it. What's the point of spending Xmas money on run of the mill shit.


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## skyscraper101 (Dec 27, 2013)

Nothing beats good sound.


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## Voley (Dec 27, 2013)

skyscraper101 said:


> Nothing beats good sound.


I'll report back. 100 quid's not cheap but they used to be twice the price so I'm expecting a decent, full bassy sound.


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## Sunray (Dec 28, 2013)

+1 for http://minirigs.co.uk/

I can testify these are both amazing in their design and sound. One is all you need but you can expand as needed. Even do a subwoofer.


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## artyfarty (Dec 28, 2013)

Another vote for the minirig. My mates got one. Sounds good. Well made, the battery lifes great. I've had two 30 quid cheapies and they're not worth bothering with. Crap sound. I think that they are struggling to keep up with demand though. Theywere sold out before Xmas.


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## Voley (Dec 28, 2013)

Thanks for all your replies. Although I've gone with the Philips one,  it comes with a 'just send it back if you're not at all happy' guarantee so I'll go for a minirig if that's the case. Thanks again.


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## pesh (Dec 28, 2013)

Sunray said:


> +1 for http://minirigs.co.uk/
> 
> I can testify these are both amazing in their design and sound. One is all you need but you can expand as needed. Even do a subwoofer.



i'm really interested to hear the new minirig sub. I've spent hours, probably days listening to the minirigs and while the battery life is amazing, and sound it produces is lovely and clear and goes insanely loud, i could never deal with with the fact they cut the bass frequency range out totally below a certain, fairly high point. i find them quite tiring to listen to after a while.


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## Sunray (Dec 28, 2013)

Go on the website, there is a youtube vid that tells me enough about it to consider it a camper van stereo replacement.

Its not cheap at 150 quid, but its all about the sound not the price.  I think I'd have to hear it 1st before shelling out 350 quid for a whole rig.


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## skyscraper101 (Dec 28, 2013)

MiniRigs are made in Bristol too


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## Voley (Dec 30, 2013)

Sunray said:
			
		

> Go on the website, there is a youtube vid that tells me enough about it to consider it a camper van stereo replacement.
> 
> Its not cheap at 150 quid, but its all about the sound not the price.  I think I'd have to hear it 1st before shelling out 350 quid for a whole rig.



See, this is what always happens with me.  One minute I'm just idly wondering about 30 or 40 quids worth of speaker so I can have some tunes on in the bath. Next thing a 350 quid full subwoofer is on the cards.


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## Sunray (Dec 30, 2013)

pesh said:


> i'm really interested to hear the new minirig sub. I've spent hours, probably days listening to the minirigs and while the battery life is amazing, and sound it produces is lovely and clear and goes insanely loud, i could never deal with with the fact they cut the bass frequency range out totally below a certain, fairly high point. i find them quite tiring to listen to after a while.



Its less 'they' than the speaker being 10cm wide, it just can't move the air needed to get the bass you want.


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## Sunray (Dec 30, 2013)

NVP said:


> See, this is what always happens with me.  One minute I'm just idly wondering about 30 or 40 quids worth of speaker so I can have some tunes on in the bath. Next thing a 350 quid full subwoofer is on the cards.



You can do it bit by bit. You'll not be disappointed with one small speaker.


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## pesh (Dec 30, 2013)

Sunray said:


> Its less 'they' than the speaker being 10cm wide, it just can't move the air needed to get the bass you want.


it uses the same size driver as the minirig sub... and there are plenty of portable speakers using smaller drivers that go lower than the minirigs... it was definitely cut off at that point deliberately.


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## The39thStep (Dec 30, 2013)

I got this on a monarch flight last year for £40 , its really good for travelling 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1JQPDNQXN59FXE3R0TB8


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## Voley (Dec 30, 2013)

Sunray said:


> You can do it bit by bit. You'll not be disappointed with one small speaker.


Yes, I suppose that's always an option if this big Philips one I've bought doesn't do the trick. I'm intrigued by these mini-rigs now. Don't seem to be able to get them for under £150 atm and I've already spent double my budget.  I expect they'll be a bit cheaper after the Xmas rush. Anyhow, we'll see how the Philips one gets on. I reckon at 20 watts it's going to be more volume than I'll need in a tiny bathroom tbh. And I doubt I'll ever be transporting it further than the garden so I'm not that arsed about it being that portable.


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## teuchter (Dec 30, 2013)

Just get some proper speakers and an amp, cheap, secondhand. You can't get round the laws of physics and these miniature ones are never adequate. Some people think it's acceptable to have one of these things as the music system for a "party", with the result that you can barely hear anything if there are more than about ten people in the room.


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## Voley (Dec 30, 2013)

teuchter said:


> Just get some proper speakers and an amp, cheap, secondhand. You can't get round the laws of physics and these miniature ones are never adequate. Some people think it's acceptable to have one of these things as the music system for a "party", with the result that you can barely hear anything if there are more than about ten people in the room.


In a bathroom?


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## Sunray (Dec 30, 2013)

NVP said:


> Yes, I suppose that's always an option if this big Philips one I've bought doesn't do the trick. I'm intrigued by these mini-rigs now. Don't seem to be able to get them for under £150 atm and I've already spent double my budget.  I expect they'll be a bit cheaper after the Xmas rush. Anyhow, we'll see how the Philips one gets on. I reckon at 20 watts it's going to be more volume than I'll need in a tiny bathroom tbh. And I doubt I'll ever be transporting it further than the garden so I'm not that arsed about it being that portable.



http://minirigs.co.uk/portable-speaker

95 quid.


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## Sunray (Dec 30, 2013)

teuchter said:


> Just get some proper speakers and an amp, cheap, secondhand. You can't get round the laws of physics and these miniature ones are never adequate. Some people think it's acceptable to have one of these things as the music system for a "party", with the result that you can barely hear anything if there are more than about ten people in the room.



For 10 people you need something with grunt or for 20 need to hire some 500w self powered speakers.

I'd not be reaching for a minirig.	it looks a great alternative to a system in the van though.


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## Voley (Dec 30, 2013)

Sunray said:


> http://minirigs.co.uk/portable-speaker
> 
> 95 quid.


Keep clicking on 'Buy Now' - it takes you to Amazon where it's £160. There's one on Ebay for £150 but it's a lot of money imo.


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## beesonthewhatnow (Dec 30, 2013)

So, for a stereo plus mono bass mini rig system you have to pay something like 350 quid? Get to fuck


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## teuchter (Dec 30, 2013)

Sunray said:


> For 10 people you need something with grunt or for 20 need to hire some 500w self powered speakers.


For 20 people an average amp with some decently sized but inexpensive speakers will do just fine.


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## stuff_it (Dec 30, 2013)

This is where Minirig comes into it's own - when lots of people have one:


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## teuchter (Dec 30, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> This is where Minirig comes into it's own - when lots of people have one:
> 
> View attachment 45722


No, it really doesn't.
You can have a million small speakers and you'll still not get a proportionate low-frequency response. Just a deafening cacaphony of tinny noise.


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## stuff_it (Dec 30, 2013)

teuchter said:


> No, it really doesn't.
> You can have a million small speakers and you'll still not get a proportionate low-frequency response. Just a deafening cacaphony of tinny noise.


They really are very well engineered compared to similar other brands.


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## teuchter (Dec 30, 2013)

stuff_it said:


> They really are very well engineered compared to similar other brands.


And?


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## Sunray (Dec 30, 2013)

That blue speaker in the above set is a sub woofer .

Its not a tinny noise, have you listened to one?  Individually they lack bottom end but its still very high quality. Not heard the sub, but saw a vid that hinted it was great. 



NVP said:


> Keep clicking on 'Buy Now' - it takes you to Amazon where it's £160. There's one on Ebay for £150 but it's a lot of money imo.



Just checked the twitter feed and they cant make enough, out of stock till the 2nd Jan.


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## gentlegreen (Dec 30, 2013)

My bathroom speaker is an obsolete classroom cassette player that was destined for the skip - only about 8 watts, 8 inch speaker, but plenty loud enough.

When I first got my phone I was dead keen on getting a bluetooth link to save the earphone socket, but it seems to have survived being unplugged at least once a day as I use the phone itself as a bedside radio. I suppose I could bluetooth it into my PC speakers ..


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## Voley (Dec 31, 2013)

Well this arrived today and it's great:






Philips Fidelio P8 if you're interested:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-P8BLK-10-Bluetooth-Wireless/dp/B0096P8PV6

I've never used Bluetooth before but it hooked itself up for me with minimal fuss and the sound is really good for a speaker of its size. I think I would've felt a bit hard done by if I'd paid the original 200 quid asking price but it's worth the 100 I paid for it. I've got Poweramp http://powerampapp.com/ as my mp3 player app on my phone and that helps as the graphic equalizer on it is very good and allows for the decent bass I like. For a little room like my bathroom I'm only ever going to need it played at 2/3rds volume so I should be OK with it not shaking itself to bits like my other speaker. It wouldn't be any good for a proper party but it'll be good for barbeques and stuff in the Summer. Very pleased overall.


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## Onket (Dec 31, 2013)

Does using bluetooth drain your battery?


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## Voley (Dec 31, 2013)

Onket said:


> Does using bluetooth drain your battery?


Seems OK so far. Just had a look at the battery usage page after I'd been using it for a bit and it said it had used 2%. However I've noticed that if you go into 'power saving' mode on the phone it turns Bluetooth off so I guess it does use a fair bit.


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## Onket (Dec 31, 2013)

I had some bluetooth headphones and they seemed to hammer the battery.  I took them back but that wasn't the only thing I wasn't happy with.


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## Voley (Jan 1, 2014)

Onket said:
			
		

> I had some bluetooth headphones and they seemed to hammer the battery.  I took them back but that wasn't the only thing I wasn't happy with.



Just had a check on the battery use for the last 10 hrs use and bluetooth has used 18 percent of the battery. So not too bad.  If I'd had all 20 watts blaring away for all that time it'd be a different story I'd imagine.  Weirdly google maps used the most - 35 percent. I think this must be because I have it as the wallpaper.


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## Lord Camomile (Jan 1, 2014)

Duly added a Minirig to next year's Christmas list. Never too early to start


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## gentlegreen (Jan 1, 2014)

'


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## eoin_k (Apr 28, 2014)

Does anyone have a view on the Cambridge Audio Minx Go?

http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/minx-go-uk


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## sim667 (Apr 29, 2014)

Sunray said:


> *That blue speaker in the above set is a sub woofer .*
> 
> Its not a tinny noise, have you listened to one?  Individually they lack bottom end but its still very high quality. Not heard the sub, but saw a vid that hinted it was great.
> 
> ...


 
And the black one on the left.

I plan to get a minirig, but just.... money.

Plus I've got that boombox I built myself, sound quality is still better than a minirig, pita to carry though.


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## Sunray (Apr 29, 2014)

The size is the thing that makes the Minirig so great.


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## jakethesnake (Apr 29, 2014)

I got a Kitsound Hive speaker, around £45, that is pretty good, nice and bassy, does blue tooth and direct line-in.


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## Lord Camomile (Aug 23, 2014)

Lord Camomile said:


> Duly added a Minirig to next year's Christmas list. Never too early to start


Ended up getting it for my birthday  It's very cool


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## twentythreedom (Sep 26, 2014)

Just bought 2 x minirig speaker units and the subwoofer unit too, primarily for use on my boat. They are very impressive so far


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## souljacker (Sep 26, 2014)

jakethesnake said:


> View attachment 53019
> I got a Kitsound Hive speaker, around £45, that is pretty good, nice and bassy, does blue tooth and direct line-in.



There was one of these in the cottage we rented for our holiday this year. I was hugely impressed. Nice and loud with good bass. Charges using my phone USB cable too, which was a nice touch.


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## editor (Sep 26, 2014)

Might be worth a look - half price at £13
http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7d...BLUESPEAKCLICK&dm_i=18LS,2U5DH,DLQQAS,AAN0S,1



> *Product Features*
> 
> Compact, stylish & amazing sound: get the party started anywhere - ideal for lounge or bedroom, etc
> Suitable for Bluetooth phones / devices: Apple, Nexus, Nokia Sony, LG, Motorola BlackBerry, HTC, etc
> ...


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## twentythreedom (Sep 27, 2014)

24hrs later.. They're fucking excellent 

(Minirig set-up)


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## JTG (Sep 27, 2014)

Have had a Minirig for two years. People come over looking for the set up that's making all the noise and do double takes when they see the tiny thing on the floor 

Just get one, they're ace. Get two.


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## zenie (Sep 27, 2014)

JTG said:


> Have had a Minirig for two years. People come over looking for the set up that's making all the noise and do double takes when they see the tiny thing on the floor
> 
> Just get one, they're ace. Get two.


A hundred paaands????


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## danski (Sep 28, 2014)

I have a minirig for work as it's pretty robust and loud but decided on a Cambridge Audio Minx Go for at home (as I can move it around depending what I'm doing as opposed to the hifi stuck in one room) and I'm really impressed.


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## pocketscience (Sep 29, 2014)

+1 on the minirig.
love mine.


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## JTG (Nov 13, 2014)

JTG said:


> Have had a Minirig for two years. People come over looking for the set up that's making all the noise and do double takes when they see the tiny thing on the floor
> 
> Just get one, they're ace. Get two.


I just used some birthday money to get the subwoofer


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