Dramatially improve sound from Z (and most Sony crap audio) at reasonable cost

Like all Z owners, I find the sound appalling and am always looking for ways to improve it, short of using headphones or hard wiring it to a 5.1 or 7.1 home system. I have recently made it a project to look for alternatives and, after buying/trying quite a few products, I have 3 products to recommend highly:

1) Creative Labs D100 Bluetooth stereo speaker system , in one box - think small boom box - for as low as $62.99 Tried some others Cnet review of BT speakers but found this to be the best price/performance/convenience option. The sound is really quite good (and can be improved upon with SRS software, see below), and the range is easily 20 ft (longer from a computer BT than a phone). It's small enough that it's pretty easy to find a place to stick it and get good sound anywhere in a room.

2) Logitech Z305 $35 reviewed by our own NBR and byCNET is a USB-driven (short cord sufficient to reach USB port from top of laptop screen) tube-shaped stereo system small enough to clip onto the top of a laptop screen without blocking the webcam (works fine on my Z11) making it easy to take this with you and have good sound whether for desktop presentations or hotel room movies. It doesn't have the bass or depth of the Creative D100, but you can't beat it for portability and the practicality of the clip-on design is unparalleled. I'd say it sounds as good as any laptop audio I have heard, including the Dell XPS and HP Envy 17.

3) To further improve the sound of these, or any internal laptop audio (except the Zs' - there's just nothing there to improve!) SRS Labs has a software audio processor, Audio Essentials , which does a remarkably good job of enhancing the sound on any audibly challenged laptop speaker system, as well as enhancing the already good sound of the two add-on speakers I recommend above, for a paltry $20. It is especially good at adding bass where lacking from most laptop speakers but also makes significant improvements on the Creative D100 described above, removing its somewhat muddy sound and making it crisp and clear, even in the bass octaves, where the D100 is pretty good for its sound and price, but tends to lack definition. For a software-only audio post-processing product, it does far more than an equalizer control and is well worth the $20 it costs. In fact, if you start with at least decent internal audio, this software may be all you'll need to make it listenable without headphones, which the SRS also improves. There is a free download version, but you don't get the feel for all it is capable of, as it doesn't allow you to use the control panel to fine tune its audio characteristics.

Hope this is helpful to some of you. By all means add your own favorites to this thread. I can say with confidence, though, that if you buy either of the speaker systems I endorse, better yet with the SRS Audio Essentials, you will be blown away by the difference, coming from the tin foil drivers of the Z1 and Z2 - and, for that matter, virtually any Sony laptop and many others as well.

 

jawbone jambox is what i use.

 

Yes, that's on a lot of peoples' favorites list. But it costs about $150, I think, and though the sound is amazing for its tiny size, I did not find it to sound as good as either of the two that topped my list. Can't go wrong with it, though, if you don't mind the $. It will beat pretty much any laptop's internal sound.

 

The Z305's sound better? Purchased them on sale, soley because of the price last week, should arrive this week. Now i'm actually excited

 

Hope you're not disappointed now. I think they have better bass and mid-range, and better dispersion of sound due to their directionality being right and left. I do recommend you try the SRS software as well. Earlier versions (eg, "Sandbox" were not nearly as good; Audio Essentials is almost like adding a sound card.

Let us know.