Is it worth buying a portable speaker instead of a regular one...

Is it worth buying a portable speaker instead of a regular one? I'm looking to spend ~100$ and the price gap between portable speakers and regular speakers that I've been suggested seems to big to bridge.
>tl;dr Is the quality of portable speakers so much worse then that of regular speakers that it is actually worth spending a couple hundred dollars the regular speakers instead of the portable speakers.

Other urls found in this thread:

amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BT-Bluetooth-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B016PATXSI/ref=zg_bs_3236451011_4
twitter.com/AnonBabble

*To buy the regular speakers*

You can buy some perfectly fine bookshelf speakers for under $100 and quite a bit less. You've probably been recommended high end studio monitors but even reasonable versions of those can be got for only a little over $100

i don't know how people can listen to those pieces of shit. Every Bluetooth speaker I've heard has terrible frequency response and tons of distortion. Just save up and get something decent

What bluetooth speakers did you buy and how much did you spend on them?

In your experience, do those bookshelf speakers sound better than portable speakers of the same cost?

portable speakers are the even more retarded siblings of tv sound bars, you can't get any worthwhile sound and no stereo imaging out of them at all
just use headphones if you want something portable

I don't buy them myself, but have heard several from friends and they always suck

I'm not too serious of a listener so I don't think the whole no stereo thing would affect me that much.
Also, I've had OK headphones for the past 2-3 years and I've grown a bit bored of using them.

why are you asking us if you don't care how it sounds?

I still care how it sounds, but the absence of stereo is a given. If I've gone as far as to consider purchasing a portable speaker, I've probably already gotten over the lack of stereo.

Maybe I understated how "serious" of a listener I am, sorry.

Get PB42X's.

They're great powered bookshelf speakers for ~$100

you could probably just get 2 wireless speakers if you want stereo.

stereo separation isn't just about imaging it actually makes even mono recordings sound better because of the averaging of sound between the separate speakers

well, no
a set of good speakers has a good phantom middle which means it sounds the same as if it was coming from a single speaker

OP here
These look good amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BT-Bluetooth-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B016PATXSI/ref=zg_bs_3236451011_4
Opinions?

edifier is complete trash, almost as bad as logitech

How so? Also, the reviews?

amazon reviews? are you serious?
these speakers are worth like $40

I don't have space for decent stereo speakers right now, so I'm using a portable speaker, JBL charge 2+ to be precise. It's decent but it sucks to have it as a main music listening device. You have the option of using a cable to connect to whatever device you use, you don't have to connect it via bluetooth. That makes the sound a lot better, but it's still nothing compared to a decent stereo. Overall music just doesn't sound as impressive. I'm going to use Swans' Bring the Sun as an example because it's one of the songs I used for comparison. When listened to on a decent system it sounds vast, grand and intense. On a portable speaker it just sounds annoying and uninteresting. Other music like most hip hop and r&b sounds fairly decent on a portable speaker like the one I have.
Keep in mind that a portable speaker is not designed to be used as a stereo replacement, even a good sounding portable speaker is just that - a portable speaker. They're ok if you only listen to a specific genre like hip hop or edm, but I take it since you're on Sup Forums that you listen to a variety of genres, so be aware that you are going to miss out on a lot of stuff in the music you plan on listening to. Only buy the portable speaker as a last resort.

a pair of dayton 652 or micca mb42x with a little lepai amp outperforms these by miles for like 50 bucks less

Yes avoid anything with tone control directly on the speakers. That should be handled way before it gets there, only the pure signal should be dealt with by the speaker.

Thanks!
I'm probably going to get a bookshelf speaker for ~100$ in that case.
I'm a bit skeptical due to the price (the mb42x is 60$ on Amazon). Are they really that good?

I forgot to ask, how is the bass with the mb in particular? Is listening to hip hop or anything bass heavy still good/satisfactory?

just copped this

:)))))

I have that exact speaker in pic related and its great, loud enough for what i need and crystal clear.

The only thing that i can say is that some my friends have said that it is quieter than some wired ones they have heard but not for the clarity, battery life and portability of that speaker

Just to be clear, you need an amp to use bookshelf speakers with a computer, right?

if they're 'normal' as in passive speakers then yes

How is it in comparison with bookshelf speaker?

*s

If I'm buying relatively cheap bookshelf speakers, what kind of amp should I get? How much of my speaker's performance relies on the amp?

I have a Bose one (pic). It's a bit pricey but the best for casual listening if you're looking for good sounding audio at moderate volume. JBL ones like in your pic are pretty good too, but lack in sound quality (you can hear the difference pretty clearly; just go to a Best Buy or wherever and see the difference). The downside to these things though are how loud they can get. If you're looking for loudness, don't bother. You're better off getting a stereo system.
Oh, and the battery life on them are shit-tier.

In terms of music quality, how does the bookshelf speaker compare to the portable one?

kek

i have the taller plastic covered version of this (soundlink color?) and i'm pretty happy with it, definitely the best portable speaker i've used. that said my headphones are way better in almost all circumstances. if you're looking for a smallish source of decent quality sound with pretty good volume, this is probably one of the better options. in most cases i'd say just get good headphones or a nice stereo