Customer Reviews

Sony SRST1 Computer Speakers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought my first one of these about ten years ago (to give you an idea of how long that is, the instructions show you how to connect it to your Walkman). It's still going strong. I bought a second one because Amazon (actually Wall Street photo) offered me a great deal, and it's worth having a spare.

Out of the box the speakers sound terrible. You need to kick up the bass on your player, and tweak the positioning a bit (the tweeters fold down, so you can face them in the same direction as the bass, or backwards). The system actually sounds best on a bookshelf (to give it some additional resonance), and, depending on the music, it may also be best to fold down the tweeters and let them bounce off the back. It's also optimized for voice range, so folk and swing sound better than heavy metal or disco.

Cosmetically, the speaker isn't pretty (not so much retro as orthopedic). So?

I ordered these speakers to use with my Sony portable DVD player. I only paid $14.99 for them on sell, and that is all they are really worth. There isn't much tonal range and the sound quality is a bit distorted. The quality is only slightly better than that of the built in speakers of the portable DVD player. They work okay for the small area I intended to use them in, but I ended up getting an inexpensive pair of Sony headphones (MDR-V150 Monitor Series Headphones) and enjoy the full stereo sound they provide over the output of these speakers.

When you put fresh batteries in this, it sounds good for a couple hours (the louder you listen, the quicker the batteries drain). But the batteries quickly drain to the point of the speakers distorting a higher volumes. So if you like to listen to this at a decent volume, you won't get much time out of the batteries prior to the speakers starting to distort.

After learning that the batteries wouldn't get me very far at decent volumes I started searching for a compatible power supply for when I had access to wall outlets. Unfortunately, the cost of a compatible power supply (which is NOT included) matches the cost of the unit itself. So if you buy this AND a compatible power supply - you are looking at $40. There are much better options than this in the $40 dollar range.

If you just want something that runs only on batteries, and you primarily listen at pretty low volumes - then you will be happy with this unit. Otherwise, I would suggest that you keep looking.

Also to be noted. The cable coming off the speaker (the one that plugs into your iPod) is hard wired to the speaker. It cannot be detached. So if a short develops in that cord,...then the unit is trash (unless you want to waste time hard wiring a new $5 cord into a unit that only cost $20 total).

I bought a version of this speaker to take on a rough overseas trip to the S. Pacific over 8 years ago.
Not only did it survive the trip, but I still use it. This speaker gets love...

Keep these coming. They are the best portable "mickey" for travel and the very best sound!!