Crystal USB Desktop Speakers look good, probably sound bad

Not a lot here that you can't already make out for yourself, but we'll give ya the down low, anyway. The Crystal USB Desktop Speakers are powered via USB 2.0 and only pack 1-watt per channel, yet somehow, they're touted as "audiophile" grade. The product description rambles on in embarrassing fashion about just how amazing these things will sound, but seriously, we'd just be happy with the decently cool looks (yes, we're being generous here) and relatively low $39.99 price tag.

[Via Random Good Stuff]

[maxxx @ Aug 16th 2008 11:17AM]

ew

[Mr Epic Hero @ Aug 16th 2008 11:19AM]

Bet they A) don't get very loud B) sound like excrement leaving a donkey's hindquarters. For $40 I would go for logitech's offering.

BUT THEY LOOK COOL.

[Aguiluz @ Aug 16th 2008 12:26PM]

Just add LED lights! RGB that can change color when you like.

[Rocketboy @ Aug 18th 2008 12:40PM]

http://www.dansdata.com/nf01.htm

At guessing, you fail.

[Macro @ Aug 16th 2008 11:19AM]

Probably aren't terrible they look like aluminum drivers.

[imacmatt09 @ Aug 16th 2008 11:47AM]

+1

They probably sound pretty decent, at least at loser volumes. Anything too high and they would get pretty distorted. I have an ipod dock with similar drivers and it sounds quite good. But this thing looks ugly as hell.

[Adoniteking @ Aug 16th 2008 1:28PM]

They forgot to mention that they are made from ice and you are advised to use immediately after purchase...comes with a whopping 3minutes warranty!

[TavisJohn @ Aug 16th 2008 1:46PM]

Looks more like painted plastic/paper drivers to me...

[Zinger314 @ Aug 16th 2008 11:19AM]

Screw an engagement ring, my technophile girlfriend will LOVE these! :D

[andres @ Aug 16th 2008 12:06PM]

and thus, the internet ruins another marriage

[farfisa @ Aug 16th 2008 11:26AM]

...aaaand they don't even look good.

[brandon @ Aug 16th 2008 11:29AM]

Can anyone say, "Shittophile grade"???

[dionysusd @ Aug 16th 2008 11:39AM]

I think I can build my own with a few empty salt shakers

[lu1de @ Aug 16th 2008 11:40AM]

and they waste 1 USB port instead of using that dedicated thingy for speakers

[Wicker24 @ Aug 16th 2008 12:11PM]

The USB is what's powering them.

[blackbeatgroove @ Aug 16th 2008 12:21PM]

1 Watt, are these for kids? They look pretty much like telescopes to me.

[zargon @ Aug 16th 2008 1:12PM]

Watts are not the most important element for replicating sound. There is a lot more to it than just watts, people have this crazy notion that bigger is better right, but that is not always the case. It doesn't help that there is no standard required for rating amps, mediocre amps companies like Sony use rating systems that make their amps have more watts per channel. While companies like Harmon and Kardon use a system that actually gives them a lower rating (their receivers usually fall in the range of 45 watts per channel) than what they maybe actually deserve.

Watts is just a measurement of power, but does not specifically mean that a 400 watt system is louder than a 200 watt system. Efficiency, sensitivity, dispersion and speakers range contribute to the overall loudness of a speaker. On top of that, you have to factor in quality of the sound being produced, what good are loud speakers if they distort? You also have to factor in that you have to double the watts to gain enough dbs, 3, for the human ear to even be able to distinguish. Since doubling is exponential, it becomes useless to even try to keep up very quickly.

I have heard tube amps that are low wattage, under 20 or even 10 that destroy my marantz SR-8000 receiver amps (105 watts per channel) and even my Anthem MCA20's (200 watts per channel), granted they cost a lot more, but it just goes to show that watts are not the end all and more does not equal better.

[LarryLarryLarry @ Aug 16th 2008 8:24PM]

The bottom line is that the speaker cone itself is always the weakest link in the audio chain from source to ear. These tiny speakers have no chance of reproducing long waves (bass frequencies). So the speakers are going to sound like crap. 1 Watt or 1000 Watts, you have to use a speaker cone bigger than a USB connector to get decent sound.

The whole product is just a terrible idea.

[Bad Beaver @ Aug 16th 2008 11:43AM]

They'd look nice in Barbie's Dreamhouse.

[happy_penguin @ Aug 16th 2008 11:52AM]

They probably have a very clean full sound from the mid to upper range. You would need a sub to go with this.

[computer.dude.28 @ Aug 16th 2008 11:54AM]

(on the thinkgeek page)
They spelled "bass" "base" and thus automatically lost all "audiophile" credibility.

[Ladderless @ Aug 16th 2008 12:08PM]

So you're implying that they had some credibility to begin with?!?

[Ayle @ Aug 16th 2008 12:10PM]

Last time I checked the G4 Cube speakers were also transparent and didn't sound bad at all.

[lesnessman @ Aug 16th 2008 12:17PM]

Dan's Data reviewed these.

[lesnessman @ Aug 16th 2008 12:18PM]

Oh, ha ha, HTML doesn't work cause I'm a fool. http://www.dansdata.com/nf01.htm

[lesnessman @ Aug 16th 2008 12:21PM]

er, last comment didn't post, so just in case, here's the link I mungled: http://www.dansdata.com/nf01.htm

[Benjamin Dawson @ Aug 16th 2008 12:27PM]

Dan's Data had a great review of these one year ago. http://www.dansdata.com/nf01.htm

[AlphaTeam @ Aug 16th 2008 12:29PM]

Okay I bought a 2-pack of Phillips off woot and they look and have more power than these!

[Phil M. @ Aug 16th 2008 12:32PM]

They look like the Salt & Pepper Shakers on my table...

[MadMike @ Aug 16th 2008 12:36PM]

The average Jane/Joe user probably can't tell the difference between those speakers and say a set of NHT classics. Besides not *all* computer speakers are bad. I have a set of those logitech 5.1's with the wireless rear speakers. I replaced the front left and right with custom built cabinets I made with a set of Phoenix Gold Competition R 6.5" 2 way component speakers (I had a left-over set in my basement) and I replaced the center with 2 Audiobahn 6.5" 3-ways in a custom cabinet (I got them for free). They sound fine, and all with $50 from home depot to make the cabinets, and they were easy to build. And hey, my wife was happy because I got them out of the basement....

[TheWeirdTurnPro @ Aug 16th 2008 12:37PM]

Hey I could buy these, I could also Blowtorch my nipples off had I been misled as much as there attempting

[Chris Macdonald @ Aug 19th 2008 7:14AM]

am I the only one here who thinks maybe engadget should test them before they ramble on about how badly they "probably" sound?

[ceokey @ Aug 16th 2008 1:23PM]

very cool,the style are very neat and fashionable

[TavisJohn @ Aug 16th 2008 1:49PM]

They are not really USB POWERED, they are connected to a USB Soundcard. You will probably get the same loudness (Or more) if you connect them directly to your soundcard directly.

I do not see a volume knob, so that tells me that they are not really "Powered" speakers anyway.

[Twatter @ Aug 16th 2008 6:19PM]

ok for portable use, but no miracles. speaker design has not had a massive jump in tech, its still relies on the basics, and if you sacrifice size and design for looks, sound suffers.

[Martin Carlsson @ Aug 17th 2008 5:38AM]

Can they be played by an iPhone?

[tekdroid @ Aug 17th 2008 12:52PM]

the 39.99 price tag is not what I would call relaltively low. You'd be surprised how cheap a (mains-powered) subwoofer and two speakers go for these days. These things are essentially throwaway items ($5), one step up from being bundled in cereal boxes. I guess the 'unique' look is all about making it seem special when it isn't.

[Dick Cheung @ Aug 18th 2008 12:00PM]

UNIQUE HUMP NF02 on Kontrabass (15)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQnnksf7-Uw
Watching it bounce!!

[Adam Williamson @ Aug 18th 2008 2:14PM]

Out of the way, I'm a doctor!

No, wait, I'm not, but I do have something everyone else in this thread has (an opinion) and something apparently no-one else in this thread has (a pair of these speakers). I bought them after Dan of Dan's Data reviewed them (as others have linked above), as he's rarely steered me wrong. And again, he didn't in this case.

Okay, point the first: these speakers do not "sacrifice size and design for looks". They are small not because small looks good but because...the makers wanted to make some good small speakers, not some good big ones. There's lots of good big speakers. Before these came along, there were exactly no good small ones (whoever just said Bose, leave now in shame). The point is some people want small speakers sometimes - people who are on the road a lot and don't like wearing headphones all the time, or whatever. There is a market for 'full'-range speakers that are small not because of aesthetics but because of portability or space fitting or whatever. As for design, the design and build of the speakers is actually for functionality, not for looks. They're built the way they look for a reason - see Dan's review for details.

Point the second: they do sound remarkably good for their size. No, they are not going to be anywhere near as good as an even ho-hum pair of full-size speakers (they can't touch my completely off-brand yum-cha Chinese 'hi-fi' speakers I got for a second system for $30 from an import/export overstock store, never mind the $300 Paradigm Mini Monitors on my main system). They're about as big as a credit card, for Pete's sake. By the same token, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to fit my amplifier and Paradigms in a courier bag along with a weekend's worth of clothes and a laptop. Horses for courses, folks, horses for courses. But *for their size* they sound fine, there's no bass below a couple of hundred Hz, of course, but unless you listen to nothing but hip-hop this is not in fact a deal breaker. They're reasonably accurate and detailed in the rest of the frequency spectrum. They obviously can't get very loud at all, but again, for personal listening at close range (which is what these are intended for that doesn't really matter. They are very definitely a lot better than any other pair of 'full'-range speakers of the same size you've ever listened to. Heck, they're better than the much bigger iPod dock-cum-battery-powered-speakers a lot of people take out to the beach / picnic / whatever, but they probably don't have enough volume for that kind of use.

If this type of product is something you actually want - a very small pair of USB-powered speakers - for whatever reason, then this is probably the one to get, especially at this nice price. If what you want is a full hi-fi system for your dorm room / living room / underground secret lair, then this is obviously not the product for you, but that does not make it bad, it just means it's meant for someone else.

And finally, as someone else mentioned, most 'watt' measurements mean exactly nothing. *Accurate* 'watt' measurements tell you exactly nothing besides how loud a system can get, and it's worth noting that most listening is done at levels comfortably under 10W. Just because your $99 home-theater-in-a-box system from Best Buy says 12,000 Watts! on the box does not make it good. Sorry.

[ikebana @ Aug 19th 2008 6:57AM]

These speakers are very impressive. They simple look great. I just wanted to have them for my desktop.

http://www.audio-news.co.uk