Twelve South's BassJump subwoofer improves your MacBook experience via USB, not parachute
By Tim Stevens 
posted November 24th 2009 8:56AM
posted November 24th 2009 8:56AM
posted November 24th 2009 8:56AM
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Only for Macs boring..................
How about Dropping that Zero for a PC Hero U knowwww
Might be a bit of overkill, but would compliment the already great sounding speakers in the macbook pro. I wouldn't mind if it was smaller though, maybe about as thick as the laptop and as deep so it would fit in a laptop bag.
@RJMajestic But then it wouldn't make a lot of sense anymore. Good subwoofers are rather big and heavy. The bigger and heavier the subwoofer, the lower the bass. Which is the point of a subwoofer, IMHO. Judging by the specs this thing might be a decent compromise between size and sound, well, if the sound is good of course.
I'm impressed that they give the frequency range. Even at what db it reaches these values (otherwise the numbers would be kind of pointless), though I usually prefer -2dB or -3dB. However: -6dB at 50Hz-20kHz with a single 77mm speaker... 20 kHz? This is supposed to be a subwoofer, right? Though the speaker is tiny, and -6dB isn't that difficult to achieve. 50 Hz at -6dB... so I'd say maybe 60 Hz at -3dB...? Not exactly what I would call a subwoofer, but it should definitely help most notebook speakers.
I agree this would be better, but for portability it would be nice to see a small tube sub, maybe 2 inch by 8 inch or so.
Way to tell 91% of computer users that you really don't want their money.
@LAY Except Apple now has a lot more than just 10% of the laptop market!
USB isnt unique to the overpriced laptop market.
@LAY Are you suggesting anyone would use this with a desktop?
are you suggesting that anyone would want to use this period?
nice idea, but 80 bucks is a joke.
typical apple-accessoire-ripoff.
id rather get two of these ball-shaped mini-speakers.
@(Unverified) Which will have no bass... at all. This makes more sense, then.
It is pretty good looking, and certainly any laptop could use better low end, but the macbook speakers do sound pretty great, especially taking into account that they're IN the keyboard. Always gets me how good they sound given that fact.
That said, I don't think:
-I could spend $80 on these
-I'd ever be somewhere where I'd want to/have space to set up a subwoofer and not either have my home stereo accessible or a nice pair of headphones with me
-I could spend $80 on this and not another semi-decent pair of headphones for traveling, or at least a pair of crappy 2.1 speakers.
Where is the vote button for the article title? Brilliant.
@(Unverified) Agreed
Like my MBP has an extra USB port...
@greenythebeast
It needs to be a USB hub too...
WOW.
This isn't strictly on-topic but while I never thought that the speakers on my MacBook Pro were good, boy, did I get a shock when I got my new Dell Latitude for work. The speakers on the MBP are brilliant in comparison to the horrible things on the Dell and I am seriously missing them since I am no longer permitted to use the Mac in the office. However, if I did want better sound from the Mac then I'd get a proper set of speakers rather than simply adding to the speakers in the Mac itself. Currently I have a set of JBL Creatures for this job.
@Kelmon Haven't heard the MBP speakers yet, but the ones on my Dell Vostro 1400 are vastly superior (louder, more bass, ...) over anything else I have heard, including the old white MacBook. But of course it sucks compared to real speakers.
Indeed, I don't want to suggest that the speakers in my MBP are good, just that the speakers in some laptops are so shockingly bad such that I'd rather have silence than listen to them offend music. Mind you, the Dell is made for work and it was cheap so I suppose I shouldn't expect Bose or the like...
@Kelmon
They wont let you use boot camp to run windows? That stinks. Maybe they just want all employees to use the same equipment.
Haha, I paid around $60 (including shipping) for my 5.1 surround sound Logitech system, and it sounds a lot better than that. Not that the macbook could run my speakers either :)
@(Unverified) Yeah the computer sending the sound signal has nothing to do with the sound system. That's what an "amplifier" is for.
@(Unverified) WTF are you basing that on? Nothing, I assume. I've heard several different logitech 5.1 systems, they're all terrible. Better than not having speakers at all, but terrible. They never actually have surround inputs, it's usually just a crappy crossover feeding the sub. I'd take macbook speakers any day of the week, but preferably headphones that's where the definition is anyhow.
MacBook as pictured only has one speaker underneath, pointing down... not anywhere as good as MacBook Pro, and certainly not worth adding a virtual-woofer to. Better just get a complete speaker system instead.
@mfr Not true, the MacBook has two speakers, altough they are far from engadget's "generally quite good". The one with the single speaker is the MacBook Air.
This is very similar (in function, not style) to Apple's old iSub offering, which was a subwoofer add-on to their jellybean iMac line. It's a fantastic, albiet overpriced, solution to getting drastically better sound out of an AIO desktop or laptop without cluttering your space with external speakers and wires.
They should make this thing work with the Apple LED Cinema Display, and cut the price in half. Then I would buy it.
If you tie it to the end of a stick it becomes a +1 mace
Good idea really, but $80 is a premium I just don't see most people throwing down.
I'd buy one if it were half the price.
I've got a Twelve South Book Arc (http://www.maconestopshop.co.uk/twelve-south-book-arc-desktop-stand-for-macbook.html) and if it's the same quality as that it should be excellent. Everything from the packaging to the actual product was top class.
MacBook Air, a workhorse? Thats a good one.
Like the concept, but the price is a bit high. I'd just spend $20 more and get Swans M10.