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Sonic Impact SI-5 Flat Panel Portable Speakers (Blue)

Sonic Impact SI-5 Flat Panel Portable Speakers (Blue)

List Price: $99.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Mediocre sound but excellent portability
Review: (NOTE: the USB cable for the SI-5 is sold separately. Sonic Impact Technologies Gen2 is basically the same speaker but it comes with a USB cable.) The sound from these speakers is mediocre at best: lots of midrange, very little bass. They sound like cheap car speakers. However, I teach classes and like to start the day with some music, and these speakers are perfect for quiet background music from my PC. If your music software has an EQ, increase the volume on your PC to the max, keep the speaker volume at 5, boost the bass EQ a little, cut the mid EQ a lot, and boost the treble EQ a lot. They'll sound ok at low volume, and they're so small and light won't even notice you have them in your luggage.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: disappointed
Review: after reading the excellent reviews, i was very disappointed with the sound quality from these speakers. if you plan on playing them even slightly loud the distortion is incredible

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Absolutely horrible...
Review: And absolute waste of money. I threw them away. I am no audiophile by any stretch, but this is the worse sound I have heard from any speakers any time.

I don't care what kind of deal you may get on these, stay far away. They are not worth the effort of removing them from the box.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very good
Review: As far as small portable speakers go, these sound very good. Of all the portable speakers I've listened to or own/owned, I'd say that these are the second best as far as sound quality, with very rich and crisp sound. As with any small speakers like this, the bass is a little weak, but still pretty decent, especially for it's size.

My only real complaint is that the included amp/battery holder is a seperate unit rather than being integrated into the speakers themselves, which can be a little cumbersome since you have to deal with 3 parts, not including cables, instead of 2. Also, I think the plastic that they used is a little "cheapish" feeling.

Since I said "second best", you might be wondering what I found to be the first best. It was an older Sony model (I don't have the exact model number handy at the moment) which has since been discontinued and replaced by the Sony SRS-T77's, which was certainly a step down in quality from that previous model.

Anyway, pros and cons:

Pros:
Crisp, rich sound
Light weight
Relatively inexpensive
Sounds better than Sony SRS-T77, in my opinion

Cons:
Cheapish plastic
The seperate amp/battery holder can be a little cumbersome and would have been better if they had just built it into the speakers instead of making it a seperate part.
Bass could be a little better, but is still pretty decent for it's size

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best in a practically non-existant genre...
Review: Easily the best portable speakers out there and probably the only portable speakers that aren't more then glorified headphones. The sound is rich and full, although the bass will hardly rattle your teeth. The speakers are incrediably compact, about the size of a double cd jewel case. The I-Mac-esque color scheme is an aquired taste (Am I the only one that misses the days when computers and electronics only came in Black, Silver, and Putty?). For a pair of speakers to throw in with your laptop, MP3 Player, or portable CD player there's nothing better.

PROS - Superior sound
- Very Compact
- Easy to set up
- Fairly long battery life

CONS - [light] plasic and cardboard construction
- Somewhat pricy
- Weak bass
- Questionable looks.
- Seperate amplifier

This is a very good effort and I hope Sonic Impact tries again. Make it with heavier plastic, integrate the amplifier into one or both of the speakers, raise the bass a tad, bundle it with a compact DC adapter (or better yet a USB power option) and lower the price into the sub-50 dollar range and this would be a breakthrough product.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Portable with Not Great Sound
Review: Expectations for these speakers were very low, at $20 what could I possibly expect? They certainly look sweet, and are exactly the right size.

I've searched for a pair of good portable speakers for a very long time to connect to my portable DVD and CD players. These are not the perfect solution. They work just fine if you are the only one listening, try to boost the volume much and they fall apart quickly. They have a bit more bass than most, but still fall way short of ideal.

The wires are a major pain in the neck (three total that get very tangled). If you buy these, don't use the "Line Out" connetion, plug the mini jack into your headphone output and run the player volume up to about middle volume. It seems all wrong (two amplifiers instead of one), but in fact the sound is much better.

Overall, sort of cool design, light weight, small, and not great sound.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great for the Price
Review: For 20$, these are very impressive little speakers. They look a lot chaper than they sound; the cardboard-like grill did not impress me. But, give them a chance, they impressed me a lot once I truned them on (and I am an audiophile). The mid bass and the highs are much cleaner than I expected. There is no deep bass, but I expected that. Also, the surround effect is nice especially when you have the spakers placed on your work table at near-ear level. Great for travel as they are very compact. However, if you want pounding bass you should maybe look into a subwoofer design, but then again those will not be so compact and inexpensive :) Good job, Sonic!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: disappointed
Review: I am a musician. I found these speakers to be very limited in range. I bought them because of the raving reviews by ... customers. They are very high ended, lacking in mid-range, and have no low end sound.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Good sound, but didn't last long
Review: I bought these speakers to take on vacations with my MP3 player, and they actually have pretty good sound for their size. However, after only two uses, one of the speakers lost its sound unless you press on the face of it. I would suggest buying any other speakers but these!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Save your money
Review: I bought these speakers to use with my notebook computer. the computer's speakers sound better, and are louder. Used with my Mp3 player, they put out a crackling sound before a usable volume is reached. No Bass, little volume and 360 degrees of bad sound.


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