Multimedia speakers, JBL, Altec Lansing, Edirol, Bose...

[Topfloormix]

Hello, this is my first post here I believe.

I am looking for a pair of cheap multimedia speakers, powered, clean, and reasonably flat, i.e; I don't want anything with huge silly "bass", in fact, no bass IS good.

My favorite tiny 'reference" box, it a little Roberts radio, model R 881, it's quite old, and the similar Roberts in that series, will have similar sound. Unfortunately, there is no input, and the newer Roberts model, have those silly huge bass, we tried to get a new one for Christmas, and even the Lady couldn't take it. Fact is, tracks sound amazing on this tiny radio, there is no bass, it's mono, and you can hear straight away if the tracks were mixed properly. I even called Roberts in the UK, it was not possible to talk to their engineer, I was hoping to get some help to mod it to get an input for cross referencing the mixes...

Well, I'll say, it's actually quite pleasant to hear music through this tiny radio, which is rare, you can hear the low end nicely, dance music, hip hop etc, all sound great, yet, the speaker is ridiculously small! Yes, it's possible, they have done it.
For those interested, those radios are like the "World traveller" type, with FM, MW and SW.

Ok, to the point, we are looking for something similar to use on a MacBook. Unfortunately, there are no Pro reviews for tiny multimedia speakers, and I thinks it is quite important for cross reference purpose. Also, you cannot walk in a store, and try all the tiny speakers, as you would do with proper monitors in a proper music shop.

One option is to try them all at home, well, this is not possible, obviously. The other option is to ask here, and see if anyone is on the same wavelength and understand the purpose, and where I am coming form.

What I have seen but not heard so far, all around the same price range:
JBL On Tour
Bose Companion 2 V2
Altec Lansing XT1, XT2 and the NEW Orbit
JBL Spot 2.1 (might be fine if we can manage/cut the sub, these are the only set with a sub that I would consider, because it looks quite small)
Edirol MA-15 and MA-7 (a bit too big I think)
Behringer MS16 and MS20 (a bit too big I think)

I am not interested by the look at all, but portability and sound reproduction/balance is the most important, the smallest here seem to be the JBL on tour and the Altec Lansing Orbit, and the biggest are the Edirol and Behringer, the JBL Spot 2.1 with the sub is interesting, it looks quite discreet and compact, the satellites are small, and the sub doesn't look obstructive.

Has anyone heard any of these, and/or what are you using, and/or what would you recommend otherwise, for this type of application, cross referencing on tiny speakers.
We have some Genelecs 8020 in case you mention these, and as small as they look, the sound coming out of them, is BIG. They are very nice indeed, yes, but, still looking for something much smaller, with much less bass. I know it's a compromise, because for instance, there could be a set with more bass, but with an accurate balance, on the other hand, there could be a tiny set with no bass at all, but with too much highs and or mids in proportion with the rest of the spectrum. It's funny how we don't have such systems being reviewed these days, it's becoming so important. A necessity I would say. It will come, me think.

Thanks for reading this long post, and in case you are still confused, this post is not about expensive small speakers, it's about which set will give you the best reproduction/balance for that kind of size. Even if we have a low end starting at 150/250Hz. For those who think I am crazy, get yourself a Roberts radio on eBay, while you can, and hear for yourself. Anything that looks like the one I mentioned, same era/type/features, they will all have the same sound/speaker. I think they have done very well. But it looks like the company has been bought, and it's going to be the end for those radios, all their new models have plenty more bass... tutt