Creative TravelSound 200 Portable Speaker System

A detailed review from an audio guys point of view.This is an impressive set of amplified speakers considering their small size. They provide a nice, full sound covering all the notes from the highest high down to about 150Hz in the bass region just like the specs say. 150Hz is not low bass by any means but the overall sound is surprisingly accurate and clear.Songs (or voice recordings) sound just like they should with no problems. The amp itself is completely quiet with no coloration or hiss at any volume.2 watts/channel (4 watts total) is more than enough to fill the average room with sound. Of course there is not a lot of bass but their is enough for songs to sound natural.Some tests with a Fluke 83 multimeter showed that it only takes about .2-.4 watts to equal the output of my TV at an average listening level. Since it has 4 watts to work with it can crank pretty well putting out clean sounds up to a maximum of 97dB in my listening room. It can go slightly louder on songs with reduced bass content but that is the average limit on a variety of music which is just fine for a unit of this size.I did some frequncy response tests with an audio meter set to C weighting which samples the full audio range.A sine wave function generator was used as the input to the TravelSound 200. Readings were taken at 12" rather than the usual 3' used for large speakers.Relative output vs frequency chart, 0dB reference at 400Hz:10Khz 0 dB5Khz +3 dB1.5Khz +2 dB1.0Khz +1 dB500hz +1 dB400Hz 0 dB300Hz 0 dB200Hz -1 dB150Hz -3 dB100Hz -8 dB90Hz -12 dB80Hz -15 dB70Hz -25 dBThat shows a nice flat response down to 150Hz where it drops off quickly. There is a little output even at 100Hz but it's basically all done at that point which is expected. The little speakers try really hard and get moving a fair amount when driven hard.Maximum Output vs Frequency chart:This is not the same as frequency reponse shown above. This shows the maximum volume at various notes limited by the speaker moving past it's linear range (distorting) or the amplifier clipping the peaks of the notes.Frequency - Loudness:10Khz Ouch! Hurts ears.1.0Khz 101 dB500hz 100 dB400Hz 100 dB300Hz 99 dB200Hz 96 dB170Hz 90 dB150Hz 88 dB130Hz 85 dB100Hz 77 dB90Hz 76 dB80Hz 75 dB70Hz 73 dB60Hz 70 dBThis shows the speaker system as a whole has signiicant output from 200Hz and above.Current Draw measurements (to determine battery life)0mA when off.17mA at Idle50mA at low music level., volume at 2100mA average listening level, volume at 4300mA This is quite loud ~ 95dB volume at 7500mA At full volume.Using 2500mA-Hr rechargeable NiMH AA's I would expect:50 hours of battery life at low volume25 hours at medium4 hours at full volume.(It should run about 6 days if you forget to turn it off) :-)Formula example: 2500mA-hr/100mA = 25 hours.The Creative Labs Travelsound 200 sounds very good for most applications requiring medium sound from a small package. I can honestly recommend it and I many years experience in audio and electronics to base that on.It can be connected to any audio device that has a typical stereo 1/8" (3.5mm) line out or headphone level output such as casstte walkmans, tape decks, CD players, MP3 players, computer sound cards, etc.This particular package does not include the AC adaptor. The unit itself has a 5V DC jack so one can be added.

I think this vendor should emphasize that there is not a AC adapter in the purchase and that it is strictly run by battery. My office ordered one similar to this one, but the company included the AC adapter, so I expected for this one to have one also. Then, to complicate things, we tried to find an AC adapter through the Creative TravelSound, they could not help us. We had to search around a bit to find other sources, and found that if we did order one it would have cost us an additional $40 or more. After looking around we found that a local Walmart had an adapter that would fit this model.

First of all, this will not "blow you away" with the sound quality. But it's battery driven, (a/c adapter sold separately) and it's relatively cheap, and much louder and crisper than the laptop speakers on my powerbook g4. Not much bass, but the 'wide' sound effect is pretty nifty, and you can get by with these in watching a movie on your laptop.I do wish that it had an option to be powered by USB, and that the a/c adapter was included.If you are looking for more bass, don't get these. If you are looking for better sound than your laptops that don't cost too much, get these.

Hey this has a great sound. You can even feel the stereo sound.Keep in mind it is a small and portable device which has a really good sound, don't expect a deep bass like some people do.Especially if you like to listen to musing at your office at a decent volume. It will perform very good even at a high volumes. Very nice to have.

I am very happy with these speakers. They provide good sound for the size of the speakers, have fairly long run time on batteries, and are very convenient. For those who did not rate this high, I offer the following. Know what you're buying. These speakers will work with any mp3 player and are not specific to a particular creative player, so no there is no specific place to dock your player. No, these will not fill a room with sound, unless the room is as big as a closet. If you want giant Klipsch speakers, then buy those, but I dare you to try and fit them in your briefcase and backpack and cart them along with you. These speakers allow you to listen to your tunes with good sound in a small environment, such as a small office, an office cubicle, a small dorm room, etc. The sound is very pleasant for their size and the current price is just right. You will need to buy an ac adapter, if you want one as it is not provided. Highly recommended for small portable speakers.

I bought this speaker system as a complement to the Creative Lab MP3 player I bought, but I could have bought any portable speaker system. This system is fine, but that's about it. I thought you'd be able to slip the MP3 player into it, but you can't. I was disappointed that since it was designed for my specific MP3 player, that it wasn't more than it was.

The sound was very good ...while it lasted. About 6 months after I bought it it was through. I did not use it very much but it broke very quickly.

the reasons i got these speakers were that a wanted to have something very portable with deacent sound for the beach or traveling, so i purchased and returned several types of portable speakers including the altec lansing inmotion im3 which had very good sound but are close to 150 bucks. However these sound about 85%-90% as good for almost a quarter of the price, both these systems have titanium drivers that deliver great high to mid range tones and the only drawbak of all these very small systems is that the bass is at best adecuate. but thing is that to have good bass you need a air volume.