Big Sound Music Unit

[surfymark]

Hi there!

I have come across this unit here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-GTK-X1BT-Wireless-Spe...

Now I am not a huge fan of Sony equipment but this looks like excellent value for money and just what I am looking for.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Are there any alternatives for a single unit like this.

It will be used for children's parties in big (echoy) halls and also for garden parties.

It is probably way too loud but I like the idea of the flexibility.

Do any of the other manufacturers such as Bose etc do something similar to this at a similarish price point?

Many thanks
Mark

[Cupramax]

If that has a tenth of the claimed output I will eat my hat, 500w? not a chance

This may do for very small halls indoors, but will be absolutely lost outside.

[Baz Tench]

I've seen these all lit up before, but the volume was right down so I can't comment on how they sound.

The Amazon reviews seem very good though, go for it.

[The_Burg]

500w RMS according to Sony site. Not quite sure how that works with a power consumption of only 110w.

http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/hi-fi-systems/gt...

Same price in Currys, go visit and have a listen?
Certainly a big box and it has a 'Bass BAZUKA' woot!

[TonyRPH]

The_Burg said:

500w RMS according to Sony site. Not quite sure how that works with a power consumption of only 110w.

http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/hi-fi-systems/gt...

Same price in Currys, go visit and have a listen?
Certainly a big box and it has a 'Bass BAZUKA' woot!

It'll be a class 'D' amplifier - very high efficiency.

I note that it's spelt "Bazuca" on the device, but on their web site they spell it "Bazuka" lol.

Fail.

ETA: screenshot for posterity

[schmunk]

http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/hi-fi-systems/gt...

Power consumption: 110W

That is very efficient...!

[TonyRPH]

Yeah I'm not sure that even a BTL class D with a SMPSU would be that efficient!

Perhaps they've added a '0' to the RMS power spec or left a '0' off the power consumption...

Or they're just lying!

[surfymark]

Sony's smaller speaker (but much more expensive!) is similar: http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/wireless-speaker...

50W consumption for 154W output

So at least they are fairly consistent.

I am really struggling to find other manufacturer figures to compare with.

M

[Esseesse]

Why is this in HiFi?

[Esseesse]

surfymark said:

Sony's smaller speaker (but much more expensive!) is similar: http://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/wireless-speaker...

50W consumption for 154W output

So at least they are fairly consistent.

I am really struggling to find other manufacturer figures to compare with.

M

It's rubbish and looking at the power output/usage is a poor guide to the sound output anyway. Efficiency is your friend.

[TonyRPH]

I downloaded the product manual and all has become clear.

500W? PAH!

Sony-manual said:

POWER OUTPUT AND TOTAL
HARMONIC DISTORTION:
(USA model only)
With 6 ohm loads, both channels driven,from 120 – 10,000 Hz;
rated 75 watts per channel minimum RMS power, with no more than 0.7% total harmonic distortion from 250 milliwatts to rated output.

Power output (rated)
150 W + 150 W (at 6 ohms, 1 kHz, 1% THD) RMS output power (reference)
250 W + 250 W (per channel at 6 ohms, 1 kHz)

Suddenly it doesn't look so well specced.

ETA: If the distortion is 1% at 150W (which seems ambitious given that it's already 0.7% at 75W) then at 250W it must be in excess of 10%

I thought this kind of "P.M.P.O" bullst stopped in the 80's?

ETA (again)

OP - you might be better off with one of these, that I recommended to someone on here last year) from Maplin.

What about this? or this

Edited by TonyRPH on Friday 11th March 11:46

Edited by TonyRPH on Friday 11th March 11:54

[surfymark]

TonyRPH said:

Suddenly it doesn't look so well specced.

ETA: If the distortion is 1% at 150W (which seems ambitious given that it's already 0.7% at 75W) then at 250W it must be in excess of 10%

I thought this kind of "P.M.P.O" bullst stopped in the 80's?

ETA (again)

OP - you might be better off with one of these, that I recommended to someone on here last year) from Maplin.

What about this? or this

Edited by TonyRPH on Friday 11th March 11:46

Edited by TonyRPH on Friday 11th March 11:54

If I'm honest, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Are you saying it will output 500W but be distorted?

I am not looking for perfect sound quality at this price point but I do need it to be loud enough to be heard in any echo-filled hall over 30-40 screaming children.

I already have a Cambridge Audio Go v2 and while the sound quality is excellent, it just isn't loud enough. CA don't seem to tell me what the output wattage is but I believe it is similar to what you have linked to.

I need something with a bit of power here!

Many thanks
M

[scovette]

surfymark said:

Are you saying it will output 500W but be distorted?

It won't get anywhere near 500w. That's just a fantasy number, which can't be compared with other brands/systems as Sony have made it up. To give a comparison, I've got 3-way active studio monitors which can reach 110db with "only" 80w to the bass drivers.

As suggested in the post above, get a proper PA speaker. That way you'll get clean sound that is actually loud. And PA speakers are more robust.

(As an over-simplistic explanation, speakers like the Sony sound a lot louder than they are as they distort, and your brain can't tell the difference between distortion in the speaker, and distortion in your ear caused by sound that is truly loud.)

[TonyRPH]

surfymark said:

If I'm honest, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Are you saying it will output 500W but be distorted?

I am not looking for perfect sound quality at this price point but I do need it to be loud enough to be heard in any echo-filled hall over 30-40 screaming children.

I already have a Cambridge Audio Go v2 and while the sound quality is excellent, it just isn't loud enough. CA don't seem to tell me what the output wattage is but I believe it is similar to what you have linked to.

I need something with a bit of power here!

Many thanks
M

It won't be suitable for what you want.

For larger venues, at the very least you would need a proper pair of PA type speakers, with a minimum of 50w RMS per channel.

Ideally said speakers will need to be raised above the heads of your intended 'audience'.

Even just one of these on a proper stand would *completely* blow that Sony speaker away.

Obviously you would need a Bluetooth adapter as well for the above.

ETA: The important thing to note in the description of that speaker is: 250W continuous (RMS) output

That will be more than loud enough to fit your requirements.

Edited by TonyRPH on Friday 11th March 13:13

[surfymark]

TonyRPH said:

It won't be suitable for what you want.

For larger venues, at the very least you would need a proper pair of PA type speakers, with a minimum of 50w RMS per channel.

Ideally said speakers will need to be raised above the heads of your intended 'audience'.

Even just one of these on a proper stand would *completely* blow that Sony speaker away.

Obviously you would need a Bluetooth adapter as well for the above.

ETA: The important thing to note in the description of that speaker is: 250W continuous (RMS) output

That will be more than loud enough to fit your requirements.

Edited by TonyRPH on Friday 11th March 13:13

Thanks Tony.

That speaker really does look like what I am after. The bluetooth thing is nice but I don't mind plugging a cable in (and do already have one for this purpose).

What I find interesting on that site is this paragraph:

What is the difference between RMS and peak output?
RMS, which measures a speaker’s average power output, will allow you to compare various speakers of a similar size regardless of brand. The peak output is the maximum power the speaker can handle from the amplifier.

So RMS was specifically created in order to compare speaker outputs. But then Sony come along and give unreliable RMS figures. Surely that breaks the whole system?!?

Anyway, thanks for your help

Mark

[TonyRPH]

Yes, Sony are indeed making a mockery of the RMS ratings, but this is not a new practice.

This is something that happened with portable equipment back in the 80's where you would see 100W P.M.P.O splashed all over a device in large text.

P.M.P.O stands for "Peak Music Power Output" - in basic terms, peak measurements are essentially the opposite of RMS (over simplified explanation).

Manufacturers would simply play some sound (or static tone) through the device, grossly overloading the device under test, and then measuring the waveform output from peak to peak - and then do some "man maths" and quote this as the power output.

Essentially, 5W RMS would magically become 100W P.M.P.O and this of course was totally unusable at anything like that power (if it were even available!!).

[ecotec]

£180 for that, agree with TonyRPH, hopeless, no change of providing room filling sound for a big hall.

forget RMS and look at power consumption,

Maplin link looks like a better option if not try PA equipment on thomann.de