[OT] Water proof speakers

[Tobiah]

I was looking for a stereo speaker to use for watching movies on
a laptop. So many of them are 'water proof'. I assume this is done
by using non-porous materials for the cone and annulus.

The first thing that comes to mind, is that there is probably a sacrifice
that affects sound quality to achieve this. Is there any validity to my
hunch?

[Geoff]

Post by Tobiah
I was looking for a stereo speaker to use for watching movies on
a laptop.  So many of them are 'water proof'.  I assume this is done
by using non-porous materials for the cone and annulus.
The first thing that comes to mind, is that there is probably a sacrifice
that affects sound quality to achieve this.  Is there any validity to my
hunch?

Dunno, probably more like 'water-resistant', and sound quality unlikely
to be a criteria for such things.

But is your laptop waterproof ?

geoff

[Tobiah]

Post by Geoff
But is your laptop waterproof ?

No. I was going out of my way to find a speaker
that wasn't water-proof as every feature comes with
compromise and I didn't need that feature.

Ended up with an awesome little stereo bluetooth
speaker from amazon. $20 'renewed'. Quite transparent
considering the size and weight. Mic for phone/Zoom.
2"x6.5" 382 grams.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QQQG7FV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

By the way, what is the state of bluetooth these day? Is it
still a bottle neck for fidelity? I had started with a different
brand that used a single USB wire for power and signal, because I
didn't care so much about wireless, but that speaker had at least
frequency balance issues, with forward muddy bass and muffled highs.


Toby

[Nil]

Post by Tobiah
By the way, what is the state of bluetooth these day? Is it
still a bottle neck for fidelity? I had started with a different
brand that used a single USB wire for power and signal, because I
didn't care so much about wireless, but that speaker had at least
frequency balance issues, with forward muddy bass and muffled
highs.

This explains part of the bluetooth equation pretty well:

https://www.howtogeek.com/878574/bluetooth-vs-wi-fi-music-which-has-better-audio-quality/

... and this talks about the bluetooth codecs involved and how they
affect the sound:

https://www.soundguys.com/understanding-bluetooth-codecs-15352/

As I understand it, the most recent versions of bluetooth are capable
of better bandwidth and other enhancements, although the audio is
still lossy-compressed and therefore degraded.