New 15" MBP speaker quality - much better!

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I just upgraded from a June '09 15" MBP to a new i7 15" MBP. Normally I avoid using the internal speakers as much as possible as they sound terrible (hell, it's a laptop), but I was listening to a mp3 on the new MBP and all of a sudden realized "damn - I'm enjoying this!" The sound quality has improved a lot on the internal speakers, the bass extension is noticably deeper. And it's not fuzzy distorted bass, it's tight and natural sounding, and seems to be in good proportion. The soundstaging is also much improved, it no longer sounds like "glorified mono" it's got a decent little soundstage across the monitor. Whatever Apple did with the speakers, sub, enclosures, whatever, really made a big difference! It's no longer painful to listen to.



On the downside, the headphone jack on my new one is a lot tighter when putting in a mini-toslink so I can listen with an outboard dac / headphone amp setup... Wonder if it's just mine or if they changed the jack ?? it's hard to get the mini-toslink in and out now.



Rob

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by robzr View Post


    I just upgraded from a June '09 15" MBP to a new i7 15" MBP. Normally I avoid using the internal speakers as much as possible as they sound terrible (hell, it's a laptop), but I was listening to a mp3 on the new MBP and all of a sudden realized "damn - I'm enjoying this!" The sound quality has improved a lot on the internal speakers, the bass extension is noticably deeper. And it's not fuzzy distorted bass, it's tight and natural sounding, and seems to be in good proportion. The soundstaging is also much improved, it no longer sounds like "glorified mono" it's got a decent little soundstage across the monitor. Whatever Apple did with the speakers, sub, enclosures, whatever, really made a big difference! It's no longer painful to listen to.



    On the downside, the headphone jack on my new one is a lot tighter when putting in a mini-toslink so I can listen with an outboard dac / headphone amp setup... Wonder if it's just mine or if they changed the jack ?? it's hard to get the mini-toslink in and out now.



    Rob



    Apple must be using a new supplier or product because i'm actually surprised at how well the iPad sounds for having a minuscule speaker.
  • Reply 2 of 3
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    The new iPad and MacBookPros are definitely sporting new speaker components from new suppliers.



    They both sound outrageously good compared to predecessors.



    Also, the headphone jack does seem a bit tighter. Well it should when new shouldn't it?
  • Reply 3 of 3
    momusmomus Posts: 54member
    I've always liked the 15" MBP speakers, I have an early 2008 model myself, but am shopping for 2.1 speakers. Are the SoundSticks II still good?
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