Customer Reviews
Sony folding speakers excellent purchase for travel 
2007-03-26
This is the second set of these Sony speakers I have bought. I use them constantly and just wanted some as back up. Great purchase!
Awesome little speakers! 2005-08-29
I admit, I was skeptical that these little speakers would sound good, but boy was I proven wrong! Sound is round, full and deep. I even compared the sound to my expensive Sony under-cabinet stereo/cd player I have in my kitchen...put on the same radio station and these little speakers sounded better! true, you won't get the power of a higher watt system, but I guarantee you'll be amazed that such sound can be packed into such a small package. This will be PERFECT for taking on my vacation, so I can get sensational sound from my Walkman without having to wear a headset and without having to drag along a big, bulky boom box!
Very workable! 
2005-08-02
Found the sound to be very acceptable. I previously bought Sony's SRS-A27 portable speakers. Here is the comparison:
The Sony A27's are possibly louder than the T55's but sound like desktop computer speakers. Buy the T55 if you want local sound such as a hotel room music fix, or fishing boat or poolside tunes. The bass is stronger than the A27's and thus very listenable. The fold up size lets you throw the CD walkman and speaker unit into pockets of most backpacks or travel bags. Rechargeable batteries are a must it appears (I haven't tested the duration at this point).
Great for the Frequent Traveller 2005-01-06
I am a corporate trainer, and I use these little speakers for audio during some of my PowerPoint presentations. They have also kept me company in lonely hotel rooms while travelling to remote places. I think they are great. They take very little space, but have a remarkably good sound.
Not suited for traveling 
2004-05-22
I really had high hopes for these speakers. I have ALWAYS loved Sony gear and always found it performed to its name. I compared these speakers against other battery powered units, and found the specs on the box were all almost the same for 4xAA speakers. These things were the biggest dissapointment. Battery life seemed to be about 6 hours, compared to 30+ hours my friend got with his 4xAA speakers. If I tried to use it in a room with a fan or air conditioner running, it couldnt be heard over the noise of the unit. If I tried to use it outside, simple noises like cars driving by or people talking drowned it out. It was as if I plugged in headphones and turned it up as high as I could in hopes it could be heard.
I have switched to my friends brand, which I wont mention here. I dont want it to appear I am trying to plug another brand- I really do just hate these speakers.
Great small gear!! ;) 2003-12-30
The Sony SRS-T55 compact speakers are lightweight and easy to carry due to their foldable design. Newly developed thin Neodymium magnet has great energy, so driving power of the driver unit increases and diaphragm movement is greater. It gives more powerful sound. Also, it reproduces a clear sound so that diaphragm moves smoothly. You can enjoy the sound in direct position without battery operation. MEGA Bass circuit enables you to obtain powerful bass regardless of the sound volume.
Welcome to the 21st century ... 2003-08-28
Music from atop the cabinet filled the (small) room. It was as loud as we would want, and the sound was remarkably clear. The slender speakers and the elegant iPod were almost invisible.
"There are times that I really feel I'm in the 21st century", Emily said, "This is one of those times."
Very impressive. The speakers are a bit bigger than I expected; I think the SONY SRS-T77 is more compact. It's the only comparable product; but it's twice the price of the SRS-T55. Mind you, these are so good I'm tempted to keep them by my iBook and buy the SRS-T77 for the office.
The speakers folded up are 2x3.5x4 inches. The battery compartment, holding 4AA batteries, makes up a fair bit of the size -- to be significantly smaller the device would probably need an internal rechargeable lithium battery and the price would be much higher.
SONY claims 24 hours of battery life at 10mW output. Maximum output is 1 W/speaker or 2W. You can buy an external SONY adaptor (ACE60HG) for about $20; I think it's a 6V/700mA adaptor. SONY of course says not to use any other adaptor, a possibly compatible RadioShack universal charger is about $16 -- not much less. If you think you'll buy the charger, however, remember than the SRS-T77 comes with a power adaptor.
I started out using alkaline batteries. I'd forget to turn off the speakers and I was burning through batteries. I thought of buying a charger, but I had a much better idea.
I recommend, instead of the charger, buy some of the very high tech NiMH batteries and a charger. You can use these in all kinds of devices, and they last forever. They are designed to handle the power demands of a digital camera, so the spearkers are a piece of cake.
I ordered a RipVan 100 charger and 12 JetCell batteries (I paid for 8, 4 were freebies). You order this on the web, it's from a small eccentric business that provides terrific quality service. They seem to last a week or two in the speakers, and they recharge thousands of times. Definitely a better investment than yet another power adaptor.
With these NiMH batteries you can use your iPod as clock alarm while traveling. Just leave the speakers on overnight, the batteries will do fine.
TRUE TO ITS NAME AND PRICED JUST RIGHT 2002-12-31
I just got my unit from J&R Music and Computer World through Amazon.com and I've been carrying them around with my portable minidisc player everywhere I go. They make an excellent tandem in terms of sound quality and portability.
The Sony SRS-T55 Personal Travel Speakers hold true to its name as personal travel speakers. They're lightweight and extremely portable due to its folding design. It has a provision for a 6 volt AC adapter and an easy flip top latch for 4 AA batteries if you're on the go. These speakers are ideal for a lap top or any portable audio equipment.
The sound quality is excellent considering its size. There is ample separation between the left and right channel which will satisfy most audiophiles. The sound of the treble frequencies are crisp and bright no matter what type of music you play in them. The bass is excellent considering that this is a small unit. One note though:You can't push the bass frequencies too low at a loud volume because this unit is designed to produce soft bass. Expect the sound to be distorted if you play the bass too loud.
The speakers work either as passive or active. I personally prefer to use it as an active speaker because the bass frequencies aren't produced clearly enough when it's used as a passive speaker. Although these speakers are rated as only 1 watt per channel, they're loud enough to be heard clearly at a radius of 12 feet at full volume. That's about a size of a tiny apartment or a medium-sized room.
For its portability, excellent sound quality, and fair price, you can't go wrong with this product.
