I made the switch from a Lombard PowerBook G3 to a TiBook, and you're not alone. The sound quality in much more tinny. And to be honest, I don't think it's because Apple skimped on the speakers... they're probably the same ones in both computers. But I think that the plastic of a G3 is much more forgiving to the sounds waves than the metal of the G4. Think about it... most professional studio speakers have cloth over the speaker, not a metal grate. I think it's just a function of the metal casing.