Quote: Originally Posted by Nintendonly The speakers aren't downgraded. They're just set to surround by default. Make it stereo or mono and you'll hear a massive difference.

I second this. I had the exact same problem with my 3DS, too, thinking that the speakers were horrible until I went to the sound options and noticed that they were set to surround. Switching them to stereo made them sound so much better.

Same goes for the 3DS XL. I still have my original 3DS, did a side-by-side comparison, and can't really hear a difference.