A stereo widening system and associated signal processing algorithms are described herein that can, in several embodiments, widen a stereo image with fewer processing resources than existing crosstalk cancellation systems. These system and algorithms can advantageously be implemented in a handheld device or other device with speakers placed close together, thereby improving the stereo effect produced with such devices at lower computational cost. However, the systems and algorithms described herein are not limited to handheld devices, but can more generally be implemented in any device with multiple speakers.