ipod - best speakers?

connundrum

Hi, just wondering if anyone has any views on the best speakers for an ipod. I've previously just connected up either the hifi or seperates via a normal jack, but am wondering whether the actual idock versions are better?

Was looking at a couple of JBL versions, I'm looking for a speaker that nicely fills a room with sound without strain - and I'm not looking to kick off a disco any time soon

Any help would be appreciated!

BTW I went back 10 pages to look for something similar and used the search function too without result, so sorry if this has been done to death

Kintarō Hattori

The Bose SoundDock is an amazing piece of kit. It's very powerful and can easily fill a room and the styling isn't bad, somewhat restrained. It is a tad expensive but the sound quality really is first rate.
http://www.bose.com/controller?event=view_product_page_event&product=sounddock_multimedia_index

Kef have a number of iPod speakers that again sound amazing and are small in size. They also look cool too with egg shaped speakers. Again they are room filling pieces of kit and come from a very reputable speaker company.
http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/test_new/catalog.cgi?view_product=1&id=22221&sid=14&cid=122&scid=21474
http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/test_new/catalog.cgi?view_product=1&id=22297&sid=14&cid=122&scid=21474

A rather unknown little unit is the Fatman iTube dock which uses valves. It's definetly very unique, looks cool and the sound really is stunning from such a small unit.
http://www.fat-man.co.uk/docs/product/itube_1.htm

Any of these are first rate speaker systems for the iPod, are capable of filling most rooms with loud detailed music and are high quality pieces of kit.

dub_skav

I'd say you're best off sticking with the Hi-Fi or separates. Specialist IPOD speakers are generally not designed to replace a proper speaker system, more to take the place of a radio.

Try upgrading your cable, also maybe buy the Apple Dock Connector with the line-out port for connecting to your stereo.

connundrum

dub_skav wrote:

Try upgrading your cable, also maybe buy the Apple Dock Connector with the line-out port for connecting to your stereo.

Interesting... I was just about to put a deposit on a Technics seperates system. Would you recommend any dock in particular or would going with one from Apple's store be the best thing?

Thank you eo980, that fat man system looks the dog's. I thought going with a dock station would be the best but if there's an option to dock it and connect to a seperates system then that'd be sweet!

cormie

You'll be either paying for the apple brand, or the fact it's a new idea of a docking speaker system if you go for the above. I agree with just sticking with a normal hifi, the sound will be much better and at the end of the day, that's what matters most. You're money will go further if you stick with conventional speakers with regards sound.

dub_skav

I had a quick look on ebay, just search for IPOD dock/cradle, you should see a few. Make sure it has a lineout port to allow you to connect to your stereo.
There is an official Apple one, it used to ship with the 3rd generation IPOD, not sure how much it would cost though

Third_Echelon

dub_skav wrote:

I had a quick look on ebay, just search for IPOD dock/cradle, you should see a few. Make sure it has a lineout port to allow you to connect to your stereo.
There is an official Apple one, it used to ship with the 3rd generation IPOD, not sure how much it would cost though

For the price of that apple dock/audio kit, you are better off just getting a good audio cable... Apparently there is a bit of loss of sound quality via the dock thing... Just read that on some of the reviews for it on amazon... Also the remote for it can't use the normal browsing features. Only back and forward through the tracks are available, i.e. can't go up a level etc.

Creamy Goodness

i'd be interested in one of these for the sitting room but does anyone know how it takes the signal to the speakers, kind of hard to explain what i mean but would this work if i was playing the songs from rockbox. because if not, then it's that down the tubes

eamon234

You can pick up a decent basic dock in Argos for about 35 quid I got a similar one in Lidl a while back - A/V out and remote - it's the biz then all you need is a good seperates amp and speakers - still the best option IMO and a darn sight cheaper than the likes of the Bose setup

thehomeofDob

The BOSE used to be one of the best, but no longer. Check out lots of reviews here.

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/sort_grades/C84/84

Sinfonia

I got the JBL Creature II and I think it's really good, even though I thought at first that it looked a bit too gimmicky to be good, but I use it for my iPod, laptop, and record player and I think it sounds great.