iPod Docks Hi Fi Gadget Review

EWOO HAND MUSIC
Price: $170, ewoo.com
The only dock in this group that doesn’t have its own speakers, the eWoo hooks your iPod into your stereo, a trick you can also accomplish with a $10 RCA-to-mini cable. So why get it? For the remote, which lets you control and browse your player with its 1.8-inch screen. It communicates via radio, so you can change the music through walls without having to point the damn thing at your stereo.



ALTEC LANSING INMOTION MAX
Price: $200, alteclansing.com
The InMotion Max isn’t the most high-tech or even the loudest dock in this group, but it is the only one that will truly put your music wherever you want it, power outlets be damned. The built-in battery will give you three and a half hours of playing time on a charge. The dock comes with a remote (plus a drawer to stash it in), an FM tuner and a line-in jack that can be used as a speaker system for any other audio devices that may be at hand (e.g., cell phones, CD players and the like).



CUE ACOUSTICS MODEL R1
Price: $400, cueacoustics.com
Though it’s one of the smallest docks in this group, the r1 not only packs a wallop in volume, its reproductive fidelity is excellent, thanks to its digital signal-processing chip and optional second speaker (Model s1, $100, sold separately). With all this plus a built-in FM radio, the r1 is a mighty handsome addition to your nightstand. Now all you have to do is find someone to impress with it.



IHOME ONE
Price: $300, ihomeaudio.com
For more than 30 years Tony Bongiovi has been making sound waves sit up, roll over and beg. And though he worked the board for some of Jimi Hendrix’s recordings, his greatest triumphs are just coming to market. His most recent work uses digital processing to expand the dynamic range for audio tracks, and is built into iHome’s latest iPod dock (the first to use it). The amount of added detail it can pull out of anything from Ella Fitzgerald to Foo Fighters is astounding.




PARROT ZIKMU SPEAKERS
Price: $1,500, parrot.com
Thanks to cleverly recessed feet, these Philippe Starck–designed towers appear to hover above your living room floor as their two innovative 1.4-inch-thick speakers project 100 watts of sound 360 degrees. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth let them communicate with each other as well as stream music from computers or the Internet without cluttering your space with cables. A conversation and party starter in one, these babies make a statement on or off.



COBY VITRUVIAN
Price: $80, cobyusa.com
Over the past several years Coby has carved out an impressive (if under-the-radar) niche for itself by delivering competent electronics at bargain-basement prices. Its latest offering, the Vitruvian, exemplifies that approach. This is a decent iPod dock for under $100 that adds an intelligent low-tech twist: The dock rotates so you can browse music as usual, then turn it—the better to watch video on your iPod Touch or iPhone.




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