Bose SoundDock

The SoundDock is hardly a newcomer to this category, but we didn’t feel right doing an iPod speaker roundup without including Bose’s ultra-popular system. Like the iPod itself, the SoundDock’s design is elegant in its sparseness. It sports an all-white body, save from the front, which is monopolized by a convex gray speaker. This system wouldn’t seem out of place on an office bookshelf.

The SoundDock’s output is crisp, lacking in audible static even at low levels. The overall effect is subtle. The immediately gratifying lows and highs offered by many competing systems were absent as we listened to Kanye West’s “Touch The Sky,” but jazz, classical, and harmony-centric songs like The Zombies’ “A Rose For Emily” were downright bone-chilling at high volumes. Anyone who doesn’t mind spending a little extra for the opportunity to pick out every instrument in a symphony would do right by Bose.

Other iPod Speakers
Altec Lansing iM5
Kensington SX2000
Klipsch iGroove
Logitech mm50
Sonic Impact iFusion