Choosing the Right Speakers to Partner With Your iPod
When the Banshee is in front of you and slightly to the side, audio on many songs seems to come at you from everywhere. Without a sub, the Banshee still has crystalline mid and high ranges. Fortunately, distortion doesn’t kick in until you really crank it.
Searching for personal speakers is like screening suitors for your iPod or other digital music player. You have to sort through all their promises of fidelity — each vows to faithfully reproduce the music on your player — and look for an open, easy personality, as in "Don’t trust anything or anybody that hides too much information."
As in dating, however, the hunt for portable speakers comes down to looks. Would you be embarrassed if your friends saw you with it?
We checked out four new personal speakers, not just to see how well they do what they do, but how good they look doing it. - Banshee
US$129.99, available at bansheeaudio.com and circuitcity.com.
The Come-on: Surround sound-like audio; input for a powered subwoofer.
The Catch: Easily mistaken for a ‘32 Packard; plastic bucket inelegantly holds your digital music player.
A sound decision? Yup, especially if you shell out for a subwoofer. When the Banshee is in front of you and slightly to the side, audio on many songs seems to come at you from everywhere. Without a sub, the Banshee still has crystalline mid and high ranges. Fortunately, distortion doesn’t kick in until you really crank it. (Neighbors love it when you test gear in your backyard.)
Do’s and Don’ts: There’s nothing subtle about the Banshee. Either you like the looks or you don’t.
- Radian Technologies iBlast
$69.99, available at radiantechnologies.com and target.com.
The Come-on: Cheap and cheerful simplicity.
The Catch: Very little bass; distorts at high volumes; plasticky looking and the least attractive of the bunch; the writing on the face calls attention to itself.
A sound decision? If you’re short on cash and in a confined space — i.e., a college student in a dorm room — the iBlast sounds nice at lower volumes.
Do’s and Don’ts: The iBlast’s frequency range favors jangly rock and brassy ska. Podcasts also sound good. Use your player’s EQ to add bass. But I’m not sure about the looks. It’s like two giant eyes staring at you, creeping you out.
- Altec Lansing iM500
$129.95, available at alteclansing.com.
The Come-on: An impressively thin Bose system lookalike for $170 less.
The Catch: While it lacks the Bose speakers’ price, it also misses the costlier system’s tone, separation and depth. That said, it still sounds great, and with looks like this, who’s complaining?
A sound decision? You bet. I played all four units for about two dozen people, and most said they would buy the attractive iM500 even though its sound quality was second best to the Logic3 iStation 8. The sounds good/looks great combo easily trumped the sounds better/looks intimidating combination. Like the iStation, the iM500 can run on batteries.
Do’s and Don’ts: Looks can be deceiving, so go to a consumer electronics store and listen to as many portable speakers as you can before buying.
- Logic iStation 8
About $108, available at spectravideo.com.
The Come-on: Eight speakers tuned to different frequencies; display tells you what song is playing; subwoofer is built in; can run on six C batteries.
The Catch: What are those things on each side of the MP3 player? Huge Marshall amplifiers or giant klieg lights? Either way, the iStation 8 looks like a miniature rock concert stage. It’s hard to ignore.
A sound decision? Yes. It’s the best sounding speaker set in our group. The individually tuned speakers aren’t a gimmick. They make all music crisper and more defined, but because the speakers are stacked, the music sounds like it’s in mono. SpectraVideo says that the stacked arrangement makes the music sound louder when you’re farther away and softer when you’re closer. Plus, it can operate on batteries.
Do’s and Don’ts: Before using, turn your MP3 player’s EQ settings to off or normal. Otherwise, you’ll muck up the sound.
