Ready to buy Bose Sound Dock, unless you say otherwise...

[silence57]

It sounded pretty good in the Apple store and the sales people highly recommended it. I was a bit concerned about the lack of real subwoofer-type-bass, but it is a one piece, small unit as they pointed out. Volume was ok. The other systems they sold didn't sound that great. I didn't try the Zeppelin ($599 and big), but I did try the others. The Klispsch "wireless" was ok and similarly priced but treble seemed less clear. The HK was interesting (good bass, lots of volume) but treble was unclear. Also, the IPOD was horizontal, not vertical.

Anyway, no I was not blown away, but nothing they had blew me away. Is it really the best or are other alternatives available that were not at Apple?

Smallish size and portability have some meaning to me but not at the expense of meaningful differences in SQ.

Is Bose a marketing powerhouse, scaring sponsors and forums, or is the Sound Dock at 2008 prices ($299 vs. $599 for the Zeppelin) ) a reasonable alternative? Or am I missing some better and/or reasonably priced alternatives? I'll pay more for better sound.

Tx.

 

[LaBreaHead]

Just from listening in stores, I'd say the Klipsch is a roughly comparable, less-expensive option ... but do you really need a transportable unit with a small footprint? (I use the Logitech mm50, but that's highly portable/packable for travel purposes, yet it still fills up a room ... worth looking into if you would use it while traveling). For the price of the Bose (and certainly the Zeppelin), for around your home, you could get a highly versatile, good-sounding mini-system that has bass, plays DVDs and discs with MP3s burned on them, plus CDs, radio, etc., and run your DAP through that.

Just floating that idea out there. I really like the idea of sound docks, and I do think they have their place, but a lot depends on how you would use it and what other audio equipment you have or hope to get in the future. The docks just aren't that cost-efficient unless the price is not much of an object for you.

But anything that helps you enjoy your music can't be all bad, so enjoy whatever you get.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Why not pick up the iTV and use it to serve your files sans iPod? It has plenty of other features, as well. Including the lack of a sale and profit going to Bose.

 

[monolith]

I've heard those things and they're hardly impressive. The lame computer speakers we have sitting around the students' union lounge at school sound better than it from my experience. I guess if you really need a one-box solution and price is no object....

 

[GreatDane]

Good response from LaBreaHead. I've listened to every radio/boombox/mini-system/dock thingie that I could get my hands on. I agree that the dock radio things just don't offer very good value. I think the mm50 remained at the top of my list for small units. I have a large iPod docking monstrosity and it weighs 40 lbs.

...but it sounds pretty darn good.

edit~ Here's a pic I took last week...not exactly travel friendly.

 

[vYu223]

Wait, so GreatDane, how much did that thing cost again?

 

[silence57]

Thanks for the responses. It's a shame that better quality products (or at least products with more feautures) are not out there. I use 320kbps or Apple Lossless, too.

I guess a 2.1 might be the answer ---not as portable as I want, but...trade-offs. We'll see.

Tx.

 

[IPodPJ]

Otherwise.

 

[rockbottom]

OMG! Otherwise, Otherwise, Otherwise!

Hope that stopped you. Anyhow, back to the point, I personally preferred even the JBL docks to the Bose dock, could just be me.

 

[Sordel]

I was going to get my wife a Bose Sounddock, or something similar, for Christmas, so we checked the shops in the Autumn. There's very little high end in this type of machine, and the Bose isn't exactly bad, but there is no way that it is worth the money compared with the competition. Sony do a Boombox (ZSS-21PB) that you might as well buy for $100.

In reality, however, when I talked it over closely with my wife she didn't actually need a new stereo at all: what she really wanted was a remote control dock, so we just bought the Apple dock instead, and then can connect to anything we want. Given that all the Sounddock adds is amplification, you could do worse than buy a decent portable and a dock: achieves the same and needn't cost a bundle (especially if you already have a dock).

 

[silence57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sordel /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was going to get my wife a Bose Sounddock, or something similar, for Christmas, so we checked the shops in the Autumn. There's very little high end in this type of machine, and the Bose isn't exactly bad, but there is no way that it is worth the money compared with the competition. Sony do a Boombox (ZSS-21PB) that you might as well buy for $100. In reality, however, when I talked it over closely with my wife she didn't actually need a new stereo at all: what she really wanted was a remote control dock, so we just bought the Apple dock instead, and then can connect to anything we want. Given that all the Sounddock adds is amplification, you could do worse than buy a decent portable and a dock: achieves the same and needn't cost a bundle (especially if you already have a dock).

Which dock? Does the Apple dock come with something I can use to connect it to a small but good bookshelf system? Probably a Y connector? Tx!

 

[LendaTailor]

Yes i agree with you.
 
I have Klipsch and it is great one!
Quote:

Just from listening in stores, I'd say the Klipsch is a roughly comparable, less-expensive option ... but do you really need a transportable unit with a small footprint? (I use the Logitech mm50, but that's highly portable/packable for travel purposes, yet it still fills up a room ... worth looking into if you would use it while traveling). For the price of the Bose (and certainly the Zeppelin), for around your home, you could get a highly versatile, good-sounding mini-system that has bass, plays DVDs and discs with MP3s burned on them, plus CDs, radio, etc., and run your DAP through that.

Just floating that idea out there. I really like the idea of sound docks, and I do think they have their place, but a lot depends on how you would use it and what other audio equipment you have or hope to get in the future. The docks just aren't that cost-efficient unless the price is not much of an object for you.

But anything that helps you enjoy your music can't be all bad, so enjoy whatever you get.