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Speakers for iPod

There are many speaker selections available for the iPod series of mp3 players.  Currently, we have three separate sets of speakers in our household.

I have had a set of Kensington “Speakers Dock for iPod” for 3 years and love them.  They are ideal for my purposes.  When I am out in the field, working from my fifth wheel or a tent in a camp, they work very well for my musical / docking needs.  They work just as well in my office for playing my music there as well. 

My iPod docks to the right of the single speaker and the controls are dead simple, consisting of just and On / Off button and a “+” and “-” control for volume.  The speaker is 27.2 x 17.2 cm and the overall unit is approximately 41 x 18.5 x 9.5 cm, so it fits well in a duffle or sport bag for transport.  All you need to play it is your iPod and a 120V AC supply.

The other set of speakers we have is the Charlescraft HMDX-S50 Wireless Speaker System “Speaker Dock for iPod”.  Theer are two mobile spakers which are charge on a broadly triangular base.  These speakers can be sepaarted form the base by up to 45 m and have separate volume controls on each.  There is a master volume control on the base as well.  In additon, you can select frol mthree avaialble channels on the back to minimize static and/or interference.  Both my wife daugher received a set for Christmas and, as an experiment, they set all four speakers on the smae channel and placed them in separate locations.  On pressing “Play” we had music coming fromm all speakers (although it is a more expensive way to get four wireless speakers).

The unit is more tempermental, however, than my Kensington speaker.  Both units have, on several occasions, required considerable effort oin order to get music from the speakers.  We have removed and replaced the iPod several times (both a 3rd Generation Nano and an iTouch), switched channels multiple times, turned the volume up and down on both the base and individual speakers and finally, for no apparent reason, they begin working again.

The third set of speakers is the Emerson Research iP100c.  They have two small speakers fixed to a base on either side of the iPod docking cradle.  This was the first set of iPod speakers I bought for camp and they are adequate to the job.  They also have a radio and clock radio (with alarm), which was convenient, however, I don’t like them as much as the Kensington set as the music quality isn’t as good.

While I can remove and replace iPods on my Kensington and it has always placed music the first time, the Charlescraft is very tempermental.  It would probably be best to leave your iPod in the cradle as much as possible (which, of course, eliminates the advantages of having a mobile mp3 player).

All three speaker systems are also docking systems, allowing the iPods to be charged when in the cradles, so I just leave my iPod in my Kensington speaker dock unless I want to take it somewhere with me.  When I do, it is fully charged and ready to go.  I am still not satisfied with the Charlescraft speaker dock as it is so uncertain whether or not I can play music immediately after I plug the iPod in to the cradle.  If I have to waste too much more time trying to get them to play I will return them.

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