Scandyna the dock iPod speaker system review

6 April 2006 1:28 GMT / By Charlie Brewer

It seems that trying to borrow an iPod these day is no easier that it was when these coveted devices were few and far between.

You'd think by now I'd have dug deep, bought early and be pining for an upgrade of the device blessed with reviving Apple's fortunes. But no, 2006 and I'm still on the scrounge for a pod so I can review the latest, in the never ending supply of accessories designed to empty the pockets the beleaguered iOwner.

the dock (all lower case according the Danes at Scandyna) may cost around £240, but looks aside, you are getting plenty in exchange for that swift swipe of your credit card.

Available in both black and white, you can colour match with the exterior of your beloved player, the dock system comes with the sit-in station for the iPod, complete with an integrated 15 watt amp, and two Scandyna Micropod SE speakers.

You can tell that the product designers suffered from the batteries not included syndrome from their childhood as they've even included a couple of speaker cables, so you can get up and running without a cheeky trip to Richer Sounds the following day.

Setting the system up is no more complicated than attaching the speakers positive and negative terminals to the back of the dock and plugging in the power cable.

Audiophiles will no doubt swoon to know that these terminals will also accept banana plugs, for those Ferrari like cables, they so adore so much.

Those who want a little more BOOM will also be pleased to see that there is a dedicated lineout port so that the 100 watt Scandyna Minibass unit can also be attached.

And that's not all, thanks to the design of the supplied Micropod SE series speakers, you can either stand the compact duel-driver speakers on their metal sputnik spikes or wall mount them, although the brackets have to be purchased separately.

To offer maximum flexibility the dock is supplied with eight separate inserts, allowing every current model of iPod, besides the USB based shuffle, to sit comfortably centre-stage. Naturally the player is charged all the time it is in-situ and the only hassle occurs when you try to get your player out of it's work-a-day protective sleeve before you are able to slide it's au-naturale form into the dock.

The only chink in the otherwise impeccably designed armour, would have to be the remote control. It offers all the features you would expect but lacks a menu button so you can toggle between album or artists on your play lists.

It's design also looks a little plasticcy and on the review version we received we could see that excessive glue had discoloured the plastic around the IR transmitter.

It's not that we're fickle, you understand, it's just the rest of the kit came to us pristine Persil White, so this blemish stood out.

Verdict

Overall, it sounds great, it looks great, is simple to use and will deafen you when cranked it all the way up.

The remote control could use a little tweaking but everything else in the box looks like its been pinched out of a design museum. Shuffle users will be disappointed but the dock offers simplicity and style to everybody else so I'll forgive them.

Sigh, time to give back my mate's iPod I suppose.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Scandyna
Price as reviewed: £240
The good: Looks, ease of use, capacity to take multiple iPod models, charges iPod on the stand
The bad: Price, remote control lacks advanced features
Quick verdict: Simplicity and curves more than offset the slight gradient of the price tag. Choices of colour, to match your iPod, and speaker mounting options, offer great overall flexibility
Score
Winner