Apple iPod Hi-Fi

It may not be exactly what people were clamoring for at Steve Jobs' most recent media hyp event, but the Apple iPod Hi-Fi ($349 direct) is now part of Apple's steadily growing repertoire of iPod accessories. The one piece three ways combination speaker and iPod dock looks a lot like a center channel speaker from a home theater system, with horizontally set drivers.

Though it costs about $50 more, it can thump, sing, and squeal with a lot more power than the Bose SoundDock, plus it's portable. It's glad Apple included a combination analog and S/PDIF optical digital input, but a video pass through for outputting photos and video to a TV would be convenient.

The tech specs alone are pretty meaty two 80 mm midrange drivers and a 130 mm woofer with dual voice coils, sealed double walled enclosure, separate chambers and front panel isolation for the two midrange drivers, a rated maximum sound pressure level of 108dB (at 1 meter) when it's running on AC power, and a frequency response of 53Hz to 16kHz plus or minus 3dB.

It can run on AC power without a huge brick (thanks to the internal power supply) or on six D batteries, though both of these mean the speaker is pretty heavy, at 14.5 pounds without batteries and 16.7 pounds with alkaline. It measures 6.6 by 17 by 6.9 inches (HWD) perfect for a bookshelf or even a desk.

It has dual integrated handles on either side, so it's easy to move around, but it's definitely not the kind of thing you'd throw in a backpack and take to the beach. The enclosure is a sturdy white resin, and the black speaker grille is easily removable if you want a brighter sound.

The only controls on the speaker itself are two touch sensitive buttons for adjusting the volume. Aside from the power jack, the only port is an auxiliary audio input, which accommodates both 3.5 mm analog cables or S/PDIF optical digital cables (also known as Toslink). The digital input is excellent for getting sound from your computer to the speaker if your desktop PC or external USB sound card has an optical output.

You can also connect an Apple AirPort Express to the speaker using an optical cable, which will let you transmit your music tirelessly and maintain a digital signal until it hits the speaker's on board digital to analog converter. You can also hook up your iPod, dock connector less iPod, or none Apple audio player via a standard 3.5 mm audio cable (use a gold plated one for best conductance). Unfortunately, Apple doesn't include any audio cables with the iPod Hi-Fi, so you'll have to buy your own either from Apple or a third party.