Portable iPod Speakers Travel With You
iPod portable speakers or static speakers?
Although iPods were developed as personal mp3 systems, there are times when you want to share the good things you are listening to with others. I have seen people sharing earphones, however, unless you are very good friends, that is impractical and still means that only two can listen at the same time!Fairly new to the market are speakers specifically developed for the iPod/mp3 market. There are all sorts of options available, portable iPod speakers tend to be at the cheaper end of the market whilst the most expensive are the ones that need to be plugged into mains power and offer some quality advantages.
However, if you have a perfectly good hi-fi system at home, the first and best option might be to look at buying cables that can be attached between your existing audio system and IPod. This will deliver a quality that you already know at less than the cost of any of the purpose built speakers. This makes the iPod especially useful for taking to parties as you can plug it into your guests hi-fi speaker system.
Portable iPod peakers travel with you wherever you go
Compact, portable speakers offer the height in portability and economy. The cheapest options plug in direct to the headphone socket of the IPod and do not require any additional batteries or leads. Apparently the 800mW of sound is good too! When not in use the 50mm speakers fold together neatly to store away.Slightly larger and more expensive are the iPod speakers that require additional batteries to operate. They usually fold away or together to become a more portable size and to offer some protection to the speakers, there are a variety of options and styles available including flashing lights for the ultimate portable iPod disco! The more expensive portable IPod speakers also have the facility for being attached to the mains and used with other pieces of audio equipment. Some will also re-charge your iPod batteries for you.
There are at least two manufacturers producing portable speaker systems for particular types of IPod, such as the 'Nano' and the 'Shuffle'. The iPod Nano portable speaker is good and the speaker system for the 'Shuffle' complements the size of the mp3 player whilst offering 1 watt of sound and 10 hours of playing from the single AA battery!
Static iPod Speaker systems
The world's the limit in this area of the market. Certainly a lot more expensive than the iPod portable speakers, the manufacturers claim that the sound is of better quality and the aesthetics (how they look to you and me) meet with all modern expectations for quality and design.If you haven't already got an audio system to be proud of, this option could be a good one to follow as, penny for penny, the iPod static docking sound systems offer a quality of sound that surpasses other domestic hi-fi units.
Once the IPod is docked, some systems offer the controls in a more accessible position, making it easier to use. In terms of maintaining quality with increased levels of sound, the static iPod speakers are certainly more powerful than the portable ones, some offering 200W of power output. New systems are being introduced all the time, the latest three piece system having computer-optimised equalisation to enhance the quality of the stereo sound.