The iPod Hi-Fi sports an all-in-one design with an isolated enclosure system that includes two custom designed wide-range speakers and a tuned, ported bass system that's designed to minimize vibration while maximizing sound quality. It can be powered from a wall socket or by six D-cell batteries. It’s controlled by the Apple Remote, which sports a nifty status light that flashes green in response to remote commands or amber if the command is unavailable.
The sound quality is good, though not "audiophile" quality as Apple CEO Steve Jobs described it when he introduced the iPod Hi-Fi in February. Apple designed the system to replace the living-room or bedroom mini-system. For casual listeners, it might do just that. The iPod Hi-Fi does a fine job of reproducing classical or acoustic music with a wide dynamic range. However, there's a bit of compression in the mid-range, while audiophiles may notice when listening to, say, pop and rock tunes. Also, the system overemphasized bass frequencies and a little more stereo separation would be nice. However, you can tweak the sound by using the iPod's equalizer (EQ) or (with newer iPods) "speaker" menus to reduce bass, boost treble or both.
The iPod Hi-Fi features handles for transporting, a removable front grille with clips, touch-sensitive volume control buttons and a universal power supply incorporated into the all-in-one design. As with just about everything from Apple these days, the design is immaculate. For example, there’s no bulky power brick to weigh the systems down. If the iPod Hi-Fi goes unused, it will go into a power-saving mode. And the speaker system looks great.
The iPod Hi-Fi integrates with all iPods with a dock connector. It automatically recharges your iPod while docked and displays features of the iPod that maximize the iPod Hi-Fi experience such as Tone Control, Large Album Art mode and volume mirroring (though the first two features are only available with an iPod nano and 5G iPod).
The iPod Hi-Fi includes a dual-purpose 3.5-mm auxiliary input that accepts either analog or digital signals for connection to a variety of audio sources. However, it doesn't sport a video line-out, headphone jack, FM tuner or dock-connector output, features that would be welcome by users of certain iPod models. Also, at 15 pounds, it's certainly not a svelte speaker system.
Overall, the iPod Hi-Fi is pricey, but one of the best such devices of its kind. On the other hand, it really doesn't bring anything new to the table, except that it sports the Apple brand rather than Bose, JBL, Altec Lansing, Logitech, Klipsch and other companies that make similar (and mostly less expensive) systems.
But for some folks, the Apple brand and the gorgeous design is enough to pay a little more for the iPod Hi-Fi. If you fall into this category, then whip that credit card out.
Macsimum rating: 6.5 out of 10
