Loud, Boomy, but Distorts

After getting an iPod Touch for my birthday, I was looking around for accessories for it.  Owning an iPod is like having a door open to many possibilities.  You are now part of the cool crowd that now actually mainstream.  Yikes!  But because of this, you have a myriad of choice when it comes to speakers, chargers, and cases.

At a Best Buy, armed with my iPod Touch, I was able to test out all the different speaker dock stations made especially for the iPod line (as well as the cases).  It was fun listening to my favorite tracks in the store, but it was much more educational finding out the sound quality between all the speakers in one go.  Pricing isn't exactly indicative of sound quality, either.

Klipsch iGroove SXT
The Klipsch iGroove SXT iPod Docking Station Speaker System (that's a mouthful!) cost $129 (on clearance at Best Buy now for $119) and sounds pretty good on first impression!  The controls are simple, as it allows for volume control, but none for track.  Instead, it relies on a remote to do such dirty work.  The buttons are located at the top if you wish to use them.

Still, as a set of speakers, that's all you'll ever need!  There's no clock radio, but there is an auxillary in for other devices that does not have an iPod dock connector.

I do have a bit of a warning for you iPhone and iPod Touch owners.  This speaker set does not charge them!  You get a warning on the iPod/iPhone that says that this accessory does not support charging of this these model.

Sound Quality
For it's small size, I didn't expect a boomy sound.  However, I did notice a bit more emphasis on the mid range, which overpowered the highs.  It sounds much louder than the JBL On Stage ID200 speakers I've tested next to it.  Not surprising since it is also a bit bigger (taller), too.  The speakers are physically larger, but for some reason, it distorts at higher volumes.  The mids start to overpower the bass as well at the higher levels.

For the price, though, it sounds very good.  Out of all the speakers I played with, the Klipsch sounds the best at the $120 to $130 range.  Spend a bit more ($140), and you get the JBL On Stage, which sounds more accurate and have a much tighter bass, but the volume level isn't as high.  It is also phyiscally smaller than the Klipsch.

The Upshot
Honestly, it is how you like your music that determine which speaker you get.  If you like it loud, but don't really care about the harshness of sound that the over powered mids, then the Klipsch makes a great choice.  At this price, it's the best sounding of all the speakers in Best Buy.  However, it is too close to the $140 ($20 to $30 more) JBL On Stage speakers.

If you like tight bass and clearer highs over volume level, then the JBL is your choice!  You do pay more, so it's not exactly on the same playing field than the Klipsch.

If I wasn't able to do a A and B comparison, I may not have noticed the difference.  I would have gone with the Klipsch on first impression, but after such a comparison, I would go for the JBL.