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Product Specifications
Brand NameMonster
Number of Items1
Remote Control Descriptionremote_control
Technical Details
- More than 200 Watts of digital amplification for jaw dropping performance.
- Dual advanced 5.25-inch long throw bass drivers for superior bass reproduction.
- Two optimized 2-inch concave high frequency drivers for precise soundstaging.
- IR remote for iPod and volume control.
- Mini auxiliary input for additional source.
Product Details
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Product Description
More than 200 Watts of digital amplification for jaw dropping performance,Dual advanced 5.25-inch long throw bass drivers for superior bass reproduction,Two optimized 2-inch concave high frequency drivers for precise soundstaging,IR remote for iPod and volume control,Mini auxiliary input for additional source.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
315 of 317 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I spent many weeks researching high-end iPod speakers, including Monster/Beats, Bose, Kicker, B&W, Chestnut Hill, Polk, Audyssey, Cambridge Soundworks, Boston Acoustics, Sonos, and Altec Lansing. When I started the process, I had a simple goal: find the best sounding iPhone/iPod speaker available, with the best quality, for the lowest price possible. I had been warned that many of the more expensive systems justify the extra cost by adding a bunch of rarely-used features (video out, alarm clocks, HD radio, instrument jacks, internet radio, etc.) instead of better speaker quality. Sure enough, when I started looking at the different models, I was quickly overwhelmed by a bunch of features that had absolutely nothing to do with how good the thing actually sounds. So I spent some time asking a few friends, vendors, and online forums about all of these new capabilities. In the end, I learned that sound quality is (by far) the most important buying criteria, and other than that, there are really only two other features you need to care about. They are (a) Battery capability and (b) Bluetooth. And those two features only matter in specific cases. Here they are:
1) Battery - if you spend a lot of time at the beach, camping, or at a park and want to be able to play your music there, you'll need something with a battery. If you plan on listening to this at home or on your deck, the battery really doesn't matter.
2) Bluetooth - if you use an iPhone to store and play music and you also like to keep your phone in your hands for texting, e-mail, apps, or calls, OR if you change your music a lot (skip songs, change artists, etc.) then you'll want something with Bluetooth. This allows you to keep your iPhone in your hand (for texting, skipping songs, changing artists, etc.) and wirelessly stream music to the speaker. Bluetooth also gives you more possibilities for music storage devices (iPod & iPad & Zune & laptop, etc.)...not just an iPod. The downside of connecting with Bluetooth is that since you are not docked, your iPhone isn't charging. This could cause battery issues if you are playing music for a long period of time without being docked.
Other than those two features...ignore everything else that comes with these things. You already have an alarm clock, your iPhone already has Pandora and internet radio, you have other A/V gear in your house for watching/downloading TV, your phone already has a speakerphone, and you can probably get your favorite AM/FM radio station content over the internet anyway. It's also worth noting that if you're looking for something that could double as a sound system for your TV, you're actually better off getting a good TV surround sound system for the same price and buying a cheaper iPod speaker. You'll get a better speaker system for the TV, you won't have a big speaker sitting on your TV set, and you won't have the hassle of reconnecting/disconnecting a big iPod speaker every time you want to use it in another room.
Okay - now that we have that out of the way, that leaves the main criteria, sound quality. If you read enough reviews and talk to enough audiophiles, you'll learn that there is general agreement that the four best iPod speakers out there now for sound quality are:
1) B&W Zeppelin
2) Beats by Dre Beatbox
3) Bose SoundDock Portable (NOT SoundDock Series II!)
4) Audyssey Audio Dock
If you ask people who handle audio for a living, they'll say that the B&W Zeppelin has the best sound/sonics. Unfortunately, it isn't as loud as others in this category, costs a ton of money, and unless you're an audio engineer, you won't really notice a difference between the Zeppelin sound and the three others. Add the fact that many people have reported quality issues and poor customer service...and you quickly realize that the Zeppelin isn't worth the money. So we take that off the list as too expense without much additional value. That leaves us with the Beatbox, the SoundDock, and the Audyssey Audio Dock. Here's how to pick between them.
- If you don't care about bluetooth or battery, get the Beats by Dre Beatbox. It's the best sounding (and loudest) system of the three and the quality is fantastic. But it doesn't have bluetooth or a battery. It's just a REALLY good speaker.
- If you want a battery, get the Bose SoundDock Portable. It sounds great and the battery works well (buy an extra battery if you can!)
- If you want bluetooth, get the Audyssey Audio Dock. It sounds incredible (almost as good as the beatbox) and the bluetooth capability works perfect.
In the end I realized I don't care about Bluetooth or a Battery, so I bought the beatbox by Dre....and I couldn't be happier. This thing really sounds unbelievable with rap, classical and everything in between...and an incredible sounding speaker is really all I was looking for in the first place.
I should also note...if you get this far and decide this is just too much to spend, then buy either the Logitech S715i or the Altec Lansing iM600. Those are both great systems for the price.
Hope this helps others!
1) Battery - if you spend a lot of time at the beach, camping, or at a park and want to be able to play your music there, you'll need something with a battery. If you plan on listening to this at home or on your deck, the battery really doesn't matter.
2) Bluetooth - if you use an iPhone to store and play music and you also like to keep your phone in your hands for texting, e-mail, apps, or calls, OR if you change your music a lot (skip songs, change artists, etc.) then you'll want something with Bluetooth. This allows you to keep your iPhone in your hand (for texting, skipping songs, changing artists, etc.) and wirelessly stream music to the speaker. Bluetooth also gives you more possibilities for music storage devices (iPod & iPad & Zune & laptop, etc.)...not just an iPod. The downside of connecting with Bluetooth is that since you are not docked, your iPhone isn't charging. This could cause battery issues if you are playing music for a long period of time without being docked.
Other than those two features...ignore everything else that comes with these things. You already have an alarm clock, your iPhone already has Pandora and internet radio, you have other A/V gear in your house for watching/downloading TV, your phone already has a speakerphone, and you can probably get your favorite AM/FM radio station content over the internet anyway. It's also worth noting that if you're looking for something that could double as a sound system for your TV, you're actually better off getting a good TV surround sound system for the same price and buying a cheaper iPod speaker. You'll get a better speaker system for the TV, you won't have a big speaker sitting on your TV set, and you won't have the hassle of reconnecting/disconnecting a big iPod speaker every time you want to use it in another room.
Okay - now that we have that out of the way, that leaves the main criteria, sound quality. If you read enough reviews and talk to enough audiophiles, you'll learn that there is general agreement that the four best iPod speakers out there now for sound quality are:
1) B&W Zeppelin
2) Beats by Dre Beatbox
3) Bose SoundDock Portable (NOT SoundDock Series II!)
4) Audyssey Audio Dock
If you ask people who handle audio for a living, they'll say that the B&W Zeppelin has the best sound/sonics. Unfortunately, it isn't as loud as others in this category, costs a ton of money, and unless you're an audio engineer, you won't really notice a difference between the Zeppelin sound and the three others. Add the fact that many people have reported quality issues and poor customer service...and you quickly realize that the Zeppelin isn't worth the money. So we take that off the list as too expense without much additional value. That leaves us with the Beatbox, the SoundDock, and the Audyssey Audio Dock. Here's how to pick between them.
- If you don't care about bluetooth or battery, get the Beats by Dre Beatbox. It's the best sounding (and loudest) system of the three and the quality is fantastic. But it doesn't have bluetooth or a battery. It's just a REALLY good speaker.
- If you want a battery, get the Bose SoundDock Portable. It sounds great and the battery works well (buy an extra battery if you can!)
- If you want bluetooth, get the Audyssey Audio Dock. It sounds incredible (almost as good as the beatbox) and the bluetooth capability works perfect.
In the end I realized I don't care about Bluetooth or a Battery, so I bought the beatbox by Dre....and I couldn't be happier. This thing really sounds unbelievable with rap, classical and everything in between...and an incredible sounding speaker is really all I was looking for in the first place.
I should also note...if you get this far and decide this is just too much to spend, then buy either the Logitech S715i or the Altec Lansing iM600. Those are both great systems for the price.
Hope this helps others!
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
This ipod dock is definately worth the $400 I paid. This speaker system sounds awesome especially if you enjoy bass in your music. I also considered buying the Bose Sounddock 10, but I actually preferred the sound on the Dre beatbox. You can also connect other devices such as a dvd player and it also charges your ipod.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
The most important thing to me is very high audio quality. Sure, there will always be better, but having listened to just about every compact speaker dock, this one sits on a whole different level. (Though so does the price!)
There were three units in my consideration, the Kicker IK501, the Bose SoundDock 10, and the Monster Beats by Dre Beatbox.
The Dre unit (which I'll just call "Beatbox") sits midway price wise, yet is clearly the winner in almost all categories.
I listen to a wide variety of classical, rock, rap, singer-songwriter, R&B, etc and have tried all genres on these units. The Beatbox can reach incredibly loud sound levels while maintaining absolute perfect clarity and musical reproduction. I find the music is very accurately reproduced and comes through as the artists intended it to. The highs are incredible, so clean and crisp they can actually give you chills. The mid range is full and vibrant, filling the room. The bass...and I know this is an important one for all of you...is just right for me. It is not ground shaking (which I was a surprised considering "Dr Dre") but it is clean, deep, again, accurate. The Kicker IK501 does have slightly louder bass, but not nearly as refined.
I have yet to experiment with placement of the box which I understand can make a significant difference in the amount of bass reproduced.
As for volume, this box gets LOUD. I live in a single family home and even at 3/4 volume, I am concerned the neighbors might get upset. You could seriously throw a house party with this tiny little box. Loud with ZERO distortion...that's what I like!
Dock connector works great, AUX works great. Just really wish they would release something for the "Wireless Adapter" I would to AirPlay to the box!
This really put the Bose unit to shame which is surprising considering the price difference.
So yes, this unit is expensive, but you honestly won't regret it over the long term.
There were three units in my consideration, the Kicker IK501, the Bose SoundDock 10, and the Monster Beats by Dre Beatbox.
The Dre unit (which I'll just call "Beatbox") sits midway price wise, yet is clearly the winner in almost all categories.
I listen to a wide variety of classical, rock, rap, singer-songwriter, R&B, etc and have tried all genres on these units. The Beatbox can reach incredibly loud sound levels while maintaining absolute perfect clarity and musical reproduction. I find the music is very accurately reproduced and comes through as the artists intended it to. The highs are incredible, so clean and crisp they can actually give you chills. The mid range is full and vibrant, filling the room. The bass...and I know this is an important one for all of you...is just right for me. It is not ground shaking (which I was a surprised considering "Dr Dre") but it is clean, deep, again, accurate. The Kicker IK501 does have slightly louder bass, but not nearly as refined.
I have yet to experiment with placement of the box which I understand can make a significant difference in the amount of bass reproduced.
As for volume, this box gets LOUD. I live in a single family home and even at 3/4 volume, I am concerned the neighbors might get upset. You could seriously throw a house party with this tiny little box. Loud with ZERO distortion...that's what I like!
Dock connector works great, AUX works great. Just really wish they would release something for the "Wireless Adapter" I would to AirPlay to the box!
This really put the Bose unit to shame which is surprising considering the price difference.
So yes, this unit is expensive, but you honestly won't regret it over the long term.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
No remote support so far
Sound is great. But no wireless connection to iPhone/iPod yet, although it comes with a wireless-connection-port for some future add-on device not yet launched.
Published 6 days ago by Juan Castro
decent sound, but WAY overpriced
The price is completely ridiculous and i have bought audio products for this much. The fact is, it's sound is worse than the logitech ipod dock that lists for $100. Read more
Published 24 days ago by jham
awsome!!!!
hi i got this because my ihome broke and have the beat solos and was so amazed with the sound on those so i got the beat box and it is worth ever penny i spent the bass is amazing... Read more
Published 28 days ago by awsome
REMOTE SUCKS!!
Returned it for a full refund....I should have done my usual research via Youtube before I bought this device. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Truth
Gimme That Bass
I love my Beat By Dre Box. The sound clarity is great and the bass is clear and BOOMING. Having had any problems. It's a little heavy but easy to care around.
Published 1 month ago by KlothezMinded
Best household speaker out there!
I bought my first pair of Beats by Dre headphones last spring (Red Solo HD's) but I Found the desire for an iPod dock. Read more
Published 1 month ago by DreLover
F N amazing
i lve this thing nice and loud use it every day i never tought it would be this good but it was sounds amazing love it!
Published 2 months ago by Mitch
The perfect speaker
Beats by Dre. Those three words together sound good on paper and in real life. I have and currently own many bose speakers and was happy with them but they all had a the same glich... Read more
Published 2 months ago by AAA
great sound
maintains clear sound at high volume. Bass is very strong, especially when positioned in a corner. Simple remote but doesn't work with non-Apple players.
Published 2 months ago by AMA
nice
i really like this player. needs to be in a corner for best results. very powerful and clear. heavily constructed and a quality product. Read more
Published 2 months ago by hisc254
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