Customer Reviews

Klipsch iGroove SXT Speaker System for iPhone and iPod (Black)

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This speaker set really sounds great. I am an audiophile who would usually go the extra $$ for the best sounding unit (i.e. the Bose Sound Docks or something comparable) but you can only spend so much on peripherals. FYI, I checked out the various dock options on Amazon.com. I've heard the JBL On-Stage at a friend's house and liked it, but I was concerned about all the feedback in the reviews about that unit's volume control issues. Speaker sound is all about personal preference and hearing those speakers in the environment where they will be played. I went with the Klipsch for 3 reasons - the company is known for making high-end tower speakers, the unit includes an "S" video jack for showing videos and podcasts on my TV and the reviews here and elsewhere were positive. I normally wouldn't buy speakers without hearing them first, but I relied on the reviews and the company's reputation - and besides, the pricing was good and I could always return the speakers if they didn't sound great in my house.

I received the unit and unpacked it in my bedroom, where it will ultimately be used. It was super-simple to setup - indeed the instruction manual is only 3-4 pages of large type. I put my iPod on the unit and fired it up. The sound that came forth was crisp, clean and impressive. Frankly, not to knock Bose, but the sound was about as good as the sound from my Bose Wave Radio which cost more than 3X what the Klipsch cost. The sound is excellent with lusty base, crisp treble and superb midrange. I have played a variety of music and have been continually impressed with the sound reproduction. Pop, Hip Hop, Classical, Jazz - you name it, this Klipsch really delivers. And it fills my moderate-sized bedroom with music without any trace or distortion and it sounds very natural. I haven't used the S-Video hook up to view videos yet, but I'm sure it will work well also. In my opinion, this is the best unit at the $150 price point - it will not disappoint!

Here are my overall pros and cons for the Klipsch:

Pros:

-> Attractive form factor and reasonably small foot print
-> Easy to set up
-> Sound quality is excellent - at all ends of the musical spectrum
-> Price is very reasonable
-> Fills the room with clear, crisp music at any volume level - sounds great on low or played loud
-> Has video connection for movies and podcasts - many other speaker sets don't have this feature

Cons:

-> The volume buttons on the unit itself don't have a smooth positive feel - they are stiff in their operation
-> A screen like that of the Altec Lansing would be nice so that you could see the volume level and other key operating statistics of the unit

Bottom Line: If you appreciate good sound reproduction, this is the unit for you!!! Take it home and try it - you can return it if you don't like the sound. But trust me, you'll love it!!!!

Here's the quick. The Klipsch is quite good but not quite great. I performed my own side-by-side comparison of the Klipsch iGroove SXT ($149) to the Bose SoundDock Portable ($359).

Bose
* Richer, deeper more robust sound. Truly is impressive.
* Touch volume buttons easier to push (vs. Klipsch mechanical buttons take a little force).
* Cord transformer part of the plug plus the cord can smartly be partially hidden in the transformer to let out only the amount of cord you want (vs. Klipsch transformer in the middle of the cord that clutters the countertop). Advantage Bose.
* Achieves louder volume (though Klipsch is pretty good too).
* Heavier unit, presumably a reflection of larger speaker magnets. (Both units have essentially the same countertop footprint but the Bose is taller.)

Klipsch
* Very good sound, but just not as impressive as the Bose.
* Exchangable docking port for various MP3 players (though the one-size-fits-all on the Bose works fine for my iPhone).
* Accepts the iPhone without a warning. (Annoyance of the Bose: it displays a warning message that it's not compatible with the iPhone even though it actually is.)
* Price.

Bottom Line:
If you have $149 to spend, buy the Klipsch and you'll be happy. If you have $359 to spend, buy the Bose and you'll be very happy.

If you know Klipsch like I know Klipsch, then you, of course, should not be surprised at the great sound. The bass is not exactly earth shaking, but with the type of music I'm currently listening to (Jazz, New Age, Alternative), it suits my bedroom just fine. I'm definitely hearing a wider range of sounds than before. The system itself is pretty small (a lot smaller than I expected) but with the nice sound coming out, I'm glad it's a space saver.

My main concern is the docking connector. When you dock the Ipod/Iphone, it is only held up by a small connector; your Ipod/Iphone is not thick enough to lean up against the wall of the slot for support. Therefore, when you use your Ipod/Iphone, it definitely jiggles and will eventually loosen the connector. My easy solution: I folded a piece of tissue for support! :-)

(Also, the volume switches on the speakers are hard to push, but the remote solves this concern.)

Hopefully the next edition of the iGroove will address this problem, but until then, I'm enjoying this Klipsch immensely.

Im not Luly, I'm her son and I'm 15 and an audiophile.
My background:
I listen to Rock, classical rock, pop, R&B, jazz, pop, dance, electronic, hip hop and some heavy rap to get the beats down. I love BASS deep rich but No distorion at all. I own a Altec Lansing im800 (one of the earlier docks that came out. about a 1 1/2 years ago), Klipsch Promedia 2.1, Bose Companion 3, Klipsch KG 4.2 Floorstanding speakers. I always knew Klipsch was a FANTASTIC brand, they all sound amazing, and better than Bose because Bose has barely any bass in their products (my opinion).

What I have to say about this product:
I went to the Apple store to listen to the iGroove, JBL soundstage 3, Bose ipod dock and another JBL but forgot the name of it. Then after listening to those I thought that the Klipsch was the best in my budget (nomore than 150$), and I plugged my ipod in the Bose and the Klipsch and didnt quite see the difference at all, the Bose had barely but a little more bass but it probly has 3inch drivers instead of 2 1/2 inch drivers that the Klipsch had. But it was also loud in there so I could be wrong.
After that I went to Best Buy to test out other docks and they had a Logitech Rechargeable Speaker S315i, Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere Compact Speakers, and a Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus Omnidirectional Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone and also the Klipsch iGroove.

How did they sound??

JBL Soundstage 3: Very portable and good 360 degree sound. Has surprising great sound with its 1/1 1/2 inch drivers and has dual tweeters (one on each side). This had amazing bass for its SIZE. The highs and mids were well produced from this dock and were nice and clear. The loudness of this was amazing cause its small and this thing was cranked with NO distortion.

The atmosphere at best buy was surprisingly quite no other speakers were cranked up.
Logitech Rechargeable Speaker S315i: Really bad but not saying this t make Klipsch look good. The S315i had bass that sounded like someone was knocking on a wooden door. The high notes sounded flat with no enthusiasm. The mids were mixed in with the bass, but you could still hear the high notes. It woud be good for portability cause it wasnt very wide but just about 6-8 inches tall (maybe).

Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere Compact Speakers: This is excelent if you want portability. The bass was SURPRISINGLY FULL AND RICH, one thing that makes the bass for this product full and rich was that it has two 3 inch pressure/passive radiator drivers. The 3 inch pressure/passive radiator drivers do nothing at all but bounce back and forth instead of having a ported hole for the air to push out, the 3 inch drivers increase bass response and less distortion. The mids and the highs were not really clear though, coming from two 2 inch full range drivers, I think this cause of the bass. This actually gets pretty loud without distortion.

Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus Omnidirectional Speaker Dock for iPod and iPhone: This was good but not great. The bass was hearable and not like knocking on wood. The bass couldve been more richer and deeper. The mids were very good and the same with the highs. The music was very clear and all notes could be heard with this dock which is great. I didnt get this one because it didnt have enough bass for me. This can get loud too.

Klipsch iGroove SXT: I think this was the best portable one with amazing sound. The bass is very very full, deep and rich cause it has dual 2 1/2 inch long throw woofers and it has two ported holes (one on each side) unlike others that have nothing at all. But the ported hole doesnt even make the shuffling noise at lound volumes which is great. The highs and mids are excellent and noticable, because their being produced by the 2 horn tweeters (one on each side). This dockcan get very very loud with NO distortion at all!! This is a tiny bit taller than my bose wave radio and the length is about 2 inches shorter than the Bose wave raidio and the width is about half the width of the Bose Wave radio. The bose wave radio is NOT the double decker with 4 speakers instead of 2, I have the one with 2 speakers.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PORDUCT TO ANYONE WHO SEEKS AMAZING SOUND AND PORTABILITY!!

Compared to Bose SoundDock, Polk, Denon, and anything else I could get my hands on. Spent 2.5 hours in a store doing side by sides. I am obsessive about trying to compare apples and apples. Klipsch won when compared to items in the same price range every time. Hands down. Also hung very very close with those way more expensive (besting quite a few like the Denon). Bose sounds *slightly* better, but not by much and not for more than $100 more. We own a Sonos S5 as well (which also sounds great) but it's lots more expensive and the Klipsch holds its own against that very well too. Basically, this is the best item of it's kind out there for the money. The plastic could be a little less flimsy, but it's not ultra fragile either. Great balance of sound quality and price. Worth every penny.

We shopped for our ipod/iphone speakers very carefully. Tested brands at stores, read reviews on various websites, and a week prior to purchasing, were fortunate enough to have use of the Bose Wave System. I have the Altec Lansing In Motion speaker system from a few years back. Terrible. Really awful connection. I will say the Bose sounded excellent, but the price is prohibitive. Bose does a lot of advertising, has stores, info ads, etc..I know thats part of the cost. Klipsch, on the other hand, makes speakers, thats it. The sound of these speakers is on par with the Bose systems. Its a wonderful speaker system for the price. Works perfectly with all makes and models of ipods and iphone, no feedback at all. When running the iphone, you can use any number of internet and satellite radio apps available in the app store. All in all its an excellent product for the price. I would 100% recommend this to anyone looking for very good sound quality, but not looking to spend $200+ and I would purchase Klipsch products again for sure!

After upgrading my home stereo to a $7K home theater I began to enjoy my old music library in a new way. I'm no audiophile, but I'm now enjoying music listening a whole lot more. When I want to immerse myself in sound I head down to the basement to rock out.

Despite the big splurge, I'm still cheap. I hate spending more money than I have to. I started looking around for a decent iPhone speaker system for the kitchen where we spend most of our time, but I didn't want 4ft tall tower speakers and a big amp on the counter, I wanted something compact and that doesn't draw a ton of attention to itself. But also after hearing what good music could really sound like, I didn't want something that sounded plastic and hollow.

I was about to default to the Bose sound dock- even though I really hate paying that much just for name brand. I knew there had to be a good middle road. Everything else I could find was in the $50-150 range but sounded terrible. Until I tried this dock. Side by side the Bose has a deeper sound in a big open space, but if you're looking for a more neutral sound (ie you don't want everything to sound hip hop) this will sound better to you. 4 Separate drivers gives cleaner sound to my ear. Certainly, for the $100 I saved by not going with the Bose sounds good too. There is plenty of bass for a counter top unit. It plays plenty loud without distortion. We've had it about 6 months.

Obviously, if you're looking for the "best" sound, go get a real amp, real speakers and probably a sub. If you're looking for a simple compact counter unit that will do your music justice with clear treble and decent bass, but you don't want to spend $100 just on the name badge, this is a great choice.

My wife and I researched the market for a portable, high-quality speaker system for our iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch.
We ended up buying the Klipsch iGrove SXT, and are very pleased with this purchase. The sound quality is great and
it only has three buttons: Volume Up, Volume Down and Power. For any and all other features, you would use your
iPhone or iPod apps, which we do. This speaker system has replaced our alarm clock, which we did not anticipate when we
bought it. We frequently unplug it and use it in different rooms, even on our outside deck. We love this portability, as
you can put it anywhere where you have access to a power outlet. Given its small footprint, you can put it on a night stand.
This product is a great value for the money, and we have not experienced any drawbacks in the months we have used it.

I baught this product couple of days ago. The sound quality is good and it is very easy to use. I was able play both my Iphone and Ipod very easily. Good thing is that it also charges them while connected. The only issue I find in this is the qulity of the docking station (the place where you put the Ipod/Iphone). It seems like if you press it little hard it will break. So you have to be careful not be press the Iphone/Ipod very hard on the connector point.

I won't be buying a Klipsch again. It has turned out to be an expensive ipod charger since that is all that it does now. It was awesome at first but it started having volume problems after about 6 months of very limited use. The volume will not go up or down and it can be heard at about whisper level. Also there is no troubleshooting guide in the manual which is really strange considering all the problems I have seen with it via the internet!