Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive Bose impersonator for a much lower price, September 7, 2007
This is part of a three way Comparison, Bose SoundDock vs. Griffin Amplifi vs. Altec Lansing IM600. Please see my reviews for those other products for detailed comparison:
Design and Features:
Griffin Amplifi: Cabinet made of wood, looks like small shoebox. Has two 2.75" drivers front mounted and a bottom mounted 5" woofer with a bass port. Griffin in the worst Bose tradition refuses to disclose many tech statistics on their unit, but my power estimate puts this at about 30-40 watts, not really much different from the Bose SoundDock. (To sound twice as loud needs a 10 times (1000%) increase in wattage, so the Bose advantage of maybe 33% more power should not really give much real world benefit.) Frequency response per mfgr is 50-16,000 kHz which seems a bit unbelievable on the low end, but feasible enough on the higher end. Ipod docks on top and sticks awkwardly out of the unit like a control tower, but fit is snugger than on Sound Dock which makes me feel more reassured.
There is a line-in and not much more. Big blue-lit knob controls on-off and volume. Remote is a copy of the Bose's with the same simple functions. Range and aiming tolerance is inferior to both the Bose and the Altec, but certainly adequate. Annoyingly, the Amplifi only charges an Ipod docked in it when the Amplifi is on; if the Ipod is docked and the Griffin is turned off, no charging. Either Griffin's engineers are idiots, or they decided to save a few pennies in the design.
Sound:
Griffin: Bass is about as good as the SoundDock, maybe lower extension, but roughly the same precision and balance. Griffin is to be commended for not going crazy and letting the big 5" woofer run roughshod over the sound of the Amplifi. The big woofer does not make the Amplifi sound better than the Bose at the low end, but on the other hand it doesn't sound worse, and it is also much cheaper. Griffin was not aiming to beat the Bose here, but rather to equal it with a lower price and simpler design. Mid-range is another strong point here, and treble is also a bit lacking, like in the Bose, but not too much so. Classical pieces still sound very good on the Griffin.
Where the Amplifi does lose ground to Bose is in the fancy stuff. Stereo separation is non-existent, and detail is nowhere near as precise as on the Bose. This sounds like a big loud mono speaker. Low volumes especially lose a lot of fine subtlety, and distortion is heard at the very highest volumes (though to be fair, no one would really play this unit that loud, as it is probably 100 dB or more.) The acoustically tuned all wood cabinet adds little to the sound signature of the Amplif vis a vis the plastic cabinet of the Bose. The lack of stereo separation, detail, and full clarity throughout all volume ranges is where the added cost of the Bose is most evident and justifiable. Most users will like the Griffin though; it mimics the sound signature of the Bose convincingly, has a retro wood cabinet design, and has at least one important feature that the Bose lacks, a line-in, all of this at a street value of 1/3rd of what the Bose goes for. This will make the Amplif a great solution for most users, especially those on a budget. However, the added price of the Bose does create a noticeably superior sound in at least some aspects.
Value:
Griffin: List of $150, normally seen online at roughly $115-$125. I picked mine up at Circuit City for $100.
Summary:
Bose: Probably not worth $300, the price I paid of $225 feels like about what the SoundDock is worth. The sound is audibly better quality here, though probably not two to three times better than the Griffin or the Altec, which is what the pricing would indicate. The lack of a decent feature set makes the Bose seem like even less of a value. Again though, if style, quality, simplicity, and excellent sound is your goal, and price does not matter that much, the Bose is a fine choice. Special note to all the Bose haters: take a listen to this before lumping it in with such atrocities as the Acoustimass and StereoEverywhere technology. The SoundDock sounds unusually good, does not mangle realism of the sound unpleasantly, and is really the cutting edge of what can be done with reproducing Ipod sound from a small one-piece unit.
Griffin: Aims for the SoundDock's sound signature, and generally succeeds. Lacks a bit of polish in both physical and sonic characteristics, but overall is an excellent value. If you want Bose, but can't afford it, the Amplifi will not leave you with many regrets. The wooden cabinet and big bass driver are not utilized very distinctively, but there are no glaring missteps here either. However, if you can afford the SoundDock, the Griffin has no real advantages as its clone philosophy and minimal feature set offer no advantage over Bose except cost. The bigger and better sound of the SoundDock justifies the added cost as long as price is not the main consideration.
Altec Lansing: The excellent design, wonderful feature set, and portability of this unit distinguishes and separates it from the other two. Sound is generally well done, crisp and appealing, and the treble emphasis gives the Altec its own sonic niche. The power difference in watts is not really noticeable except if you are trying to fill up a big room with sound, and why would you be doing that with a wee tiny Ipod dock anyway? Most users will be very happy with the IM600's sound and the quality FM tuner is just the icing on the cake. If you are on a budget, I would say get the Altec as it sells for roughly the same price as the Amplifi, and has many more features including portability. The IM600 has somewhat less bass than the Griffin, but better stereo sound and detail clarity.
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The clear choice for a stationary iPod dock, August 25, 2007
When I stumbled upon the Griffin in my search for a stationary iPod dock for my home, I almost wondered if this was some sort of trick question - the Griffin seemed like such a superior product for the price, surely there must be some catch (i.e. the quality must be awful), although reviews on Amazon and Cnet seemed to indicate otherwise. Well, I recieved this unit about two days ago and there is no catch.
I was very pleased when I received the unit and took it out of the box - it looks very good - sleek, elegant, simple, it fits right in and doesn't look silly like some of the other iPod docks which look like a teenager's boombox or something. I was also pleased with the sound - it sounds pretty damn good, in my opinion. I think the reviewers who complained about the sound quality must be comparing it to far more expensive home theater systems and have unrealistic expectations, this thing sounds about as good as anything you'll find anywhere near this price range. It does get pretty loud (and sounds good loud), but I found the sound quality is also pretty good at lower-mid volume levels as well. I have not compared the sound quality to the Bose Sounddocd (which is twice the price) head to head, but have no reason to as I'm happy with this so it would be silly to pay more.
Now, reasons this product may not be for you - it isn't portable (no batteries and it's too big to put in your suitcase if you're heading out of town). The other rag on it I've seen is the supposed lack of features - this is just fine with me, as it has plenty of features for me: it charges the iPod while it's on the unit, it has a remote, it has an input jack for something other than an iPod, it comes with all the necessary adapters, and it has a very simple user interface consisting of only a single dial (turn for volume, push for power on/off).
However, these two "drawbacks" are exactly why the Griffin is perfect for my use - most of the portable units that can run on batteries just aren't going to have the power output of a stationary unit that's meant to always be plugged in. And the lack of "features" keeps operation simple and keeps the price low (I was listening to music on this literally 1 minute after I opened the box, the operation is extremely simple). While the unit isn't truly 'portable', it's small and light enough that it isn't a hassle if I want to move it from my bedroom to my living room, though at this price I might even buy a second one if I find myself moving it back and forth often.
Bottom line - if what you're looking for is a reasonably priced non-portable iPod dock and you care more about sound quality than frills and features, this is the CLEAR choice out of what is currently available in my opinion. It looks good, it sounds good, and it's a great value, you can't go wrong with this.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Professional quality iPod speaker, May 22, 2007
I ordered this speaker for my 80GB iPod Video to use in my office based on specs and appearance. I wanted a simple speaker with excellent sound reproduction and frankly, hated the styling and footprint of the Bose SoundDock. The other options including the highly rated iM7 are all too oddly shaped and light-colored to place in a professional office. The sophisticated styling with the trademark blue lighted dial sets this unit apart from the rest and definitely make it worth getting. It has a smooth black front panel that can match easily with any high end components or just as a stand-alone showpiece. This is more professional appearing than any of the other iPod speaker systems and has a solid feel. It is built with a solid wood enclosure and the acoustics rival the Bose SoundDock (I have to admit the Bose has a very slight edge in pure sound) and easily beats the iPod Hi-Fi with strong bass tones and excellent midrange. It has a wide volume range without any annoying distortions. If you want useless frills and multiple input options, then look at something else because this is as simple as it gets with one plug for the power cord and a single audio input. The box comes with rubber inserts to fit any iPod and the remote works well from 10 feet away. I bought the system on Amazon with free-shipping at $136 (nearly half the price of its rival SoundDock) and after trying it out in my office, I have to say that it far exceeded my expectations. I see that Amazon just lowered the price to $129 and I plan to order another one for home. I don't think Griffin has been very effective marketing this outstanding speaker, which is a shame since I would have been willing to pay as much as $199. This is a quality high-end speaker at a bargain price for an iPod audiophile.
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