ipod system

[admin_exported]

So the girlfriend has been admiring my rig (the celestion A3's, that is) and decided her one-box ipod dock is a bit naff, she's looking to spend ITRO £500 for something better.

She likes everything classical to hard rock.

Looking around I see the Fatman iTube valvedock looks to be just about right. What kinda bass can I expect on this, and what would be a good speaker upgrade if I don't plumb for the options?

What else is worth considering? I'd personally veer towards the onkyo ND-S1 and get the D-A offboard but that and a DAC/amp/speakers is a stretch for the budget, any calls on a decent amp with a digi-in?

She's unlikely to want to expand the system much, not much of a techno-head just want good sound which is why the fatman seems just right, and it looks pretty smart too which is a bonus, I doubt she'll want hulking great boxes.

 

[manicm]

I assume your GF does not have any kind of independent hi-fi? And she's just interested in the iPod?

If not then yes the Fatman should do the trick. If she can stretch a bit I would also consider the B&W Zeppelin - it's also flexible as she could connect her DVD to it as well.

 

[Anonymous]

manicm:
I assume your GF does not have any kind of independent hi-fi? And she's just interested in the iPod?

If not then yes the Fatman should do the trick. If she can stretch a bit I would also consider the B&W Zeppelin - it's also flexible as she could connect her DVD to it as well.

That looks good. About the same price though, the Fatman has a couple of phono-in's so basic expansion like wapping the DVD into it should be easy, which had already crossed my mind and is in it's favour, although as far as she's concerned there's no mad expansion likely.

Personally I'm a trad when it comes to speaker positioning and don't much care for one box jobbies, am I being unfair?

 

[matengawhat]

no - the only way to get a true sound stage is to have some distance between the speakers - the fatmat creates a better soundstage than the B&W but it is a really sweet solution and is def better built than the fatman!

 

[John Duncan]

The Fatman would kick the Zeppelin's butt (IMO). (Sorry Shaun, but in its favour my MiL still wants one

)

Speaker upgrade very worthwhile, plenty of options, but it depends on how much you want to spend in total?

Lastly though, have you considered other options like a budget integrated amp and a 20 quid dock? I suspect you could get a better-sounding combo than the Fatman from the likes of NAD, Cambridge, Rotel and Marantz...

 

[Anonymous]

I guess bookshelfs ITRO £100-150 would be what we're looking at, given the fatmans speakers add about a ton how do they compare to the competition?

I was considering the dock/amp route before seeing the fatman, which just kinda grabs me cos I know she'd appreciate something a little more aesthetic than trad hifi lumpy boxes, while not being a one-box-wonder. Forgive me but, apart from soundstaging, there's something about packing
low-level electronics and vibrating speakers all into the same
enclosure that just all wrong and annoying on an engineering level to me.

 

[matengawhat]

you can buy the matching fatman speakers off ebay new for £35 at the moment could be a good initial solution if money is tight - i bought br1s for my fatman but picked up a pair of the fatman ones off ebay as a spare set although not tried them yet