I must say I'm digging Altec Lansing's new design approach with their consumer audio gear. In these Expressionist Bass speakers and new inMotion iPod docks, we see A-L ditching white plastic tubes and glossy piano-black slabs in favor of vaguely retro, almost steampunk industrial designs with big screws, black, chrome and brown color schemes, prominent grilles, and a new logo. Check out a few more retro-fabulous shots and another, bigger inMotion dock post-jump.

The Expressionist Bass speakers ditch the 3-piece setup in favor of built-in subs in each speaker, saving space under the desk if that's something you need. Separate drivers for mids and highs too, for $130. We know Altec can build a solid iPod dock already, so the inMotion Moondance GLOW ($180) above will look slick on the bedstand, featuring dual alarms and a really sweet looking ziggurat-shaped remote. The inMotion MAX (below) brings more power with four drivers for $200.
And the quirky Orbit speaker we've seen before also got dropped into a more industrial-looking enclosure with the iM237 edition, which will give you OK sound in a tiny package for $40.
All of the redesigned gear should be out in October. Now that the NYT deemed it a fad (typically a few years too late), it's interesting to see subtle steampunk-ish cues pop into a major CE company's design schemes. [Altec Lansing via Crave]

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