First things first: you can't plug your guitar into this. It's not a guitar amp, and it doesn't have a 1/4-inch input, and the 6.5-inch speaker simply isn't designed for it. It does have stereo analog inputs, meaning it'll hook right up to your game console, giving your rhythm game of choice more power, and more importantly better sound resolution.

At first glance the concept is patently ridiculous—the line between an amp and a fake amp is much thinner than between a guitar and a fake guitar, and you can buy an amp for this much—but rhythm games are essentially social, and built-in TV speakers are uniformly terrible, so having a portable "amp" to bring to parties isn't actually such a terrible idea. [Altec Lansing]

In gaining a USB cable, used for both audio input and power, the neatly-kickstanded OrbitUSB loses its batteries, and by extension, its 3.5mm jack. In practical terms, this means that the speaker is eminently more useful for anyone trying to coax a little more sound out of their notebooks—or even more so, netbooks—but that it's totally limited to that one application: You won't be able to use this to impose your iPod's contents unto others.

If that's exactly what you need, though, the OrbitUSB will be available starting in Mid-September for $50, case included. [Altec Lansing]

Both products are attractive in their own way, but stumble over the same minor detail. The MX6021, picture above, is another one of those pretty "Expressionist" speakers Altec keeps making, and this time they've opted for some kind of auto part/heavy machinery/1990s space movie aesthetic. As far as sound goes, it's a fairly standard 2.1 system, though Altec stresses its gen-u-ine 200W rating.

The iMT800 is pitched as a modern-day boombox, with five inbuilt speakers, digital FM radio, an iPod dock with a device stabilizer (so you don't shear off the connector), a remote and a pair of auxiliary inputs for other devices. I sort of hope the eight D-cell battery requirement is a sly nod to the device's battery-hungry ancestors, but I'm not so sure. To Altec's credit, though, those eight batteries last 30 hours and get their own battery capacity readout, so you shouldn't be too worried about unplugging this thing.

Now, about that "minor detail": Price! In both cases—the iMT800 at $300 and the MX6021 at $150—it's a little high. Both are available now. [AltecLansing]

One trend that seems to be taking place in the land of iPod docks is that companies seem less concerned with the high end, hi-fi iPod docks. Instead, they're gravitating towards smaller, lighter docks that sound nice, but are intended more for casual listening. Both Logitech and Klipsch are putting most of their weight behind these smaller docks. In our testing, we checked out:

• Altec Lansing InMotion Max

• Bose SoundDock II

• iHome iP71

• iLuv i398

• JBL OnStage 400p

• Klipsch iGroove SXT (NOTE: Updated product specs for refreshed iGroove SXT not on Klipsch site yet)

• Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2

• Sony SRSGUI0iP

That said, we still went looking for the iPod dock that sounded really good while sticking as close to the $200 mark. Some were much cheaper, or much more expensive, but most of them all had something interesting to offer. Ultimately, overall audio quality had the most weight in helping to pick our winner, but price, design, and the usefulness of smaller features were also taken into consideration:

The Winner:

JBL On Stage 400p: At $250, the On Stage 400p is a bit more expensive than some of the other docks, but it sounds so nice, it was impossible to give top honors to anyone else. It uses a 30w sub to push out the low end, while delivering another 30w of power to the tweeters for the highs and mids. And though it might not wow anyone with its design, it's nice enough that you don't have to hide it in your living room. Just might want to wait till it goes on sale later on.

The Runners Up:

Bose SoundDock II: It's no huge surprise why the SoundDock II out performs the rest of the field: at $300 , Bose's accessory is outfitted with better hardware. But is the sound quality worth $100 than the rest of the docks? And what's the chance you'll ever find it on sale?

Altec Lansing InMotion Max: What the InMotion Max lacks in booming low end, it makes up for in precision audio tuning and a light, slim design. Two 2-inch drivers are bolstered by two, 2-inch passive radiators which sit directly above. The result are nice mids and highs that offer much better sound than the 14w power rating would suggest. Other nice little touches include song info that appears in the backlit display, capacitive touch buttons (which include <</>> controls), battery power that lasts 3.5 hours, and a spring loaded ipod dock connector that slides out. Well done.

Honorable Mentions:

Klipsch iGroove SXT: The new, revamped iGroove SXT (hitting stores this july) packs a lot of punch into a compact bundle. Enhanced acoustics and a dedicated amplifier for each driver give the SXT a nice, deep sound, but sometimes the high-end clarity suffers. Still it's hard not to like this one, and Klipsch is phasing out its bigger iGroove, so this is it if you love Klipsch.

Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere 2: Coming in at a lower price point and smaller size than most the other docks here, it's hard to compare it sonically because most the other docks are bigger and more expensive . But the Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 does manage to improve over the original Pure-Fi Anywhere in the sound department and does what few other docks can do: Travel around easily with a 10 hour battery life. Besides, the larger Pure-Fi Dream system may sound better, but its clock-radio interface leaves too much to be desired.

Listening Test: It's music tech week at Gizmodo.

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]

A few notes on testing and results: As with the earphone Battlemodo, my testing methods were not scientific but practical: The audio test was a sonically diverse playlist of reasonable bitrate MP3s, the isolation test was a ride on a San Francisco city bus followed by white noise on a home stereo, and the mic testing was done by, well, making a few calls.

Each headset gets its own conclusion, including a summary of the circumstances for which the set is best suited. One with fantastic sound might cut off the noises of traffic, making it useless for biking. Another might be great for running, but not pick up nuanced tones of your obsessively ripped lossless audio collection. Apple's own headset serves as a baseline—it doesn't have its own section, but it is referred to where appropriate. At the $70 mark and above, it tends to be outclassed. Because of the varying needs of headset users, there's no one Battlemodo champion, but some are definitely better than others. Here are the results:

Altec Lansing Earclip-S - $40
One of two earclip-style headsets we tested, these earphones don't offer much over the standard headset besides a secure fit. Music playback is as clear as on Apple's buds, but without any of the bass. They're not very attractive and feel cheap and flimsy. The sticky rubber sheathing can sort of grab your hair, if you're bushy around the ears, though it does help the clips stay put. There are two controllers, one on the mic and one down the wire for with volume and mic shutoff. The volume controller is sensitive and gets inadvertently adjusted pretty often, and the call/play button can be hard to find in a hurry. The mic added an annoying static sound to voices.
Conclusion: Recommend for exercise duty, where they would at least stay in place and sound OK. They're water resistant too, but at this price you may not be too paranoid about sweat murdering your headset anyway. They look, feel and sound as cheap as they are.

Shure Music Phone Adapter - $50
Shure's solution to the headset problem is to sell you the earphones and microphone separately. Pairing with the fantastic SE110s will make for a fantastic combo, but the combo will set you back almost $150 total. Good thing you can use this adapter with any earphones. Voice quality is high, even in situations with ambient noise, but extras are not; there is just one button and gator clip.
Conclusion: If you like your current earphones, keep them and buy the Shure. Ideally, your earphones will have a short cable, otherwise you'll have to clip the mic to your shirt and let the excess cable dangle.

Maximo iMetal iP-HS1 - $70
Music is richer and clearer than with Apple's headset, but not by much. These fit like traditional earbuds, and are on the large side in both look and diameter. They're solid, but could be perceived as a little garish on account of the chrome finish. The single, large low-hanging button works well and is the easiest of the lot to quickly press. The very capable mic is positioned and designed intelligently, and is the best we tested.
Conclusion: A solid replacement for lost or broken Apple headsets for people who have big, weird ear holes and don't care about isolation.

Maximo iMetal iP-HS2 Isolators - $70
These are the in-ear version of the iMetal. Sound is slighly bottom-heavy but the rest of the range is well-represented. The tips are comfortable, and provide surprisingly good isolation. Walking doesn't cause any annoying thumping from the cables, which is often a problem for similar in-ears. The single call/play button is identical to that on the other Maximo, as is the superb mic.
Conclusion: The best value and a recommended purchase, provided you want something that shuts you off from the outside world.

V-Moda Vibe Duo - $100
These in-ears are about as bassy as they are stylish. This results in a slightly muddy sound but they're good for casual listening. Isolation is fair, but you hear significant cable rustling when you walk with them. The tip choices are smart and comfortable for a wide range of ear holes. The single control button is on the mic, easy to find. The mic delivers clear, intelligible sound at a moderate volume.
Conclusion: Too expensive for what you get, but look great and are as tough as nails.

Sennheiser MM50-ip - $100
Sound is comparable to iMetal isolators in terms of balance and quality, but they handle high volumes and bassier songs a bit better. Senn gives us plenty of tip choices, most of which are cushy and easy on the ear holes, but with a low to fair amount of isolation. There is some degree of cable noise when walking, but it's not too intrusive. The mic has a flush call button that can be hard to feel, but luckily sits directly opposite an easy-to-fumble-for indention at the mic's grille. Mic quality is above average, but not very loud. Unequal cable length after the split drives some people nuts, but works fine.
Conclusion: If they were a few dollars cheaper they would be much, much more appealing. Without a significant performance advantage, they lose out to the cheaper Maximo iMetals.

AirDrives Interactive Headset - $100
Taking a totally different approach than just about anyone else, the AirDrives are earclips with drivers that sort of float above your ears. The logic is that they won't interfere with ambient noises and permit all-day listening without fear of ear damage. Achieving a proper fit (or hover, I guess) was difficult on my freakish baby ears, but once you bend them correctly they don't budge. The listening sensation is akin to being in a room with the stereo on, so it's easy to hear what is going on around you. Voices sound fine, but music is robbed of any low to lower-mid frequencies, which I expect would be a dealbreaker for many.
Conclusion: Good for work or exercise where awareness of your surroundings is key, but that's it. Sound is just too poor to recommend for music lovers.

Etymotics hf2 - $180
Excellent, balanced sound, featuring the same audio hardware as the hf5's that won their category in our earphone Battlemodo. These won't win over beat junkies, but are truly in a different class than anything else reviewed here in terms of sound quality—and price. Putting these guys in usually means getting a deep, full seal against your ear canals, which can be offputting to some people, but rewarding to others. Isolation is very strong, and cable rustling is minimal. The mic setup is a one-button affair, but that button is easy to find.
Conclusion: Only buy these if you're an audiophile who, for some reason, doesn't already have a pair of decent earphones. Otherwise, just grab the Shures.

We tried to cover the bases here, but this list of headsets is by no means comprehensive—if you want to add anything from your personal experience, please share it in the comments. Special thanks goes to Clay Hane for testing assistance.

The Price: $199.99

The Verdict: The hook here is the iPhone-friendliness of the product. While testing the T612, GSM buzz never occurred once, making good on Altec Lansing's claim. The dock also mutes the music when a call comes through, so you can hear your ringer and pick up the call (the T612 doesn't have speakerphone, to be clear).

On the audio side of things, the T612 is powered by two 3-inch drivers and two 1 -inch tweeters. The dock sounds good enough if you only listen to pop songs at a moderate volume that don't go too crazy with highs or lows. When you start to venture outside the musical comfort of Celine Dion, heavy bass has a hollow sound, and if you turn it up too loud, everything gets really muddy. Of course, you can adjust the bass and treble to remedy this, but then the music loses some of its punch.

Also available is a wall mount, but you have to pay an extra $3 to have it shipped, and it doesn't look all that great. $199.99 seems a little steep for this dock (especially compared to Logitech's $150 Pure-Fi Anywhere ), but if you really need to dock your iPhone as a music solution, and you can't stand to deal with the interference (or putting your phone in flight mode), maybe this is for you.

It's been what feels like three years in the making, but the final fight in our iPod Dock Battlemodo begins now. The $150 Griffin Amplifi is our budget contender, going face to face against the posh $350 Altec Lansing IMV712. And with that long of a model number, you know it's gotta be good.

But only one will leave this ring coffee table alive.

Feature Test

The Amplifi has nothing extra. There are two ports on the back: one for power, one for a line-in. That's it. The lack of features will be argued as a good thing to some, who want the simplest experience whatsoever. And while it's true that not dealing with inputs is convenient, we would love to see a simple video out tuner, or a more advanced system with the volume

The Altec Lansing IMV712 is the exact opposite of the Amplifi, having the largest feature set of any dock we tested. It starts with a massive 8.5" screen. As we've complained before, it's put to poor use while listening to music, unless you enjoy watching the Altec Lansing hypnotic logo for hours on end.

But video playback is pretty decent. There is an aspect ratio issue that is tough to ignore, but other than that, it's a solid viewing experience.

You also get left and right audio inputs, RCA video in and S-Video out. Surprisingly, there's no radio, and alarm integration would have given the IMV712 and unbeatable feature set.

FEATURE WINNER: IMV712

The Bass Test
We busted out the Dr. Dre, a scene that closely resembled the opening scene in Office Space, we're sure.

And the Griffin comes to fight. Its low range swings for the fence, and the effect is low, loud and a bit sloppy. But the thing can thump. We're talking tubas. We're talking synth.

The IMV712 has clean bass, and you can certainly hear it, but it won't shake your guts. And sometimes we all could use our guts shaken. The IMV712 has a built-in subwoofer, otherwise it would have no bass, or faux bass. But we wish it had a bit more...balls.

The Griffin's underside "bass port" may look like a gimmick, but it's an excellent design...and it leads this category upset.

BASS WINNER: AMPLIFI

Sound Test
To many, even most, the Amplifi will pass as great audio. And for a selling price of about $130, it's gonna make a lot of people happy. But while the highs and lows are both very strong, there's a distinct lack of midrange balance. It's like eating great turkey and cranberry sauce, and then realizing, "Shit! We forgot the stuffing."

The result is that certain voices or instruments can either become harsh without solid grounding, or just be lost in the spectrum. But the Amplifi plays its game well, fooling my ear with its strong extreme ranges. And in that respect, it's very much doing its job. Enigma Variations sounds surprisingly brilliant, still respectable even when played side-by-side with the IMV712. That's a feat.

The IMV712, on the other hand, just has well-crafted audio—an iPod dock poster boy if you will. Despite a lack of EQ adjustments, the system is quite satisfying. Multiple genres of music, from folk to rap, have an excellent balance. I probably say it a bit better in my last review of the unit, but the entire gamut of instrumentation shows up, no matter what the song. It's tough to find any real weaknesses with the sound—other than maybe what we already talked about in the bass portion: an adjustable bass knob with a bit more kick would be the cherry on top here.

One complaint: When switching inputs or tracks, there's a semi-loud static in the speaker. We don't know what Altec Lansing can do to fix the problem—we're no engineers—but it must be fixable, and it's the only real thorn in the entire listening experience.

SOUND WINNER: IMV712

So the Altec Lansing should win, right? It took two of our three categories. Case closed.

Not quite.

To us, there is still the outstanding question of value and overall function. It's a decision we've known was coming from day one when I balanced the bracket to have a budget and premium winner, so we're not going to cry about it or anything. But it's not an issue that we ever necessarily resolved.

As reviewers, the choice could be very easy. We can tell you all that $350 is the price you should pay to have a good iPod dock.

But let's be honest. Most people will never watch video on the IMV712's screen.

And in most listening situations, the average consumer will not hear a massive difference between the docks. But that's the battle of buying audio: It's a game of diminishing returns. It's a question you need to be honest with yourself when answering: Do you need the Passat, or will the Jetta treat you just as well? Do you need the $20 brick of cheese, or will your crackers taste as good spending half that?

OVERALL WINNER: GRIFFIN AMPLIFI

For a shelf price of about $130, the Griffin Amplifi is a steal in the world of iPod Docks. Its worthy competition, the IMV712, is an excellent choice for those who plan on a close listening to their system. But for the many who are just looking for a decent-sounding box to pump out their tunes in an extra room, the Amplifi is the dock for you.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

Read all the chapters of the battle here.

FIGHT!

DESIGN
We were afraid to leave the Eton Sound 100 iPod alone with the Altec Lansing IMV712. The big boy looked hungry, and the Eton is just so delicate...possibly tasty...

Eton Sound 100 iPod
The Eton is a cute system. It's very small, yet has a feel of a bigger unit through its solid buttons and knobs. But we'd like to have seen video out along with the radio and line in/out options. And it's tough to look past the fact that the Eton Sound 100 iPod is just Eton's Sound 100 model with an external iPod dock. Is that bitchy of me? Maybe a little.

Altec Lansing IMV712
The IMV712 is more like a big SUV than a sleek Jeep. We're not crazy about its appearance, even though a diagonally arching top spruces up the boxy form. We've already gushed over the massive screen, etc, but we wish that the screen could be put to better use than movies or the Altec Lansing logo. A little visualization could go a long way here.

AUDIO
Once again, we did extensive audio testing. Sure, we knew (as you should expect) that the IMV712 would take the sound category. But just how much better is Altec Lansing's heavyweight than the little Eton...that's the big question.

Eton Sound 100 iPod
This is a big stage in the competition, so it's time to put away the baby music. We started out with the Boss, Springsteen himself. Human Touch sounded pretty solid. I can't help but to underestimate the output of this little unit, only to be surprised each time I put it on. It actually hits a pretty high frequency range. Vocals are clear, while the highest range instrumentation can thin out (cymbals can get a bit tinny). Lows...I can't quite explain. They hit without resonance, popping in an unnatural way in which a bass drum can resemble a snare hit. The sound is almost low enough, but it's sterile.

Nonetheless, I'm impressed by this little machine.

Altec Lansing IMV712
Of course the IMV712 is more open, reproduces sweeter bass and...well, you get the point. But the even bigger difference between the two units, however, is distinction. Layers of sound, no matter the genre, can be appreciated in full. In Outkast's Ms. Jackson, it's absurdly easy to pick out the tracks and dissect the subtle complexities that make the song so freakin' good. You won't get that with the Eton. And the tendency only gets more obvious when venturing into classical.

Strings and horns are both brilliant on the IMV712. And the Eton, the excellent little BSer that it is, can't begin to keep up.

I always separate sound quality in tiers, and maybe that's completely unfair since it's arbitrary and a bit meaningless in comparisons outside this battle. But you will hear a massive difference between the two units (or at least two tiers of quality). And it's not because the Eton is a disappointment, because I don't see many turning up their noses at the Sound 100's audio quality given the form—it's that the IMV712 transcends iPod docks and gives you a product that can be more of a home stereo than just a backup dock. It might not be perfect sound, sure, but it's fairly luxurious for MP3 playback—a bit of caviar on your Ritz cracker.

WINNER: IMV712

Like its competition in the finals, the Griffin Amplifi, the IMV712 is a bit on the big and ugly. But it sounds good and is feature-rich. Would we give up the IMV712's video for its audio in Eton's form factor? Of course. We just aren't there yet from a technological standpoint.

Today is a sound match only, as we listen to Sufijan Stevens' Decatur, and I realize that, yes, I need to put more songs on the iPod for the finals.

Bose Sound Dock
The Bose didn't fail to surprise me with the size of its sound. It's a master of midrange, with excellent clarity. It's incredibly easy to distinguish the Stevens' two separate vocal tracks, layered for harmony. Many speaker systems nearly lose this subtlety, and its presence adds a dimension to the sound otherwise not appreciated.

Altec Lansing IM7
The IM7's range is pretty decent, with a strong mid to lower midrange. But everything is metallic. As if ever tone is finished in brass, frequency response loses out to a general harshness. It's easily in third place of the three docks.

Altec Lansing IMV712
I guess the two extra numbers and one extra number in "IMV712" count for something, because the IMV712 sounds way beyond its IM7 sibling. And if the big brother shows anything, it's that while Bose makes a great product, the product is not an infallible provider of "perfect sound"— $100 extra bucks can be a lot in audio.

The IMV712 just has...bigger balls. It's like when you've been eating low-fat sour cream for a long time. It tastes pretty good, and you think, not much missing here. Why would I ever eat the real thing? And then you do, appreciating the more opulent texture and more richer flavor.

The IMV712 has a richer sound beyond its ability to limbo down to lower frequencies than the Sound Dock. It's present and filling, from the plucking banjos to the soft hint of breath at the end of vocal phrases.

WINNER: IMV712
On sound alone, the IMV712 takes this round of face-offs. Its closest competition, the Bose Sound Dock, is admittedly cheaper than the IMV712. But since we can easily hear the difference and the Sound Dock is lacking any practical extras, we're going with the IMV712. This result brings a close to the second round of competition. Only three matches are left from here to decide a winner.

If you want more on either unit, check the first-round battles here and here. Today is a sound grudge match. I listened to Beverly Hills by Weezer. Strong guitars and some challenging frequencies on the high side make this a fun test song.



The Altec Lansing puts out more sound that you'd expect from its small profile, and the guitars are the first thing that you notice. That tenor vocal to guitar range is a real sweet spot for the system, even though the sound never has that singing in your ear presence. And the stereo effects many be the most prominent of any dock in the competition. It's one of the few systems that I actually enjoy the SFX mode.
The Amplifi kicked some butt in our first round of testing, and though we may have remembered it a bit better than it actually sounds, it still holds its own. From the mids to the highs, this unit is very warm and scores incredibly well on general listenability. Cymbals ring metallic while vocals carry with an impressive amount of fidelity. I just wish wish wish wish it had more bass given its size.

While testing, I accidentally unplugged the IM600 and it kept running, a gentle reminder that this little machine has its own built-in battery. But the Amplifi sounds better enough for me to ignore the convenience...besides, I never leave the house anyway.
WINNER: Griffin Amplifi

Since its initial review, I've been a little infatuated with the AudioStation Express. So it's almost unfair for the well-crafted IM3 to enter the ring today.

While the IM3 may have clearer highs, it's tinny...and a bit tiny. The entire sound experience is more rounded on the Logitech while listening to Sufijan Stevens' Chicago, and the battle isn't even close. Because as far as I'm concerned, the IM3's sleeker form is canceled out by the AudioStation's video-out and still-diminutive size.

WINNER: Logitech AudioStation Express

Design/Features
Hi-Fi
The Hi-Fi's design is as minimal as anything we've come to expect from Apple. The volume buttons directly control the iPod, as opposed to most players that adjust the amplification within the unit. Handles allow for easy carrying, but that's a feature you forget about once you take it out of the box. But where are the extras? The second clickwheel? The video out? Anything? You can take the Hi-Fi on the road with D batteries, which is worth something, I guess.

IMV712
The IMV712 is a dock in a class of its own. Not only does it feature video out—it has a 8.5-inch screen. How does it look? While not the best LCD we've ever seen, it's bright, sharp and colorful enough for us. What we don't like, however, is that the screen stretches the image wider than it was intended...and it's not fixable when playing with the iPod's video out. Why would Altec Lansing engineer the product this way when iTunes doesn't support widescreen programming?

Sound
For sound testing we listened to Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations: Nimrod as directed by Sir Georg Solti. Because we were feeling pretentious.

Hi-Fi
Right off the bat we enjoy the sound of the Hi-Fi. It's not a bargain bin dock, and you can hear it. The balance is superb, with no real quality falloff high or low. And the bass gets really deep.

IMV712
The IMV712 sounds remarkably similar to the HiFi, as if they are long lost cousins, or even brothers. And of all our side-by-sides thus far, they are most similar in sound style. But all is not equal.

The IMV712 does have a small speaker hiss that the Hi-Fi does not. Otherwise the IMV712 has more presence, which you notice in the high ranges. Trumpets sound like they are made of metal, and strings have that extra scrape to them. Texture is the difference here, allowing listeners to point out when during a phrase, a warm piccolo becomes a flute, for example.

The Hi-Fi sounds nice, but it sterilizes the sound into something less real and more speakerlike, and that effect is especially noticeable when instrumentation is layered during Nimrod's most dramatic moments. Still, the phonic experience is an admittedly close matchup, and we're exaggerating the differences here for review purposes. Most ears will agree that the IMV712 isn't light years ahead of the Hi-Fi, if ahead at all.

WINNER: Altec Lansing IMV712
The IMV712 has some real problems with aspect ratio, and the screen is wasted with the Altec Lansing logo when music is being played (visualization would have been nice). But considering that its sound quality is on par with Apple's Hi-fi, and maybe even a little better, we can't justify the purchase of a Hi-Fi over the IMV712...even if buying the Hi-Fi would further annoy our PC-using brethren.

Both of the Powered Theater units take advantage of NXT flat panel loudspeakers–which is NXT's specialty. The cheaper, one-piece PT7031 emulates 5-channel surround sound, though its more complex brother will communicate wirelessly between its two units for multiple front and rear channels, producing more convincing surround sound.

The PT7031 is expected to carry a $600 price tag, and $1000 for the more advanced PT8051.

Press release [Altec Lansing via Electronista]