Bose SoundDock 10 sits a few notches above any of its stablemates, both in size and price—this thing is as heavy as a stereo receiver, and about a foot tall. (Asked about the size, a Bose engineer said that he liked to think of it as transportable, not portable. Uh!) I'm not really sure what the significance of the "10" moniker is, but if Apple can randomly assign nice, round, out-of-order numbers to their products, why can't Bose, hmm?

They've done something kinda cool with the dock connector, which can be swapped out to suit different players, or, if you've got an extra $150 laying around, a stereo Bluetooth adapter, which feels like it should've been built in there in the first place, honestly. Bose threw in a composite video port for good measure, so you can view photos and videos on your TV.

Anyway, portability isn't really the point here, since this thing is meant to sit on a table—probably a well-polished one, in an immaculate, nautical-themed sitting room—and pretty much fill the role that the Wave radios used to: To be smaller than a proper stereo, but not to sound like crap. In fact, there's a lot of shared DNA there, since the SoundDock 10 uses the same scrunched audio waveguide piping that made the Wave radios sound, well, kinda big. And for what it's worth, the SoundDock 10 sounds even bigger, mostly thanks to this:

This here lump of speaker accompanies two "Twiddlers," which is Bose speak for "tweeters that do midrange, too, we promise." Together they throw respectable sound, which is surprisingly powerful at the very low end, and phenomenally clear in the rest of the range, most of the time. Classical music, Bose's demo genre of choice, sounds predictably great, but anything noisier, like rock music, starts to blend together, reminding you that you're still listening to an iPod dock. Which you are!

That's the obvious hangup with the SoundDock 10: It's $600, and it a dock. Granted, it's easily the best iPod dock I've ever heard, but it's still recognizable as such, and it's not that much cheaper than a real two-speaker stereo system. But hey, it's also a dock in the good way—it's easy to connect things to, to move around, and it won't clutter up your room with wires—so if those are your top priorities, docks don't get much better than this. The SoundDock 10 will be available from Sept 21. [Bose]

If you look at the profile, especially, you can see that the SoundDock Portable stands about half an inch taller than the original. It has a slimmer look from the side, but there is a ridge down the back. I have to say, however much a lover or hater you are of Bose, the new machine is a vast improvement, even aside from portability:

• The old SoundDock hisses audibly when an iPod is docked, and gets louder when the volume is up. The new Portable has licked the problem almost completely. There's a very faint hiss when you put your ear to it that won't change regardless of the volume setting.

• The auxiliary input is key. For some apartment dwellers, this might be their whole sound system, and being able to plug in other stuff (satellite radio, CD/DVD player, etc.) really matters. I always assumed Bose avoided Aux In because it might mean lost sales opportunities. I suppose, now that the new SoundDock costs $100 more, Bose is willing to take that risk.

• The new remote is better built, with more substantial buttons, including two additional ones dedicated to skipping from one playlist to the next. As a playlist kind of guy, I like this.
• The sound comparison was the most telling. The previous SoundDock has notoriously suffered from a fairly weak stereo image, not enough midrange and a lack of sonic resolution. Bose has definitely read all of the commentary, because those are the three areas that have been improved. The bass levels are about the same, but at higher volumes you get a much richer sound with the Portable, a much more open stereo feel, and a sense of coherence and clarity that you just don't get on the original. In fact, when I was doing side-by-side comparisons, it occasionally sounded like the original SoundDock was playing from the bottom of a well.

I will acknowledge here that I haven't tested the SoundDock Portable against any docks from other makers, and it may be a while before Mark Wilson is up for another Sweet Sixteen. In the meantime, at the very least it's good to know that the extra $100 isn't just for the lithium-ion battery—which I probably wouldn't make any use of—but for a much improved device overall. It really should be called, simply, SoundDock II. [Original Story]

You get three hours of battery life at full volume, though it can run for "much longer" if you keep it lower. The battery will charge your iPod even when the dock is not plugged into the wall.

I don't have the other SoundDock at the moment to shoot side by side, but the new one is 6.75 inches high, and just over 12 inches wide. When the dock is swiveled shut, as you can see in the gallery, the depth of the unit is just over 4 inches. It's not super light: according to my precision instruments it weighs just under 5 lbs.

Bose says the SoundDock Portable will be out at the end of September in high-gloss white or black, and will cost a whopping $399. Man, that lithium ion just doesn't go down in price, does it? The original SoundDock will keep on sellin', still at $299.

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.