Scandyna Podspeakers and dock review

Weaknesses
As we mentioned, the main issue with the Micropod SE speakers is the lack of bass. Small speakers naturally tend to lack the low-end power that dance aficionados crave, but hooking up the powerful Minibass revolutionises the overall sound performance. For anything more than desktop use, the Micropods won't impress on their lonesome.

While we appreciate The Dock and Micropod speakers are intended as an iPod-only speaker system, a line-in socket would allow them to be infinitely more useful. So many people use their PCs and laptops as music jukeboxes, why not let them jack their collections into the setup too?

The Dock boasts audiophile-grade speaker bindings, but where's the aux-in?

We love the build of the speakers and dock, but the remote control is a crock of the proverbial manure. It never fails to baffle us why companies spend so much time developing excellent products, only to include a useless and annoying remote control system. In this case it's a small, flat, cheap-looking excuse that screams for its own mercy killing.

Finally, the included speaker wire is on the cheap side. Just £20 will improve the sound quality for you no end. If you're looking at spending half a grand on this system, make sure you give consideration to what carries the audio between the devices.

Conclusion
The system we put together above consists of the dock, two Micropod SE speakers and the Minibass subwoofer. In total this will set you back just over £500. The dock and the Micropod SEs on their own cost a disappointing £240. Despite their excellent build, fantastic components and unusual design, they're not worththat much on their own. They're excellent desktop speakers, but we would recommend going all the way and getting the Minibass too.

At the time of writing, the RRP of all three products is undercut by Amazon.co.uk to a total of £440. This is an excellent price and as a complete package will not disappoint, no matter what your musical preference. Be warned, however: your neighbours will hate you for owning these powerful beasts.

An affordable alternative would be Jamo's i300 speaker system. At close to half the price of the setup we've discussed here, it's much better value. You'll miss the extraordinary power of the Minibass subwoofer, however, and the design isn't anywhere near as beautiful.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Nick Hide