Re:Blah. (Score 2, Interesting)

How well does it reproduce the sound? Ideally, this should be tested with lossless files, because of the well-known distortions introduced by MP3 -- granted that if the encoder is any good, the human ear won't pick them up, but still, the more variables you can take out of the equation, the better. Signal to noise ratio? dBA? How does it compare with an amp hooked up to the line out on the iPod and a set of reasonable quality speakers? Etc. Etc.

Playlist's review process always involves testing audio products with both compressed and uncompressed music files. And as we stated in the review, a similarly priced set of quality sub/sat computer speakers offers better sound. So a decent home stereo will obviously sound better, as well.

Although I appreciate the desire for quantitative information -- I'm as much an audio geek as anyone, personally -- the fact is that none of these small, one-piece speaker systems offers high-end sound. Whether you're talking about the SoundDock, JBL's On Stage or On Tour, Altec Lansing's inMotion models, or any other small, one-piece speaker system, the measured performance would be poor when compared to a good set of hi-fi speakers. (Which is to be expected, given their form factor.) But people aren't buying them for their measurements -- they're buying them for their size, convenience, and design. The demographics buying these systems don't really care, in general, about measurements. They just want to know "how it sounds."