Gear4 BassStation review

Verdict:

Review Date: 18 Apr 2008

Price when reviewed: £100

Our Rating 2 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Gear4's BassStation iPod dock fits a set of 2.1 speakers into a bread bin-sized box. The subwoofer gives the BassStation a more powerful sound than most iPod docks. Treble and midrange tones were also clearly defined.

It has built-in handles for moving the dock around, although as it's mains-powered, it's not an inherently portable device. A genuinely useful feature is the stereo phono input, which allows you to connect other audio sources besides iPods.

The BassStation's remote control is a variant on the standard iPod design, with the addition of bass and treble buttons for controlling satellite and subwoofer volumes. Gear4 claims the BassStation is compatible with all fourth-generation iPods and above, bar the Shuffle. It's supposed to have full support for the iPod Touch, but we were unable to control it with the remote and had to skip tracks and navigate menus using the Touch's own controls.

The BassStation's light plastic housing buzzed when we played bass-heavy music at louder volumes, a problem we haven't encountered with wooden speaker cabinets. Fortunately, the speakers sound good at normal listening volumes.

At £100, the BassStation is overpriced compared with better 2.1 speaker sets, such as Logitech's X-230, and issues such as vibration and poor Touch compatibility are disappointing. If you want speakers with an iPod dock, iRhythms' A-211 is a better choice.

Author: Kat Orphanides

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