Works With
All iPods with dock connector
The Good
Attractive styling
Good price
Decent feature set
The Bad
Sound is flat, lacks dynamism
No alarm-clock functionality
The Price
US$79.95
The first thing that catches your eye about XtremeMac’s Tango Studio iPod speakers is its looks. A small black rectangle with a blue digital readout seemingly hidden inside the speakers, the Tango Studio is an appealing package, especially when the display lights up. It’s not a perfect speaker system, but for its price, it offers solid quality.
The Tango Studio works with all iPods with a dock connector, as well as the iPhone when it’s in airplane mode. As any good iPod docking speakers do these days, it also charges the iPod. You can control the speakers via the easy-to-access buttons on the top or the included remote control (which also lets you go forward and back, and adjust the volume, but not navigate iPod menus).
The sound produced by the Tango Studio is decent, especially given its price, but not as detailed as speakers that cost $150 or $200. That’s to be expected, of course, but for some consumers the quality difference may justify the additional cost.
The Tango Studio’s sound is somewhat muddied. Music feels a little flat when played and the sounds beneath vocals tend to bleed together a bit, rather than offering a clear separation of instruments and tracks. Though the Tango Studio lacks the sound quality of the best iPod speakers, it compares well to other speakers in its price range. The question, of course, will be whether an additional $70-$100 is worth the sound quality difference to consumers.
On top of offering speakers for your iPod, the Tango Studio also has an FM tuner. The reception is fine and the remote control can scan through the channels, but the combination of a radio tuner, clock and iPod made me expect an alarm clock feature. It only seems logical given the combination of features, but the Tango Studio doesn’t have one. This isn’t a major drawback so much as one of those “wouldn’t it be nice?” features.
One feature that does frustrate a bit is the Tango Studio’s power-save mode that turns the unit off after only a short period of inactivity. Though it’s easy enough to turn back on, having to do so after only a few minutes without music, and without the user turning the speakers off, is annoying.
Overall, the XtremeMac Tango Studio is a solid entry into the iPod speaker market for budget-conscious customers. While audiophiles probably won’t like it, and it may not be best as your primary iPod speakers, consumers with limited space or the need for extra iPod speakers in their homes should consider the Tango Studio.
