Wadia 170iTransport

Pros: Open, spacious sound plus mids and lows more defined vs. standard dock. Synced up my iPod touch to Pandora and it made an awesome combination. Doesn't force you to use a remote like some docks.

Cons: Power cord connection was finicky and disconnected frequently. Remote has 4 buttons that do nothing (?), build quality feels cheap for such an expensive product though it does look nice.

Summary: I was excited to see a true iPod dock that could make my music sound better than a headphone cord could do. The sound quality didn't disappoint when I compared the two. The Wadia enabled sound that was obviously more refined and detailed. Background voices and instruments that faded away over RCA stood out much more over S/PDIF.

The power cord looks a lot like an S-video port and I had a lot of trouble getting it to fit securely. I had to get the cord just right to get a good connection only to be halfway into an air guitar solo and have the song cut out from the cord disconnecting. This isdisappointing since the box was nearly $400. The overall build quality is in the same category. The box is light and feels and sounds completely hollow. The materials look nice but don't feel as good as they look.

The remote is also poor for the price. It's small and sexy, but it's size makes it easy to lose in a couch cushion. Also, only 2 of the buttons even function. The manual says these buttons are for future functions. Likely, they just didn't want to make a new remote and borrowed one from another project. The buttons also had a delay that was unreliable so most times I just use the iPod to change channels and skip songs.

Overall, though, I think it's a great product. A few shortfalls make it a pain to use sometimes, but when it works as intended I'm a happy camper.