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"Fantastic Multi-Purpose Sound System" on by MacheteJ
Pros: Very affordable, clean modern design, solid construction, minimalist functionality, easy portability, clear and well-balanced music quality, deep bass, accuracy even at high volume, great value for price range, includes remote and 3.5mm input jack.
Cons: Cheap remote, remote holder would have been convenient as remote is easily lost, cheap glued-on rubber feet wear off easily, more basic functions on speaker would be nice
Summary: I saw these for $50 on Woot! and was hesitant at first to buy the Griffin Amplifi, having been disappointed by many other iPod-compatible speakers out on the market. Not the case with these... after 6+ solid months of heavy use this is still my bread-and-butter speakerset.
CONSTRUCTION: The entire body of the speakers feels very solid and well-put together. Design is sleek, clean and minimalistic. The rectangular shape is very convenient for on-the-go use, and the flat top is convenient for putting a laptop on (especially if you've got it hooked up with a 3.5mm auxillary cable)
SIMPLICITY OF USE: The only button on the system is the power on/off button which doubles as a volume knob. Very straightforward, although sometimes it does get accidentally bumped and turned off. It's very convenient that the blue LED ring around the power button also flashes to let you know when you are giving a command via the remote.
MUSIC QUALITY: I'm no audiophile, but I'm very picky about how my music plays nonetheless. Bass with almost every other portable sound system became badly muddled even at half-volume and distorted all the other music levels. The Amplifi puts out crisp and clear, well-balanced music with surprisingly deep, accurate bass (even at close-to-maximum volume). I've powered MANY parties with this, and it gets LOUD. Just don't expect Z-2300-level bass.
AFFORDABILITY: I get asked to lend these speakers out a lot and it's very comforting to know that it won't cost an arm and a leg to replace them if something happens. If you want something sub-$100 range that can outperform $150+ speakers, this is a pretty good investment. Only my Logitech Z-2300's have given better value and overall quality.
CONS: The included remote is paper-thin and feels cheap. Also, there is no song control on the speaker itself, only on the remote, so you're out of luck if you lose those. Despite this concern, there is nowhere on the speaker to attach the remote (a spring-loaded slot would have been a great feature). Also, after moving them around for quite a bit, the rubber feet fell off pretty quickly so the speakerset clunks when I set it down.
All in all, if you need a basic entry-level speaker set that can perform as beautifully in your living room as it does at a wild party, the Griffin Amplifi does a superb job and exceeded all my expectations. -
"Great sound, no frills, about the size of shoebox" on by gabrielbarreras
Pros: Great sound, solid construction, easy setup, sleek design, affordable ($125-150).
Cons: You can lose a little low-end at low volume.
Summary: As a musician and sound nerd, I think this box has a wonderful sound for the price. It can fill a good size living room and doesn't sound like the music is just coming from the corner. Compared sound to other boxes that are around $250-300, it doesn't not have quite the punch or volume, but it comes damn close. I don't think another $100 to $150+ justifies a very minimal increase in quality from other brands.
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"Love this very loud speaker for my iphone 3G!" on by jallove7
Pros: Very very loud and clear sound. Simple design. Solidly built. Good remote. Sharp design, looks very expensive.
Cons: No radio. Does not have forward/backward functions on the actual speaker, so if you lose your remote, you lose those functions.
Summary: I got it for $45 on woot.com, it is awesome! It really cranks and I have turned the volume all the way up several times and it always sounds good. Hooked it up to my laptop via the line-in and it works great! Very solidly built, heavy, so not portable. Does not charge the iphone 3G, but it does play the music!
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"Fantastic speaker for iPhone" on by Auspex
Pros: Strong bass, clean design, portable from room to room, good iPhone integration, load but very clean, awesome price
Cons: No radio with digital presets, needs magnetic shielding to be perfect for phone use
Summary: First saw this fantastic speaker on a Gizmodo showdown where it came out as the very best speaker for the price.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/it-ends/ipod-dock-bracket-finale-altec-lansing-imv712-vs-griffin-amplifi-285573.php
After searching other sites and seeing generally great reviews, I decided to purchase it although I was going to use it with an iPhone and hadn’t seen anyone post up any experience with one.
First off, the speaker looks great. It has a clean, manly look to it and feels solidly built. It’s a little on the beefy side, but perfectly portable and I often move it around the house depending on which room I’m going to be in. The knob has a very solid feel with a nice “clicking” when you turn the volume up or down. Cnet said in their review that they thought the front knob was wiggly and I’ve seen another review state that they had a hard time turning the volume up without turning off the unit. I’ve haven’t experienced this at all so perhaps Griffin has adjusted the unit since earlier reviews. The lowest volume setting doesn’t get whisper quiet as some others had mentioned so it might be tough to go to sleep with if that’s something you’re interested in.
Sound played through my iPhone sounds fantastic. Full, solid bass that you would swear a speaker set this small just wouldn’t be able to produce. The highs are clean and the vocals really stand out. With strong bass, other systems often get a muddy, overwhelmed sound to the vocals and that’s not the case with this unit. Even though the speaker doesn’t come with bass and treble adjustments, just picking a different EQ setting tweaks the sound for personal taste.
The phone works extremely well with the speaker and far better than I had anticipated. This isn’t a shielded speaker so you can get interference if you don’t switch to airplane mode. Having said that, I’m running in normal mode now and after five hours of listening, I’m not hearing any of the usual crackle and blips. Through extended testing, I’ve managed to finally hear it during quiet sections of a song, but the sound is more subdued compared to other speaker units I've listened to. Because of that, I plan to leave the phone in normal mode so that I can still receive calls.
The phone immediately starts playing music when you turn on the speaker set which is pretty cool. The phone is also charged while plugged in, but only when the speaker is turned on. If you leave the phone in the iPod mode, the screen will stay on and you can see the album art. After a while, it dims down, but still remains on. If you track forward or backward, the screen will come to full brightness again. The remote lets you play and pause the music, and as just mentioned, it allows track control. This allows you to easily jump forward and backward a track as well as fast forward or reverse through the track by holding down the button. This is something I didn’t expect to work with the phone so it’s really cool that it does. There’s a blue ring around the center control knob which flashes when it receives a command from the remote. This is a great way to visually see that the speaker is getting the commands you are trying to send it, especially if you’re further away and stretching the limits of the remote’s range. I’ve tried the remote from about 20-25 feet and it works fine.
In summary, I think this is an outstanding unit that has a really great sound and surprisingly strong integration and control over the iPhone. If I were to ask for any additional features, I would like to have a digital radio tuner with presets. Otherwise, I would say this is a nearly perfect speaker set.
Griffin Amplifi Speaker System w/ iPod Dock user reviews
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