There are a lot of iPod speaker sets on the market that range from exceptional to atrocious. This one falls into the “oh dear” category due to its price and lackluster performance. Before we examine these points though, we’ll go through some observations about the Bose Sound Dock and list its good points.

A basic remote control is included, which is about the size of a stack of four credit cards. It gives you volume, track, power and play/pause controls. There are no status LEDs on the unit itself, just two volume buttons on either side of the iPod dock. The protruding dock itself is hinged, and the rubber feet on the base act as a shock absorber should you press the buttons with too much force.

The build quality is quite good if you overlook the hinged dock connector, which felt a bit flimsy. The unit works with any iPod (bar the first and second generation models) with one of four included interchangeable dock adapters. Despite being quite heavy, it uses an inline power brick and doesn’t have any auxiliary audio inputs, or even video outputs for video iPods, which isn’t only disappointing; it limits its use to iPods exclusively.

The speakers themselves are only about 5 centimetres in diameter, and as such won’t shake the room. They are near-field speakers, which means that although they can be heard from anywhere in a room they sound best from an arm’s length away. Close up and at low volumes, they sound comparable to a set of decent low range computer speakers.

Unfortunately, it’s all downhill (and down a very steep one at pace, at that) from here. When you listen to anything at further than a meter away, the sound becomes very midrange heavy, with limp bass response and a noticeable kick drum. This means that vocals rise above other instruments while high frequencies are blurred and complex bass notes sound crunchy. The sound can then be best described as uninspired and forced. As you turn up the volume, the bass gets weaker and hits a point where it cuts off completely.

This would all be forgivable if it wasn’t for the price. At $449, it seems that Bose is cashing in on the iPod accessory gravy train without giving any thought to the quality of the Sound Dock. If you’re in the market for an iPod speaker system, consider the Apple Hi-Fi or the Altec Lansing inMotion iM7 (which we found was audible and reasonably clear when placed beside a drummer and bassist in full flight). But not this.