Belt Loop

Altec IMT800 Digital Boombox For IPhone And IPod

Stated as merely as doable, Altec Lansing’s iMT800 Digital Boombox for iPhone and iPod ($300) wraps stunning speaker know-how in a whole lot of ugly, low-cost-looking packaging. This oversized audio system — the largest released by Altec for iPods or iPhones for the reason that as soon as-awesome inMotion iM7, measuring roughly 20″ throughout by eight” tall by 8.25″ deep — continues the aesthetically miserable gold and black plastic themes found in the company’s smaller and cheaper audio system over the previous yr, however packs such impressive sound that some users simply will not care. While groan-inspiring design parts preclude it from meriting our high advice general, there’s no doubt that the same components in a unique shell would make for a near-universally interesting audio system.

The idea behind Altec Lansing inMotion MIX iMT800 is just a little gimmicky, but it makes some sense: though its connectivity options aren’t considerably completely different from prior Altec programs, the corporate has positioned this unit as a lug-it-round multi-machine celebration speaker, with an iPod- or iPhone-prepared dock front and heart, plus a generic, device-agnostic tray positioned on the system’s top. Altec Lansing inMotion MIX iMT800 features a single Dock Connector within the entrance dock, plus two small auxiliary audio cables to jack into AUX 1 and AUX 2 audio ports found inside its high tray. Because the audio ports are up prime, the back is bereft of holes save for a port to attach an included energy adapter, while the bottom has a compartment for eight D-cells, able to powering the system for up to 30 hours of play time. You’ll be able to swap between the dock, the auxiliary ports, and an built-in FM radio tuner at will, and carry the system around with two oversized handles that jut out of the entrance of the trapezoidal system near its 4 entrance speakers.

Notably, Altec Lansing inMotion MIX iMT800 additionally includes another parts. One of the best of the bunch is a cooler model of the distant controls we’ve seen with different Altec iPod audio system in latest months, possessing a somewhat anemic 12 buttons that lack for iPod or iPhone menu navigation however embody a helpful equalization adjuster, plus four FM station preset buttons for the unit’s built-in FM radio.

This remote’s most distinctive function is an integrated spring-loaded clip that you possibly can attach to a belt loop or keychain—something we haven’t seen before—fortunately constructed from actual metal moderately than plastic. Dock Adapters for iPods and iPhones are also contained in the package, some customized-made with padding to forestall machine injury within the dock.

Turning Altec iMT800 on yields a few attention-grabbing little surprises. First, the system acknowledges and displays the name and observe info for your related iPod or iPhone, even flashing a stylized, Apple-like iPhone 3G(S) logo on its integrated, -line orange screen. Illuminated supply, EQ, and observe buttons are discovered to the left and right sides of a mixture energy button and quantity knob on its top, and if you play with the source and monitor buttons, you activate the FM radio, which tunes from 87.5 to 107.9 in .2 increments, just because it should. Tuning throughout the dial is a bit slow, and reception is just a little on the staticy aspect even when the old style wand-type antenna has been extended, but the unit puts up a signal energy meter and exhibits RDS data on the display, which makes the expertise a bit more interesting.

FM static apart, it’s actually the audio quality of the iMT800 that makes every part from radio to iPod or iPhone audio work, and we are able to solely say that we’re legitimately impressed by the sound that Altec has packed into this unit. Along with a DSP that helps modify the audio system dynamically to your music, the Altec iMT800 contains twin 1” tweeters, dual 3” drivers for mids and mid-bass, and critically, a 5.25” subwoofer with a matching passive radiator. The tweeters and mid-range drivers fire forwards, while the subwoofer and passive radiator comply with the old iM7’s model and shoot from the unit’s sides. As we’ve stated previously, the mixture of devoted high, mid, and low audio drivers—properly tuned by a speaker developer—has the potential to deliver incomparable sound by reference to programs with fewer and lesser speakers.