Review: Scandyna Microsub 2.1 & Micropod SE Speakers
Apple June 19th, 2007
In such an overcrowded market, it really takes a good product to stand out and appeal to a large audience. A few months ago my ears were treated and indulged by the most unique looking speaker sets I’ve ever laid my eyes on, the Scandyna PodSpeakers MicroSub 2.1, and the MiniPod SE combined with “The Dock”. These devices can be purchased separately, or in a bundle which includes the Scandyna Microsub 2.1 & Micropod SE Speakers Scandyna sent me.
This has one of the more noticeable talked about designs of iPod speaker systems. The retro look is one I wouldn’t get tired of. A nice little addition is you can operate the speakers with or without the silver feet, making it ideal to be listened to from any location within your home.
Setup & Specifics
Setup was a breeze, I’d love to have them sitting on my desk hooked up to my Mac blasting music from iTunes, however there is no way to hook them up. They must be used via the Scandyna dock.
The circular white dock is nicely finished, and looks great on a desk with the speakers and an iMac. It ships with adaptors to fit any dock-connector iPod.
The dock includes a power brick and an international power adaptor. It was quite a mission to get the power cord and the converter to fit together - after a week of normal usage, it still falls out at the wall on occasions and I have to use a power brick lying flat on the ground to keep it properly in place. A simple solution to this would be for Scandanya to include a tighter fitting power adaptor however this is a small price to pay for the quality the speakers deliver.
Sound Experience
I like depth in speaker systems; I like to feel like the music is surrounding me, without a surround sound speaker system. The PodSpeaker does this perfectly using just two speakers and a sub, the rich bass the unit delivers really packs a punch - the whole experience sounds excellent.
The sound these speakers delivers for such a small unit really packs a punch, the bass is amazing, and easily fills a largish room with sounds - going back to my (previously) impressive Altec Lansing iM7s was a tough task.
For such an outstanding package, Scandanya could have done better on the remote. With such sleek speakers, and a stylish dock, the remote lacks in the aesthetic areas, along with functionality. The buttons are a little awkward to press, making fine tune adjustments to the sound difficult to make.
Conclusion
Overall they are great speakers. The design might not be for everyone, but the sound sure is. Listen to them for 5 minutes and you will be hooked, I didn’t want to give mine back.
If there was an easy way to connect them to my Mac instead of having to play music via an iPod, these would have been purchased within an hour of setting the speakers up - they really do sound that great.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:41 am
WOW, gorgeous speakers.
Where is the subwofer?
ps: just a quick note, you have a flcikr PRO account and a DSLR right?,then put it to good use and take more photos of the products your review, it will beneficiate your review post’s quality and your readers.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I am not sure if I like them or not. I like the dock, but the speakers are a little much.
June 20th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Glenn, I agree with Dumitru that your reviews would **benefit** from more photos (and place links from the inline products shots you have up there to go to vendor pages). BTW, the link to your Altec Lansing iM7 review is broken.
Additionally, it’s disappointing these don’t have a simple connection to run sound to a PC/Mac via miniplug or USB. Seems like it wouldn’t be a huge jump. For my iMac, I rock some JBL Creature speakers which have a minimal footprint and certainly get the job done, but sound can be a bit muddy.
I’m not one for iPod exclusive speakers, though I do have a Bose SoundDock that is a sentimental wedding present (it was the last thing my uncle bought before he died — the catalog was open to the SoundDock page when we went to his house). Regardless, it doesn’t see much use due to its single-purpose nature and the bass is a bit crackly.
You’d think it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to make a great looking and functioning set of multi-purpose speakers, but alas, they aren’t common.
July 19th, 2007 at 3:07 am
In response to your comments about not being able to use them with your Mac, and I correct in saying that the Micropod SE, which are active, would do this instead?
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:52 am
PixelMix - I agree. The Micropod SE comes with or without active amplification at your choice.
When used with the dock, two passive Micropod SE are sufficient because the amplifier is built into the dock.
For use with other sources than the dock you would get one Micropod SE with amplifier and one without, which would hook up to the first.
Or - which I am about to do - get two passive Micropod SE and one Microsub. The microsub holds amplification for the sub AND an additional amplifier which works for the two passive Micropod SE. This is going to be the sound system for my tv - can’t wait.
/Jakob
November 25th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I love mine, but for some reason the speakers have stopped producing any sound! I have emailed the main London dealer but can get no repsonse. Are there any techies out there that can help me?!
Thanks
Rebecca