GenevaSound S HiFi Docking Station with FM and Alarm for iPod/iPhone (White) Review

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(More customer reviews)Geneva Lab is known for setting an early high fidelity sound standard for iPod docking speaker systems, and their latest little tabletop device does not disappoint.It offers a surprisingly rich sound from such a small box, and it has a very simple and elegant design that balances nicely with the aesthetics of the iPods it is designed for -- I've got a couple of nanos and an iPod touch, and it works great with all of them.It's about 5 inches tall, nearly double that wide and 7 inches deep, and comes in white, black or red.Just the size for a desk or a dresser -- it would fit nicely and look good in an office or a bedroom or kitchen.I've got the white one and I like the way it looks on my dresser.It's almost an insult to call it a "dock" -- it is much more elegant than almost anything on the market, and unlike most of the docks available at the big chains it has a solid heft to it (it's about 7 pounds), clearly designed with quality in mind.What I like even more is the way that it fills the room with sound -- I've had a couple of iPod docks before and neither nearly as nice as this one, and none came close to the range and depth of sound as this one delivers easily.Admittedly, neither cost this much either, but with GenevaSound you're paying for what seems to me a nice balance of form and function.The reason to buy an iPod (over cheaper mp3 players) is that you value simplicity, elegance, and great sound -- and if you value those things, the Geneva S delivers, and while it's not inexpensive it's not cheap either.

Speaking of functions, it's not just an iPod dock.Like any dock it can play from and charge your iPod.But it's also an FM radio with a digital tuner; plus it doubles as an alarm clock that you can set to wake you up to your favorite song on the iPod; there's also a stereo mini plug for auxiliary input. One minor oddity -- owing probably to the fact that these things were designed in Switzerland -- is that the clock won't do standard 12 hour time - it's set to 24 hour military and can't be changed.Another minor annoyance is that it comes with just a single adapter, for iPhones, and while the dock will take most standard adapters for various iPod sizes, it's a bit of a pain to seat them and to remove them once you've seated them.The manual says just to click them in gently, but I find that when I tried to seat my adapter the mount kept trying to flip over, and it took a bit of doing to get it to click in there.Still that's a fairly minor thing, since once you have it in you're not likely to need to bother again.Since I've got a few different kinds of iPods I decided just to take off my adapter and mount things directly without them.That means there's a bit more wiggle room for the iPod, but since most iPod functions can be controlled from the remote or on the system panel, there's no need to touch it once it's mounted.The dock itself swivels closed when not in use but swivels open when you hit the mode button.The system as a whole can be set directly on a flat surface, on its four little rubber pads, or can be attached to an included silvery stand that elevates it about 3 more inches.

There's a metallic grating that covers the dual speaker system in the box, and a red LCD display shows through the grating on the upper right hand of the box.The display shows the time, or the radio station, whether the alarm is set or not; it indicates the volume when you change it - on a scale from 1 to 100 - and indicates treble and bass values - that range from -6.0 to +6.0; it also indicates which function you've switched to when you change, say, from the radio to the iPod as source for your sound. The coolest feature, though, is the touch sensitive controls on the top of the box.When you touch the region in the upper right hand corner of the top, it lights up to look just like an older generation iPod, complete with back and forward and menu buttons, a power button, and a scroll wheel for volume.These buttons actually control the iPod itself when you have it docked.All of these functions and more (e.g. bass and treble control, programmable radio stations) can be controlled through the remote, but since I tend to misplace my remotes I find it comforting that most of what you need to do with this dock can be done with buttons on the unit itself - one of my pet peeves is dvd players and other devices that can't be properly controlled from the player itself without the remote, but in this case most everything can be done from the touch controls on the device.

But what about the sound? Obviously this is the most important feature, and the GenevaSound S performs well here -- I was kind of hoping for a more expansive, deeper, sound but it is better than anything of this size that I've tried.The basic design of the Geneva speakers is built around what they call "Embracing Sound" - which means, basically that there is a closely spaced set of dual speakers, and that manages to fill the room with a stereo sound.In this case there are two 3" full range woofers, each with a capacity of 15 watts.I was surprised to notice that there is a genuine left to right depth to the sound, and I didn't expect that out of such a small system. The levels are quite good, too -- at least in a small room, and especially if you're not the kind to "blow it out."You're not going to be able to run a house party with this little box - and I find that the sound it delivers is at its highest quality when you have the volume up to about 60 on a scale of 1 to 100. Much higher than that and I began to detect minor imperfections, and an occasional rattle.At 100 it is extremely loud, but for most types of music I've listened to the speakers seem to show their limits at that level.After a few tests, I decided to keep it more in its medium range.Still, for my bedroom and my office, which is where I've mostly had a chance to try this out, it delivers more than enough sound.At 60 it is quite loud enough in my room and I wouldn't dream of going louder than about 40 in my office. Even in my living room, the medium level is more than adequate for ambient music.

About the video: I created a little stop motion animation of the process of opening the box, to show what it comes with and how it's packaged, and after that I have a brief video demonstration of a few of its major features.Most of my review is here, and the video is intended as just a quick illustration.Obviously, there's no way to give any real sense for the sound of this device in a video review since it would only sound as good as YOUR speakers.

To sum up: the GenevaSound S looks great, and sounds good for such a small system; highly recommended for those who want a compact and elegant sound solution for a small to medium-sized room, and especially for those who subscribe to William Morris's principle that you should "have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."If you need it really loud and immersive, though, with soul shaking bass and immersive sound, you should probably look elsewhere (or get a bigger one, like the GenevaSound L).

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Product Description:
From the Swiss firm that first introduced luxury audio fidelity for iPod systems comes the new GenevaSound S - bringing great sound, style and simplicity to the bedroom, kitchen, office and more. GenevaSound S sounds better and does more than any single-function iPod dock on the market, some of which cost 30% to almost 100% more. With more features than single-function docks, GenevaSound S includes the new PowerDock connector, new TouchLight controls, and a digital radio tuner with alarm clock. TouchLight controls are invisible until a hand reaches for the cabinet. Not just eye-catching, it offers extensive control of the iPod menu. (Competitors have limited iPod controls.) When the iPod/iPhone is removed, the motorized PowerDock spins closed and the protruding iPod/iPhone 30-pin connector, a sensitive part, disappears into the cabinet, protecting it from damage and dust. GenevaSound S also comes with a table stand, allowing the user the choice of elevating the system, so it takes up less space on a nightstand, a counter or a desk. The digital radio and programmable alarm make it the best-sounding, simplest iPod clock radio ever, a product segment littered with low-fi sound and eyesore design. It's the first with solid stereo sound and fine design lines.

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