I was just perusing the local classifieds out of sheer boredom, I found an ad that had a bunch of items for sale and in one of the photos I saw a darkly exposed photo of the front of an Apple Hi-Fi listed as an iPod speaker. Instantly recognizing what it was, I contacted the seller and snagged up this gem. It didn’t have the factory box and was missing 5 out of the 8 dock adapter plates but the 3 he had remaining had fit all my iPods from 2005 onwards. (The missing ones were for older iPods so not as big of a deal). The hi-fi initially looked filthy as it looked like it hasn’t been used in a long time and there was some gunk in the volume buttons and when I got home and cleaned it up that it was in at least 8.5/10 condition. It came with two remotes (one still wrapped in factory plastic) and the other two docks plates he didn’t use were also covered in the factory plastic. The grill was in perfect condition and I carefully cleaned it with a vacuum and dawn dish soap as needed. The top of the unit had the usual scuffs and marks from 14 years of use but can likely be polished out. After the cleaning, I cracked out my old 5.5 gen iPod with video and setup the speaker. The speaker upon initial testing, boasted nothing but sheer spl and while it sounded okay that it didn’t wow me. My impressions were similar to review published back in 2006/2007. While I felt it was lacking in treble, it was generally better than many speaker docks in its class. Being somewhat disappointed by the hi-fi’s sound, I was still happy with my purchase because I am able to own something I always wanted in my younger years.
FFWD to yesterday I plunked the speaker on top of my stack of a/v equipment that was coincidentally positioned perfectly at ear height. My sofa is 10 ft away and I didn’t give it a 2nd thought and just played some music while I sat there and read. This was when the magic of this speaker really came to life! The trebles while still somewhat lacking, improved when treble boost was enabled on the iPod. The bass has a nice punch to it and the midrange drivers did a decent job of maintaining sufficient detail in the higher frequencies without being fatiguing. The speaker sounded so good that I sat and listened for 4 hours straight and well past 2AM. It goes to show how important placement is and how that can play a significant role in how the speaker will sound. This speaker dock will never replace my full home system but it certainly has earned a spot in my listening rig.
I recall quite a bit of hate and disappointment in Apple hi-fi that Apple nixed this gorgeous speaker just after a year and a half. Shame given how well made it was. Apple’s use of the hi-fi moniker was misleading to those that understand and appreciate what hi-fi really is. To add insult to injury, Steve Jobs made the claim he was going to replace his very insanely expensive home audio system with Apple Hi-fi (likely a line of BS).
What I found interesting was his statement where Jobs had said Apple hi-if could replace a home stereo. This lifestyle speaker could possibly do that given that it can play quite loud and sound decent IF it is setup properly - something the manual book didn’t mention let alone emphasize.
Anyhow, I digress.... I am just super stoked I got my hands on one of these somewhat rare flop products from Apple because I think it is pretty to look at and a pleasure to listen to.
Anyone else here an Apple hi-Fi enthusiast?
FFWD to yesterday I plunked the speaker on top of my stack of a/v equipment that was coincidentally positioned perfectly at ear height. My sofa is 10 ft away and I didn’t give it a 2nd thought and just played some music while I sat there and read. This was when the magic of this speaker really came to life! The trebles while still somewhat lacking, improved when treble boost was enabled on the iPod. The bass has a nice punch to it and the midrange drivers did a decent job of maintaining sufficient detail in the higher frequencies without being fatiguing. The speaker sounded so good that I sat and listened for 4 hours straight and well past 2AM. It goes to show how important placement is and how that can play a significant role in how the speaker will sound. This speaker dock will never replace my full home system but it certainly has earned a spot in my listening rig.
I recall quite a bit of hate and disappointment in Apple hi-fi that Apple nixed this gorgeous speaker just after a year and a half. Shame given how well made it was. Apple’s use of the hi-fi moniker was misleading to those that understand and appreciate what hi-fi really is. To add insult to injury, Steve Jobs made the claim he was going to replace his very insanely expensive home audio system with Apple Hi-fi (likely a line of BS).
What I found interesting was his statement where Jobs had said Apple hi-if could replace a home stereo. This lifestyle speaker could possibly do that given that it can play quite loud and sound decent IF it is setup properly - something the manual book didn’t mention let alone emphasize.
Anyhow, I digress.... I am just super stoked I got my hands on one of these somewhat rare flop products from Apple because I think it is pretty to look at and a pleasure to listen to.
Anyone else here an Apple hi-Fi enthusiast?
. I will be doing a tiny bit of polishing on it soon to really get it to show off it’s luster and beauty that only I could ever see and appreciate. I love it more and more as I listen to it. Makes a great conversation piece.