Kensington SX-2000 review: Kensington SX-2000

Kensington SX 2000 speakers for iPod
Speaker systems for the Apple iPod come in a range of impressive designs, as many companies rise to the challenge of creating speakers as stylish as the iPod itself. Continuing a path blazed by Altec Lansing, JBL, and Logitech (among others), Kensington comes forward with its SX 2000 speakers for the iPod ($159.99). The unit features a large, flat speaker developed by NXT and is sure to be a conversation piece wherever it's placed.

The Kensington SX 2000 measures 16.2 inches wide, 7.2 inches high, and 3.9 inches deep, which makes it fairly large for an iPod speaker. The Altec Lansing iM7 and the JBL On Stage, for example, have much smaller footprints. The SX 2000 comes in glossy iPod white (sorry, there's no black version for new black iPods), and the controls are limited to three simple buttons: power, as well as volume up and down. The rear offers an auxiliary port for connecting iPod Shuffles or other players that lack a dock connector.

Despite its visual appeal, the Kensington SX 2000 falls short of the competition in many ways, the chief being audio reproduction. While it has an acceptable tonal range--it's a little light in upper-register treble and is better suited to big bass sounds--we found its audio unpleasantly muffled and not nearly as clear as it should have been. Songs simply didn't have the clarity and the distinctness we expected.

Kensington advertises that the speaker offers "broad sound dispersion," meaning that sound projects from both the front and the rear. It's true, but that doesn't seem like much of a selling point--who puts a speaker in the center of a room? Plus, the audio quality from the rear is slightly less clear than from the front.

Unlike the Logitech mm50 or speakers in the Altec Lansing inMotion line, the Kensington SX 2000 doesn't come with a remote--a huge minus, in our opinion. Also, while it will charge an iPod, it can't connect to your computer and function as a docking station for syncing.

The Kensington SX 2000 includes Apple's Universal Dock, but it's surprisingly skimpy on dock adapters. It comes with only two: one for a large iPod and one for the discontinued iPod Mini. It doesn't have adapters for the iPod Nano or the fifth-generation iPod, but these models come with their own universal dock adapters. We were able to plug our 30GB fifth-generation iPod into the larger adapter, but it didn't provide the snug fit that users are supposed to get. In contrast, the Tivoli iSongBook comes with seven adapters for most varieties of iPod.

The box advertises that the Kensington SX 2000 works with the iPod Shuffle, but you'll have to follow the asterisk to the back of the box to find that you'll need the Accessory Adapter for iPod Shuffle #33360, which is sold separately. The Kensington site currently lists no such product, but you can use a standard 3.5mm audio cable instead. We're shocked that Kensington didn't include one in the package.

If you're looking for a way to share the songs on your iPod, there are far better options for the same price. Consider the Altec Lansing inMotion iM3 or the Logitech mm50. Both deliver higher-quality audio and a better experience than the underwhelming Kensington SX 2000.