In my case, I’d rather spend money on a killer pair of headphones than speakers, because of where I live. That doesn’t stop me from wondering how this iPhone dock actually sounds. Like many other systems, this one from Japan amplifies the sound of your iDevice without electricity.
The Japanese manufacturer Pleiades [JP] designed Trumstand. The acoustic amplifier is made out of gold- or silver-plated brass, and elongated into a long ‘S’ shape. Apparently, this amplifies the bass of the music being played. Just set your iPhone into the rubberized dock to form a tight seal, and you’re all set. Despite the fact that it’s an acoustic amp, they were at least kind enough to include a USB connector for charging your phone while docked.
They are quite striking, but I still can’t imagine that amplifying the iPhone’s tiny little speaker could possibly be as good as a proper set of speakers and an amp.
The gold version costs ¥158,000 (~$2,000 USD) and the silver ¥138,000 (~$1,800 USD). At those price, you better be sure you’ll like the way they sound.
[via core77]
