Review: Speakal iKurv – Curvy Sounds For Your Ear Drums

We here at Gadgetsteria love things make produce music. Whether it is a device that plays it or the little ear buds that carries the sound. We have a wide love of musical likes and finding the right device that will give us the sound we want to hear is sometimes hard to come by. Stereos are a dime a dozen. iDevice docks are as well, with so many brands around, it’s really hard to find something that produces superb sound quality, yet is pleasing to the eyes. I mean, who wants their magical iDevice attached to some ugly box in the middle of their living room?

That sweet curved delight you see above was sent in for review, and we gave it the rigorous set of tests to see if it will withstand the hard beats flowing from our iPhones and iPods! Hop on in to see how it stood up!

 

Design

We’ve seen tons of different audio docks for your iPhones and iPods. To find something that stands out and that matches the beauty of your shiny touch screen Apple toy can be somewhat hard. Certain Homey units have both failed and succeeded in this area. Some of the other sexy items we’ve come across in the past really don’t deliver that quality you come to crave while playing your favorite tunes.

The iKurv does a great job at raising the bar in what you expect your speaker dock to look like, it’s 20 watt curved speakers that sit on either side of the docking station pack a punch when jamming those tunes. This baby will fit in amongst any area you can think of, whether it is next to your bed, your TV, computer or anywhere you might see sleek electronics. I had it spending most of its time in the kitchen so I could really judge the sound, and as you can by the pictures it was a tad out of place. But other than that it actually looks pretty nice. A blue light that wraps the inside of the curve actually shines nicely behind your iDevice. Minimal buttons grace the body of the iKurv – as most the menu jumping and controls can be found on the wireless remote. We are left with only a volume up/down buttons as well as the power button ont he base of the unit. All in all, we are pleased with how the iKurv fits in with the rest of our electronics.

Performance

We plugged it in and BAM! The sound barreled out of the iKurv like it was a Michael Bay film. If you want a dock that can push sound out at an alarming pace throughout a level of a house, you’ve found the right one! We were very pleased with the sound quality of the iKurv, however, we did notice that turning it down to its lowest setting didn’t create a pleasant quite mood. I wouldn’t use this as a calming noise machine next to your bed – unless you like the sound of jack hammers and fighter jets at 3 in the morning. But as a party machine this will hold up very well against your main speaker system.

The iKurv comes with around 7 or 8 docking ports for use with iDevices all the way back to the iPod 30gb Video – this surprised me. I have had that iPod for around 5 years and to find a device that supports it fully is incredible. I tested this baby out using an iPhone 4 as well as the iPod 30gb Video. The wireless remote not only adjusted the volume on both devices, but it also flipped through the tracks along with the rest of the controls you’d expect from a remote. I did find it hard to figure out which mode was right for which device. There didn’t seem to be a great amount of clarification when it came to this part. Flipping through the modes until it landed on one that let me control the iPhone was different than the iPod I was testing. But, being able to control through Pandora was a saving grace.

Conclusion

We enjoyed our time with the iKurv. Playing some loud jiggy jams while rocking Gears of War 3 were quite enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, there were some flaws – no low volume setting, no exact directions for the modes and the fact that only black is available for a color bring the score down, for sure. But for a loud speaker system for your iPhone or iPod the iKurv won’t fail you. Doing some research on the interwebs, it does seem that it is optimized for your iDevice. Even though it comes with the 3.5mm cable to plug in an array of other mp3 devices and phones, the audio doesn’t really shine through as it does for the iClan. I can’t verify this myself, so proceed at your own risk. For an introductory price of $79.99 over at www.speakal.com we would suggest holding off a bit. The retail price is $89.99 so it is on sale right now, but we think it is somewhat high for what you get.

With all of the docking stations available nowadays, would it of hurt to through a clock or LCD screen on the unit? I understand that will throw the design off a bit, but it just seems lacking for that $80 price tag. If you happen to see the iKurv on sale for $49.99 – pick it up. It won’t disappoint you.

Gadgetsteria Rating: 6.5/10

Buy Now: Speakal