God, it took me a long time to make a choice.

Partually it was the fault of the millions of contradicting reviews I found on-line. C-NET says these speakers are great, some other sourse does not even mention the same set of speakers. But first of all, before any browsing and comparing decide exactly what kind of speakers you want:

- should they be portable or not? Do you plan to move them from room to room (then they can be little bigger) or you actually are going to take it overseas? (then you better find a very small light model with a travel case). Bigger the speakers, more chances that you will get a better sound.

- how much are you willing to spend for this pleasure? Are you a strict musical critic with highly sensative ears or just want to avoid earphones?

- do you want all those extras like radio/alarm (personally, I came to a conclusion that I'd rather have a good-sounding set of speakers, and a separate alarm clock)?

- do you want the speakers to be specifically designed for iPod? (if not there are nice Logitech speakers for computers that can work with iPod as well. They are also cheeper.)

Now, let's look at one particular example. I was looking for a portable system within the range of $100-$200 because in this category you can find the majority of decent-sounding systems. The choice was quickly limited to:

1. Logitech mm50 Premium iPod Speakers,

2. Its' later version Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere Compact iPod Speakers,

3. Pure Fi Elite High Performance Stereo System for iPod

4. Altech Lansing iM9 Portable Audio System

5. Altech Lansing iM600 Portable iPod Docking

All of them looked great online and received good ratings from one site or another. Finally I went to Circuit City to expirience the promised pleasure of listening to the speakers. Of course, they did not have most of the speakers on my list, so another trip to a Best Buy was necessary.

Suprisingly, the highly-praised mm50 (which were on the market for a while and were one of the best-selling systems) delivered just an average sounding performance. It sounded like a pocket radio. Logitech Anywhere did not go far from its predecessor. One of the Altech Lansings delivered a nice, but again an average sound. I switched between a variety of songs on each speaker, listening to Linkin Park, Evanescence, Celtic Woman and even the soundtrack to the Fountain movie (which was the tuffest one). iHome (not on my list, but I tried it anyway) was simply horrific when I tried to test the possible loudness. It destorted the sound and almost gave me a headache! After an hour in the store I even seriously considered Bose speakers, since only they sounded a little better than average. But again, of all speakers Bose only played "their" music, just a couple of songs. I asked a manager to sink my iPod to it, but he told me it was impossible. Well, too bad!

 Then I have plugged my iPod to funny-looking JBL speaker (circular design, not "on stage" kind). That was much better! The sound was "out of the box", clean and with no background distortion. My only concern was the loudness of the unit, it did not seem to go too high. When I came back home, I found online another, bigger version of the same speaker for $230. In tech specs it was listed with more output power, than the model in the store. Holidays were approaching fast, so I purchased that model. It's a pity, that I could not listen to it in any of the stores, but I think I can't go wrong with that one. Since Amazon is taking its time to deliver the speakers (3 weeks!!!) I can't share any info about JBL I got, but I am sure it will sound better than any other not-$300 or $400 speakers available.

P.S. I finally got my Radial - OMG! The system is super-easy to set up and sue, the remote is very intuitive, the base is simply mind-blowing (the entire house vibrates when I turn it up!), the high-end sounds are not distorted at all!!! the only possible comptition to JBL would be more expensive Bose, but again, I do not think that Bose's base is as good.

Here are some tips I came up with in my search:

- look at speakers that were manufactured by a well-known brand (or at least an old one). It does not guarantee that your speakers will be great, but it lessens the chances that the spekers you purchase fall apart two days after the purchase.

- do not pay as much attention to the on-line reviews. That's right, even to this one! One customer might be happy with the sound and the other one might not. It's all subjective. Simply compile a list of 3-6 items, go to a store (or visit a friend) and listen to the speakers on your list.

- do not listen to the Circuit City, Best Buy or any other employees. When I have asked them which ones are the best speakers they have, they all gave different answers. Again, rely only on your opinion.

Well, I think that's it. I wish you unstressful and succesful shopping for your iPod!