Kicker Dials It To 11
Yes, our holiday list has been completed, and our round-up posted, but it’s never too late to fit in a few extra presents under the tree or into that stocking. Heck, we’re just beginning the twelve days of Christmas! And we’ve got two items one a perfect smaller present and one a bit larger, both from Kicker, maker of home, car, and marine audio products.
With a tagline like “Livin’ Loud”, we figured that we’d be in for some volume. And yes, we mean of the amp goes to 11 type that isn’t so much for subtlety. We’ll start with the Kicker iKICK iK501, an iPhone-compatible iPod dock with an interesting, slightly Batwing design, featuring quite large speakers. Able to charge your device even in standby mode, we liked the blue-LED lit dial that serves as the unit’s primary control and only visible button. The included somewhat tiny remote handles most of the features, so don’t lose it! Managing to be both reasonably small and yet pack a punch, the system offers 40 watts of total RMS (root mean square) power- quite a lot for a dock, and as much as some computer speaker systems.
Power isn’t everything though- sound is important as well. The bass was pretty heavy by default on the iKICK, but is adjustable (as well as the treble). We liked rock more than classical and techno more than classic tunes through this speaker system, and did notice that placement made quite a bit of difference. A mini-jack in port is included for use with other sources, an audio out is present too, and an interesting addition is the composite connectors for video-out from your portable media player to your television. They offer some interesting other options too- custom skins, and even 12 Volt Power adapters for use when traveling. Our main criticism was the external power block, a pretty ugly and fairly substantial extra piece. Also, there is no battery power, but this is fairly common for more powerful docks. At $200, it’s definitely pushing the limits for a fairly specialized device- but short of the much more expensive Zeppelin it’s one of the few docks we’ve seen that can stand on it’s own at a party.
If it’s headphones that you are looking for, consider the Kicker EB71s. Billed as ‘Stereo Noise-Isolation In-Ear Monitors’, the noise isolation comes, as if often the case, from choosing the right foam earbud tip from the included set. So often, there isn’t a good fit for folks with smaller ears, and so we were impressed by the four sizes- though disappointed by the lack of variety in color or style (no flanges here). These are a relatively straightforward pair, also a bit bass-heavy and best used with music offering a bit of thump. Don’t expect any extra features of note- no microphone, a basic standard cord and cable and mini-jack tip. As far as standard earbuds go, they didn’t sound better than the Apple models, but certainly were better-sounding and sturdier than those packaged with our latest MP3 player. They’re also quite reasonably-priced, at only $25 and are available in a few different colors. We’d suggest looking a little higher, if your wallet can stretch a bit, to the Zagg Z-buds or the Koss dial-in CC_01s.
kicker eb71 headphones
