Twisting the ends of speaker wires, then getting them inside those little holes on the back of your amplifier can be a maddening experience. This is especially frustrating for portable units that you're constantly moving around the house, such as the Sonic Impact Class T Amp that I recently reviewed (and complained about this very problem).

I finally took my punctured finger tips to the local Radio Shack in search of a solution and discovered their Flat-Pin Connectors that are 24-karet gold plated and easy to secure on the ends of your speaker wires with a standard crimping tool. They cost $3.29 a pair.

Another advantage to these connectors is that they include colored protective sleeves that keep the wires from coming in contact with one another. The sleeves also help you match red-to-red and black-to-black to maintain the proper polarity between speaker and amplifier.

It took me about 15 minutes to attach the connectors to the wires. Now speaker setup takes only seconds, and no more punctured finger tips.

Technorati Tags: audio, equipment, tips

I've been reading all sorts of good things about the Sonic Impact Class T Amp. It's the battery-powered amplifier that fits in the palm of your hand and produces sound that has audiophiles harmonizing with joy. I bought mine for $30 at Amazon.

I agree that the sound is excellent. I've connected my iPod nano to the Sonic and wired up a couple of two-way speakers and was throughly impressed with the output. But I want to cover a few other aspects of the device that aren't as widely discussed.

The Sonic amp takes 8 AA batteries. I loaded mine up with Duracell "Ultra" alkalines. Installing the batteries isn't as easy as I would like. The spring-contacts on the Sonic are too long making it difficult to install the bottom row of AAs. I recommend that you use the best batteries possible, or the optional 12-volt power brick to avoid changing batteries any more than necessary.

With the batteries, the Sonic generates up to 10 watts per channel, which is noticeable better than many other units that typically provide 4 watts per channel. Good batteries, such as the Duracell Ultras should get around 8 hours of play. If you use the optional power adapter, you can get up to 15 watts per channel.

The speakers are attached using traditional speaker wire. The connectors on the Sonic are small and it takes some patience to get the wire in there correctly. I only mention this because many people will use the Sonic as a portable amp, and having either a stereo mini-plug option or even RCA jacks would make it easier to connect the speakers on the go.

You do have a stereo mini-plug jack for input, and the Sonic comes with a connecting cord so you can attach your iPod or other device immediately. I found that keeping the iPod's volume set to 60-70 percent, especially for songs with "lots of punch," kept the Sonic's sound sweet and clear.

I did have some occasional "cutting out" of audio. At first I thought that maybe I had a loose wire that was short-circuting. It sounded like that. But when I readjusted the volume outputs on the iPod and the Sonic, the cutting out would go away.

The Sonic does get warm with extended play. But the heat is dissipated on top, so I didn't worry about setting it directly on wood surfaces. It's actually amazing that it stays as cool as it does considering the output it's generating.

Overall, count me among the legions who consider this a worthy $30 investment. I'm going to try NiMH batteries to see if I can cut down on my alkaline consumption. Will add a comment to this piece after more testing.

Technorati Tags: audio, ipod-compatible, music

Griffin TuneBox is a speaker system that doubles as a charger...

I've been using the Griffin TuneBox, which is an iPod shuffle speaker system/charger, for a couple months now. During that time I've been debating what my final opinion is about it. As a speaker system, the sound is average to above. Good midrange and treble, not much bass. Not too surprising since we're talking about four 1" speakers with a total of 4 watts of power. The TuneBox does have plenty of volume, however, which I really appreciate. It's very much like listening to a quality portable radio.

It's handy around the house or office. For example, keep it on the night stand, and you can spontaneously listen to music from your iPod shuffle, nano, or 5th Generation full size (iPod video). But what really hooked me was that the TuneBox is a convenient charger as well as a speaker system. And I can charge all of my current pods with it (iPods need to be USB-compatible since the TuneBox's power port is USB).

So it really comes down to expectations. Originally I was thinking that the TuneBox would be a portable speaker system for my iPods. The required power brick weighed down that idea. When you start lugging the TuneBox around, the power brick literally feels like a ball and chain. But once I started thinking of the TuneBox as my home base station for both listening to music and charging my iPods, my fondness grew for it.

So, hot or not? If you want a convenient speaker system that will reside on your desk or night stand and charge your iPods, I'd say hot. If you're looking for a truly portable sound system with great bass response, then not. It's all about expectations.

The TuneBox is available on the Griffin website for $39.99.