Rolling with the inMotion iM7

While other iPod speakers have the range and timbre of Sooty, the iM7 has the bass register of James Earl Jones choking on car exhaust fumes. This thing is a the king of low frequencies. From the moment the iM7 arrived, we've fed it a strict diet of gangster rap -- this is the genre it thrives on. Snoop Dogg's jail-bound lament, Murder was da case, sounded like the battle cries of office workers across London. If you need a portable iPod speaker system that won't embarrass you, this is it.

The 'XDB' enhanced subwoofer inside the iM7 gives Dogg's songs the authoritative tone lesser amp-speaker combos cannot hope to reproduce. Where we expected to hear tinny soulless bleating, we heard the kind of full-ranged tone we'd expect from a much bigger system.

"Havin money, and blowin hella chronic smoke, I bought my momma a Benz, and bought my Boo-Boo a Jag," Dogg explained as we used the iM7's remote control to adjust the volume to maximise output from the neodymium drivers. The iM7 cradles your iPod-whatever like a small child in its mother's expensive plastic womb -- your friends will gape in jealousy.

Most iPod speakers whimper a pathetic tinny racket, but the £200 iM7 rolls succulent bass tones out of its sausage-shaped chamber like a pro. Expect a full review soon. -CS

Update: a full review of the Altec Lansing inMotion iM7 is now live here.