- Compatible with 4G or newer iPod/iPhone/iPhone 3GS
- Tuned-port enclosure with 3-Inch full-range woofers & integrated amplifier with DSP for enhanced bass response & signature KICKER sound
- Charges in standby mode
- Dual-alarm feature
- AM/FM tuner with wake-to-alarm, radio, or iPod
Timer, auxiliary in, externally antenna input nice extras and goes to Kicker's thought process. Or rather is evident that they had one.
Biggest (only) complaint? The volume at it's lowest setting ('1') is too loud. Zero is off completely. If you're going to sleep with music, it really is louder than you would care to have it. Even for background music, it may be too loud for some. It badly needs a '.5' or one more increment of lower sound. I guess you have to ask yourself how often you would use the timer feature. Kicker: fix this and it's perfect.
UPDATE 5/16/2010:
Just spoke w/Kicker. Apparently there is an updated software version addressing the volume issue. If you press M2 & M3 while plugging the unit in, it will display the current software. Mine was 6.6, should be 7.0 as of 6/16 2010. Bummer is the entire unit needs to be sent to Kicker. I'm stuck with shipping there, they pay for return shipping. Will repost once the unit gets back and comment on the 7.0 software update see if it fixes the volume issue.I had a Sony dock but read about how good Kicker docks sound, particularly with respect to bass. My two biggest issues with my Sony dock were I couldn't get anywhere near enough bass, and the volume wouldn't necessarily go as high as might be nice sometimes. I got my Sony dock for $40 but I know at one point it definitely cost more than that. It was a perfectly acceptable dock. I saw a newer version of, basically, the same Sony dock in the store the other day, and it is $100.
I recently spent $100 more on this Kicker dock ($143, and that was on sale) than my Sony dock and, while it is also a good dock, I don't feel the extra money was justified. The sound quality difference is not that far off, though there is a little more bass maybe and the volume can go high as others have mentioned. At the same time, I am willing to be understanding about the bass due to the size of the unit--when you look at it that way, it does sound pretty good for its size, which is not too much bigger than some alarm clocks are. The music sounds crystal clear and not distorted. It reminds me of how CDs used to sound to us when we first started listening to them, only without the CD spinning sounds. I could listen for hours.
Some of the other problems with it, though:
-I found it a little difficult to operate at first. It's not, in my opinion, an intuitive machine where you can immediately take it out of the box and understand on your own how to work it. I really had to refer to the guide and/or just learn from doing/making mistakes for setting the clock, programming stations, changing the bass/treble, etc. This is probably normal for a lot of people, but this is coming from someone who is good with electronics, knows how to take computers/laptops apart and is pursuing a career in Information Technology, i.e. I don't normally have to refer to guides when I get a new electronic product.
-Um. Conflicting info about which generations of the iPhone/iPod Touch it works with. I'd gotten the impression that this works with my iPod Touch generation from Amazon...for one thing, the site has listed this item under the "frequently bought together with" my generation. The Kicker site and the box this product came in do not list my iPod Touch (I am currently using a 3rd gen iPod Touch). The odd thing is I think the box lists some older iPod Touch/iPhone gens that it works with but not mine...???? Why would it work with 4th and 2nd gen but not my 3rd gen? And so I put my Touch on the dock just to see (because I knew, either way, I could use the auxiliary cable), and it does work...but it's glitchy. If I'm playing music that's on my iPod Touch, songs will just stop in the middle and move on to the next song, settings on the iPod Touch will somehow change and the current song coming to an end will loop back and play again when that's not what was originally selected, and if I am playing music from an application there will be different complications...like, playing music with Slacker, it seems every few songs the current song will just stop in the middle and I go to my iPod Touch to find that the Slacker application has been exited. Sometimes when the iPod Touch is just sitting idle on the dock, it randomly will make sounds, like a sound indicating the dock has just been turned on/plugged in or like the sound it makes when you first hook it up to the dock or a charger. All of this happens even after I have made sure the iPod Touch is securely on the dock. I am, right as I type this, just playing my iPod Touch through the auxiliary cord to avoid these kind of things and am having no problems. I did not have these glitches with the Sony dock, and that dock seems to work fine with most iPod Touch/iPhones.
-Another reason I am using the auxiliary cord and think I generally will just stick with that is because there is no remote included with this dock. My choice was between this Kicker and the iKick501, I believe it's called. Both are lacking in some way--the 501 lacking FM/AM radio, which my Sony had, and this one lacking a remote...um, which my Sony had, also. So, at least with the aux cord, I can just lay my iPod Touch beside me and pick it up when I want to change the song or volume rather than get up and cross the room as if this is the 1970s. And that other iKick costs too much money to JUST be a dock with no radio on it (around $300, and yes, I do still like to see what's on the radio every now and then)...I thought that was nuts.
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Conclusion: It does have great volume and sound good, especially for its size (I've had bigger stereos that haven't sounded this good), but I really could have stuck with my cheaper Sony dock or bought that $100 dock from Sears and gotten nearly the same thing with a little bit more in some ways, i.e. a remote control. This is a dock that is similar to the one I had and similar to the one I saw in Sears, if not the exact same one from Sears (and it's cheaper here than in Sears).
I purchased the large Kicker (to use with my iPod), great item I just noticed that randomly the volume would dip low and then return to normal. I called Kicker and they had not heard of the problem but had me do a hard re-set; this did not fix the problem. So I returned it for the ik150 model also a great item but the same problem happened. I exchanged my iPod and tried that, no luck. So I emailed Kicker customer service and asked if they could help again; I told them everything I had done and that I was off to buy a different brand dock and see if the problem would happen and that I was going to hold on to the Kicker until I saw what the other brand did. I bought a nice Sony and did not notice the problem at that time.
The Sr. technician from Kicker called me to say customer service forwarded my email to him. He said at first it made no sense given the two models I purchased were not even configured the same. Then he asked me if I had email and i Cal on my iPod, when I told him yes, he asked if the the iPod's Push was set to on, I said yes. He then said I think we've discovered your problem. He asked me to try and receive an email and a notification from iCal while my iPod is docked with the Kicker; he thought the notifications were causing a disruption in the signal. So, I tried this with both the Kicker and the Sony and YES this was the problem! I was sending and receiving emails with no clue that the notifications were causing the problem. Solution, I removed the emails and turned off Push.
I have to say in todays consumer market having a business actually call and take interest in resolving a problem was refreshing to say the least. The technician was very kind and helpful and asked that I pelase call or email him with my results. Kicker is a wonderful product with great quality and the company really "gets it" when it comes to customer service. I would encourage anyone who is looking for a great iPod dock to buy Kicker!!!Good sound and system for my iPhone. Only complaint is the display screen. You cannot read it unless your eyes are horizontal with or above the screen level. It you are looking up at it (like in bed) you see nothing but a blue screen, the time cannot be read.
THIS DOES THE TRICK!!!
From my room to the end of the dorm hall way you can hear it with both doors closed.
The buzzer is amazing.
If you are a heavy sleeper looking for an alarm clock. This is for you.
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