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Orbitsound T12
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It is 53x13x10cm with leads inserted. The only thing I have not included is the height of your iPod above the top of the unit, simply because this will vary according to the model you use.
The Orbitsound product produces 'airSOUND' from a single speaker giving not only an ordinary stereo effect but also a wide stereo. The nearest thing I have heard previously to this is a product devolped by Yamaha a few years ago but this was huge in comparison and was solely to give a decent output from a TV.
Yes the Orbitsound T12 can work with other products and this includes a TV. However with the iPod dock built in the simplest and quickest way to hear the sound improvement is by using an iPod. Unlike a normal stereo your seating/listening position is not critical; you will hear the effect from almost any normal listening angle.
However should you have a decent sized LEC or Plasma TV then connect audio out cables to the Orbitsound to hear a quality of sound not normally enjoyed with your TV and should you have Blu Ray then you are getting into the realms of quality sound without having to have a bank of speakers with all their accompanying wires.
In the coming months I hope to see the smaller T6 and T3, however here it is the top of the range T12 that comes with the 23x23x45cm sub woofer. Both this and the main unit are made of wood and are shiny black. The front is covered with a black material and behind this are six sound outlets. The only connections on the sub woofer are two small grip connectors to accept the lead from the main unit.
The top of the main unit has an iPod dock and a quantity of sleeves so that whichever model you have it will fit snugly. The base has four small rubber feet .2cm thick to protect whatever you stand the unit on and to provide a spacer under it. All the rest of the connections are on the back.
There is an on/off button (then almost everything else can be controlled from the remote) two grip sockets to take the sound to the sub woofer. The A/C adapter input, auxiliary input sockets and video outputs. There is also a 3.5mm stereo line in for those you prefer an MP3 player to an iPod as well as a volume knob and a three position slider for the airSOUND off-normal-wide.
The 9.5x5x.6 remote control is driven by a single circular watch/clock battery (provided) there are nineteen buttons all clearly labelled and these even allow you to toggle through the available sources. Apart from volume there are also separate treble and bass controls. I found you could partially control the iPod from the remote. The source control was clever enough to know how many items were connected.
As soon as you plug an iPod into the dock it is automatically charged providing the T12 is switched on.
This is all about sound quality and even in normal stereo mode it was good but it really comes into it's own with the wide setting. Using it connected to a reasonable TV also has benefits as does a Blu Ray player as the sound is much improved. Many people think Blu Ray is all about better picture quality and forget that there is vastly improved sound quality via Dolby.
This unit was a joy to review and going back to standard speakers will seem somewhat of a letdown. I look forward to seeing the other two smaller models as they become available. The T12 is available for £353 including delivery from Amazon. More details and specifications from the link below.
http://www.orbitsound.co.uk/index.php/T12/introduction
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Comment by JonathanS, 19 Dec 2008 18:48