{09.01.11} Gear

Powered Speakers

The Creative D100's dual three-inch drivers pack a wallop of sound. Plus, its wireless range reaches about 30 feet, so feel free to keep your iPhone in your pocket.

$80 by Creative

The Jambox, designed by Yves Behar, is as attractive as it easy to use. Voice commands make for easy Bluetooth set up and the sound is crisp and clean.

$200 by Jawbone

Acoustic Amplifiers

This carved walnut iPad dock projects the sound outward like a trumpet, creating a subtle, rich sound with a surprsing bump to the volume.

$70 by
Yellow Glue Blues

Hand carved from a single block of wood, the Mini Koo is better suited for personal listening—like working at your desk or as a bedside alarm clock.

$70 by Koostik

Big
Sound

Little Speakers

Like landlines, calculators or movie listings in the newspaper, physical stereos have been replaced by Spotify queues, iTunes libraries and Pandora stations. But that doesn't mean you don't want the style and sound a bookshelf system once provided. And whether you prefer your speakers wired or not, you'd ideally be able to bring the sound with you wherever you took your iPad or laptop. We recently put a few of the latest options to the test. Some sounded better than others. Some looked sillier than others. Herewith, the four best sounding speakers you'd also be proud to have in your home or office.