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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
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Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

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Discover New Music

  • Go Away White

    • 10 out of 10
    • Bauhaus
    • Go Away White is an album I've been waiting more than 20 years to hear, and the good news is that it was worth the wait.  The latest -- and last, no...for real this time -- album from

  • Gimme Fiction

    • 10 out of 10
    • Spoon
    • Gimme Fiction by Spoon is a terrific album by an Austin band that I was lucky enough to catch on an Austin radio station during a Christmas visit.

  • Mezzanine

    • 6 out of 10
    • Massive Attack
    • "Black Milk" knocks me off my feet in this collection of moody and eclectic songs. Massive Attack uses samples and keyboards in a very unique way, but not all the songs pack the same punch.

  • Every Day: The Best of the Verve Years

    • 8 out of 10
    • Joe Williams
    • Joe Williams was Figure Two in my three-man education in singing. A brilliant vocalist, scatter, and interpreter of jazz and blues, Williams produces music that's totally unique, yet sounds so effortl
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Once More, with Feeling

    • 10 out of 10
    • Various Artists
    • Most musical episodes of TV shows frankly stink. They are usually little more than ill-conceived vehicles intended to let the stars show off what musical talent they have. Once More, With Feeling,

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In-Depth Review

Tango X2 iPod speaker system

XtremeMac's Tango X2, the successor to their well-regarded but now discontinued Tango iPod speaker system (which I reviewed here last year), is a worthy successor, improved in many ways but still reasonably-priced. While I would argue with XtremeMac's billing it as, "the most full featured iPod home stereo system on the market," I have to admit it's a great sounding system with a respectable feature set for the price.

The original Tango was bigger in every dimension -- wider, deeper, and taller -- yet the more compact Tango X2 sounds as good or even better. It still sports a five speaker system with two full-range speakers, two tweeters, and a powered subwoofer. But the original Tango used a downward-firing subwoofer which I complained could, "cause vibration and rumble at higher listening levels, especially with bass-heavy rock, hip-hop, and rap tunes." The redesigned Tango X2's subwoofer no longer points downward. Instead, it's now rear-ported, which makes a big difference.

As a result, I didn't experience any of that vibration or rumble, even at high listening levels . In fact, I'd venture that the bass response was as good as any one-piece system in this price range that I've tested. Furthermore, since Tango X2 has both bass and treble controls, I was able to easily tailor the output to the type of music I was playing.

Another improvement I enjoyed was that this model includes an AM/FM radio, something the original Tango lacked. .

The only non-improvement I can think of is that the original Tango offered S-Video output so you could display video from a video iPod on a TV set; Tango X2 has no TV output. For what it's worth, that was a feature I thought was kind of neat, but one I never, ever used.

My only complaint is that there are three available presets for radio stations -- buttons labeled 1, 2, and 3 on the top of the unit . That's a good thing. The bad thing is that while you can tune the radio using the wireless remote, you can't use it to choose one of the presets. To do that you must walk over and press the appropriate button on the Tango X2.

Tango X2 is compatible with all dock connector iPod models 4th generation and later.

The Bottom Line

Tango X2 is one of the best sounding compact iPod speaker system we've tested at this price point and is definitely worthy of your consideration if you're in the market for such a system.

Just The Facts

Tango X2 from XtremeMac

MSRP US$149.95

Pros:Compact size, excellent sound, rear-ported subwoofer, AM/FM radio, wireless remote.

Cons:No video out, can't choose radio presets with remote.

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