Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Kensington Windshield/Vent Car Mount with Sound Amplified Cradle for iPhone from Kensington, $39.99
- SigFx Energy iPhone Case Contains Smart Battery from SigFx Energy, US$69.95
- NAVIGON AG - True GPS Software for the iPhone from NAVIGON Inc., 89.99
- Tweetie 2 from atebits, $2.99
- Snood: Flawed Casual Play from Electronic Arts, US$3.99
Premier Sponsors
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
- Modern Lovers
This timeless masterpiece is little known, but it has inspired almost as many bands as The Modern Lovers' own inspiration -- and only slightly better known -- The Velvet Underground & Nico.
- Harvey Danger
The sophomore effort from Harvey Danger, I was really looking forward to this followup to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" Unfortunately, "King James Version" failed to deliver any of the bri
- Ray LaMontagne
At first, Ray LaMontagne might strike you as just another breathy-voiced knockoff of folk/rock guitarists like John Mayer and Jack Johnson. But he's actually got a better voice than either, he tell
- Weather Report
- This is Weather Reports quintessential line-up captured live. Jaco Pastorious and Peter Erskine join Wayne Shorter and, of course, Joe Zawinul to create this masterpiece.
- Chicago
For those of you who don't know, Chicago didn't always suck, and everyone in the band didn't always play a keyboard. When the band started off they were pioneers of rock and jazz fusion, and guita
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
In-Depth Review
Tango X2 iPod speaker system
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 4:30 AM - by Bob LeVitus
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
Pros:Compact size, excellent sound, rear-ported subwoofer, AM/FM radio, wireless remote.
Cons:No video out, can't choose radio presets with remote.
Recent Headlines
- Apple TV 3.0.1 Update Fixes Missing Content Bug
- Taiwan Leak Shows Verizon UTMS/CDMA iPhone for Q3 2010
- iPhone Moves Into RadioShack
- Dictionary, Dictionary, Dictionary, And More
- The Latest App Store Games: Gravity Sling, RocketBird, Ground Effect, Checkers!
- iPhone Game Developer Sued for Collecting User’s Cell Numbers
- Apple May Be Bringing RFID to the iPhone
Post Your Comments