Xtreme Mac's Tango is a moderately-priced 2.1 speaker system for iPods with dock connectors. The sound quality and feature set compare favorably to more expensive systems, but the downward-firing subwoofer can cause vibration and rumble at higher listening levels, especially with bass-heavy rock, hip-hop, and rap tunes.

That said, if you're not the type who cranks your music all the way up all of the time, Tango offers good sound and useful features not found in some similarly-priced systems. Among its niceties:

• Five speakers--two mid-range, two tweeters, and a downward-firing sub.
• Universal dock connector with inserts for most compatible iPods.
• Volume increases gradually when you power it on (a nice touch).
• Wireless remote with play/pause, next/previous track, and separate bass and treble controls.
• 3.5 mm audio/video in/out and S-video output (supports external TV playback with iPod video).

I used Tango exclusively in my office for a couple of weeks. Most of the time I thought it sounded quite good, especially given its size and price. But there were some songs--mostly hip-hop and dance tracks but some rock and pop songs as well--that made the system vibrate, especially at higher listening levels. I was able to mostly overcome this problem by judicious application of Tango's bass and treble controls (using the wireless remote), along with some tweaking of my iPod's equalization settings (which, unfortunately, I had to do manually). I didn't have to do it very often, but when I did I felt it was too much work.

Another minor quibble: Tango doesn't offer a USB connection to your Mac, so you can't update (sync) your iPod (though it does recharge it).

Still, overall I found Tango pleasant to use, with several outstanding features. For example, I loved the way Tango faded the music in or out when it was powered on or off. And I found its stark, minimalist design quite appealing on my tabletop, though you may disagree.

Finally, I thought the ability to display video from my iPod video on a TV was a useful feature and one not offered by most (if not all) other speaker systems.

The Bottom Line

Xtreme Mac's Tango is a 2.1 speaker system for iPods with dock connectors. Its sound quality and feature set compare favorably to more expensive iPod speaker systems, though its downward-firing subwoofer occasionally causes some vibration and rumble at higher listening levels.

Note: Tango is listed on the Xtreme Mac web site at $199 but the Apple Store (and almost everyone else) sells it for $149.