Decent looks, decent sound, decent connectivity - but, unfortunately, "decent" doesn't mean "great."

With a name like Tango, you might expect dramatic, luscious sound quality from this iPod speaker. What we got from the Tango, however, was a mixed bag of audio results. The Tango has a pair of 2.5-inch midrange speakers, two 1-inch tweeters, and a 4-inch woofer at the bottom of the unit that faces down toward the surface that the speaker sits on. As you'd expect from a speaker with a sizable woofer, the bass from the Tango booms—but with cringe-inducing distortion, even after we turned down the bass. On rock tracks where the bass wasn't as prominent, the Tango did a decent job with midrange sounds, but opera songs lacked clarity.

An iPod dock sits atop the Tango, which comes with a set of iPod adapters. The unit's built-in controls are limited to power and volume. But the Tango's intuitive remote lets you control tracks, volume, and bass and treble, which you'll adjust a lot, given the inconsistent audio quality. A helpful LED on the unit gives you visual clues when you're making adjustments via the remote, flashing, for example, when you adjust the bass.

With its S-Video and 3.5mm AV-out jacks, the Tango provides connectivity with your TV. There's no USB port, however, so you can't connect it to your Mac for syncing your iPod and iTunes. Any iPod with a dock can use the Tango's dock connector, but only 4G iPods and later will charge while docked.

The bottom line. The Tango can handle pop music that's light on bass. Look elsewhere if you're into hip-hop, R&B, or dance.

COMPANY: XtremeMac
CONTACT: www.xtrememac.com
PRICE: $199.95
REQUIREMENTS: Dockable iPod
Nice design. Good remote.
Fickle sound quality. Noticeable distortion in bass.