Arcam Rcube Portable iPod Dock Music System Black

When a product gleans as much praise as this iPod dock any slight tendency to knock it may be viewed with suspicion or dismissed outright. However, having had my rCube for almost a couple of months now I can offer you my opinions on what is so special about this product.

Arcam have produced excellent quality hi-fi products for a number of years but have only now decided to join the sea of products produced for the iPod. Without going into the minutiae of its technical abilities you can take it that not only is it beautifully and robustly built but above all performs supremely well sonically. But therein lies a small area of concern. With a trend in current mastering techniques to make music transients hit the maximum possible digital signal level of 0dBFS distortion can often be present in the source material and coping with this fact means masking the deficiencies or revealing them in all their glory. The rCube is so good at revealing detail that you may be shocked to hear distortion in sharp transients rearing their ugly head - not a fault of course of the rCube. Your only recourse is to rip your files using Apple Lossless format to at least minimise any further degradation and maybe to reduce the level of some troublesome clipped files first by at least -3dB before importing into iTunes.

Another factor I have found very important is the placement of the rCube. Although you are actively encouraged to place it near a corner you may well have to experiment with placement as this will affect the overall sound considerably - and in some instances will sound distinctly mediocre, and at nearly £500 mediocre should not enter the vocabulary. My first placement was on a sturdy wood cabinet 60cm from the corner of the room wall. With the bass setting defeated (as advised) it sounded not at all good, very boxy and not pleasing with distortion on high frequency transients. Finally I placed it on an Atacama hi-fi table 60cm from a wall but not in a corner (normal bass setting) and the result was immeasurably better. You can dock your iPod in the unit or use the optional rWand to stream music wirelessly to the rCube which works a treat and of course your iPod becomes the remote control.

So in conclusion, it is a great and very versatile piece of kit, being fully portable by way of its rechargeable battery, but one which reveals faults on several levels and takes no prisoners where a lack of quality in the source material is concerned which may be a sticking point for perfectionists. The rCube is almost too good?
With properly mastered tracks ripped in Apple Lossless format and careful placement of the rCube it really shines and makes for a remarkable room filling experience performed with great finesse. As a means of getting my library of music out into the open I probably prefer my Sonos system but I cannot compare the two as that wouldn't be comparing like for like - make of that what you will. I would like to give the rCube 4.5 stars as the tendency to be aware of distortion can be tiresome when you are repeatedly justifying to yourself that its not the fault of the rCube. Sometimes ignorance may well be bliss.

My main HiFi system is Arcam based, but that's rarely used as it's in with the main family TV and having my entire music collection on an iPod 160Gb Classic is easier than rummaging through piles of CDs. So I bought the rCube, after comparisons with the B&W Zeppelin. My first rCube landed with crippling WiFi fault [no remote working and 2 feet range on the rWand, might as well use a cable]. One problem with mail order is the return postage is a lot of money with a 5kg weight and £500 postal insurance, and you have to return a faulty rCube to your dealer at your expense after the 7 day limit - so I would probably order my rCube from a nearby dealer next time so I can drive it back. Still my replacement rCube arrived and it works perfectly with the rWand range now up to the 10 metres it should be [even goes through the odd partition wall as well]. The rCube rWand and rWave are expensive extras, but pretty essential to get the full potential from the system - but you only need one of each as you can easily swap them from iPod to iPod [rWand] or PC to PC [rWave]. Presently the rCube/rWand only supports the old 30pin connector rather than the latest iPods/iPads new Lightning port (might work via the Apple 'Lightning to 30 pin' adaptor but I don't know, check with Arcam).

I never dock my iPod Classic as it's simply better sending the music wirelessly via the hi-def Kleer audio rWand. The rWand adds Wifi streaming to all modern iPods, so I just clip the rWand to the base of my iPod Classic, select wireless and the sound streams faultlessly from the iPod. It's also easier to use the iPod in your hand than the rCube's remote, and with the rWand you can easily see what's on the iPod menu screen. The rCubes remote works perfectly though for our iPod Touch, Nano and Classics - check with Arcam for iPod compatibility. Other brands connect to the rCube via cable and its AUX input 3.5mm stereo jack socket. The USB2 rWave audio streamer from the PC is less successful as it only plays whatever the PC is playing - there's no way to remotely operate the PC/AppleMac mediaplayer as there's no LCD screen on the rCube, so the rWave is best paired with laptops. If you WiFi stream to an iPod Touch or iPhone, that can send the audio and video on to the rCube via the dock or rWand.

Sound quality is simply OK at quiet volumes, as vocals become recessed. In fact I prefer the sound from our Monitor Audio AirStream 10s (a great DAB/FM/internet/streaming radio) at low volumes. However pump up the sound and the rCube is remarkable - granted that's at volumes where you can hardly hear the person talking next to you, but it's remarkable none the less. Still I love the rCube - and when heavily discounted even the price isn't too excessive, as after all the rCube is a complete mobile HiFi system, and it cost a fraction of the price of my Fons CQ30/SME Series III arm record turntable combo - although possibly the rCube won't give the same 35 years loyal service. I haven't noticed any problems with sound quality, - although I nearly always rip CDs to Apple Lossless (ALAC) via iTunes, i.e. audio quality settings to the best (largest file size), as Arcam HiFi is all about faithful audio reproduction of the source and I don't see the point in buying an rCube to listen to CD ripping compression artifacts. I always adjust bass via the iPod's equalization setting and use the bass reduction button on the rCube to reduce/increase bass for any given sound level. Apparently the rCube likes corners, but all mine are filled. Still it likes the tops of tables, shelves or stools, and does benefit from reflecting at least one side off a wall/cupboard - generally the nearer head height, the clearer the sound. It does need careful location in each room to sound good, just as HiFi monitor speakers do, plus as PocketLints points out "you have to crank-up the rCube to hear what you've paid for - and if you can live with that, the rCube is hard to beat, especially at this price". So if your hips aren't swinging, it's likely you haven't got the volume loud enough - the rCube likes to rock. Don't expect an upfront cutting crystal clarity though - the rCube's detailed presentation is so laid back if it wasn't a cube it would fall over, and I find I can happily listen to it playing loud for ages without fatigue.

The rCube remote controls all the main iPod/rCube functions (i.e. menu hopping) and although the remote feels a little plasticy, it works well and is a nice size. It can even switch off docked iPod charging to protect the iPods internal battery from overcharging. With the rWand clipped to your iPod you won't need to use the remote much though. At 200cmx200cm the rCubes also fairly bijou and far easier to lug about than the mains only B&W Zeppelin, and with the rCube's 8h internal lithium battery there's no requirement for the mains adapter either (the adaptor is quite large with a ~10ft lead, it's a typical laptop type affair). Finnish is superb in black and although the glossy plastic top looks pretty horrible when covered in finger prints when using the buttons, it all cleans off easily enough [cloth provided].

The integral handle is very neat, making the rCube easy to cart about, and it can even keep playing when streaming via the rWand, although at 5kg the rCube can drag on the shoulders a bit for anyone middle-aged like me. There's video output for a TV at iPod def video (Component not HDMI) but annoyingly no stereo audio line out for a HiFi amplifier, which would be far more useful to me. Overall though my replacement rCube's a hit with me and my teenage kids, so 4.5* at the 30% off retail I paid. The rCube offers more features than the rival B&W Zeppelin Air, like integral 8h battery with easy mobility (sounding as good/loud on battery as on mains), WiFi for the iPod Classic/Nano via the rWand, and full iPod menu remote control, plus it blends in more easily about the home.

Tested a few of the better quality docking stations and plumped for this over the Zeppelin primarily as I found the sound 'warmer' and less bass heavy than the Zeppelin. I also prefered the more restrained styling of the rCube and the fact that you could use your iPod classic to stream from. No hesitation in strongly recommending this!