The Award Winning Fatman iTube Valve Dock with Speakers

T3, Stuff, What Hi-Fi? magazines all gave it 5 stars out of 5 stars. It’s taken as a given that this thing could seduce an audiophile at 100 yards and it looks like the result of an industrial accident involving your dad’s 1980’s Hi-Fi separates and a skater boy with attitude. So what is it?

The (in)famous Fatman iTube Valve Dock with Speakers of course.

The Fatman iTube Valve Dock with Speakers is the bad boy of iPod speakers. If the Valve Dock was walking down the street all the other docks would cross to the other side of the street or hide behind their mum when they saw the iTube coming, because this iPod speaker from Fatman screams attitude.

So how can an iPod speaker dock that so gleefully rejects the norms of modern design thrive so well in the eyes of so many people in the know?

I think the first thing is the East meets West element. People are always fascinated when opposing factors join together and that’s what the iTube Valve Dock does, bringing together MP3 technology with traditional valve technology. But this fusion isn’t just for effect, it serves a real purpose.

The classic looking valve amplifier delivers just what you’d expect. Digital systems inherently have a sharp ‘edge’ to their sound, but the addition of valves here gives the listener a smooth, warm and rich sound, which combines with the precision of the digital elements to produce a stunning overall sound experience.

Whilst the 2 x 25 watt power output is just fine, it’s not going to be enough to make your ears bleed inside an aircraft hangar but like I said, just fine.

The iPod dock is a separate unit to the Fatman’s valve amplifier and is  styled with the same ’skaterboy meets dad’ looks. The only slight issue here is that a lack of GSM shielding means that iPhone users may have some issues unless they use the iTube whilst in Flight Safe mode.

Apart from this issue, Fatman say that the iTube Valve Dock is compatible with all iPod Nanos, both the 1st and 2nd generations of the iPod Touch and the 80gb, 120gb, 160gb iPod Classic; no mention of the Shuffle though.

The ‘Fatman iTube Valve Dock with Speakers’ package includes a the valve amplifier, the iPod dock which is connected via a line-level input, plus a pair of compact black speakers as you can see in the picture.

The high-gloss piano black compact speakers supplied do the job just fine, but they are optional and you can just buy the Fatman iTube Valve Dock if you’d prefer and hook up your own speakers.

The Fatman iTube Valve Dock with Speakers package also comes with an Aux source audio cable so you can connect the iTube to your TV as well as Video cable to link the unit up to your TV.

The Fatman iTube Valve Dock is a truly iconic design, breaking from the industry norms much like the B&W Zeppelin did in its own way, but this is not where the iTube excels. It is the unique approach to the design of the sound experience that sets this Fatman speaker dock apart from many of its counterparts and boy does it pay off.

Great sound, well worth the money – consider your own speakers though if you’re an audio connoisseur.

We found Play.com to have the best prices on the Fatman right now. They’re offering:

Fatman iTube Valve Dock with Speakers   £204.99

Related posts:

1. Best iPod Speakers to give this Christmas 2009
2. Panasonic D-Dock SC-HC3 and SC-HC4 iPod Speakers
3. Bose SoundDock Series II speaker dock