Home > Consumer Reviews > Fatman iTube - Home Docking iPod Station with speakers

I bought this system after seeing the dock and amp rated as product of the year in the What HiFi awards - Ipod accessories category. I use it with an 80gb ipod classic.

I took a chance on the whole system as it wasn't much more money for this speaker inclusive package. Hmmm, bit of a mistake, the very small speakers are really poor - no wonder What HiFi don't recommend them. The problem you have of course is deciding if the system is poor or just the speakers? Anyway, I assumed that as they'd given the dock and amp top honours and not mentioned the speakers at all that it must be them letting the side down.

So, I chucked them out and bought a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 speakers (also award winners in What HiFi - Best speakers between £150 and £250) for £200 inc. delivery at an online store . . . WOW! What a transformation. Fantastic sound, including a lovely deep mellow bass and crysal clear treble. People who say it won't go loud must like their music really LOUD, I rarely go above half volume (the Monitor Audios need to be run-in for 50 hours before turning up loud anyway).

Everyone who's come into my room to have a listen, says (well, once they've finished saying how cool it looks that is) "Wow, I want one!"

The only downside with the dock and amp setup is the remote control which is a really tacky piece of work for sure, I've had the system a few weeks now and the writing is already nearly worn off above the bass, treble and volume buttons!

To sum up, buy the amp and dock package, NOT this one with the speakers included. Buy some good sensitive speakers like the above mentioned Monitor Audios and you've got a fabulous looking and sounding system!

I bought the Fatman iTube over christmas to replace an old cd player I had after a friend recommended it.
I recieved it, set it up, and I was ready to go- installation wasn't difficult at all, nor time consuming. It even has instructions, FAQ's and a troubleshooting section.
Its a great product with awesome sound quality and a crisp and rich response on all types of music that I have yet tried. Especially good on electrically produced sound.

One thing; you can't see the valves like you can in the picture becuase they get quite hot when you use the amp, so for health and safety they are covered with a black plastic cage (removable).

The one downside that I would give is that it can take around five or ten seconds to start the valves when you turn it on. Only a minor thing, but worrying when you get it out and first want to get it on!

The docking function is very good. You can control your iPod completely using the remote supplied.

It has extra sockets for attachment to a cd player/other. I have it hooked up to my computer to stream music through it that way if I want; which is really useful when working.

Also, speakers are much better looking than they appear in the picture!!!

I thoroughly recommend it--- for a professional sound quality at an affordable price- you can't go wrong!

I have spent some time with my itrip playing my ipod tracks through my hi fi system. The sound was - well just ok. Now, I discovered Fatman and realise that I had been missing out on sound quality. This is superb. Also, I have a large collection of vinyls and a turntable. Again they were ok played through the auxiliary connection on my hi fi. I plugged the turntable into Fatman and -- wow what a sound. The only "down side" I have discovered was when I went into a store to inquire about it. I met a portly male sales assistant and said to him "Do you stock Fatman?" At first he thought that I was being unkind to him.

I bought this on the strength of the reviews on the site, and other online reviews. I listen to a lot of jazz, some classical (inc. choral) and some hip hop and world music.

The system was easy to set up, and looks fantastic (although smaller than I thought). The jazz comes across well on this system, well spaced sounds, fresh, detailed. Quieter classical is also good - e.g. bach piano pieces, string quartets...

BUT - it lacks power and drive.

Hip hop really lacks power, energy, snap (i.e. all the things you look for in hip hop), and serious choral music (matthew passion, the big mozart pieces) also lacks power and "oomph".

Maybe if you're listening in a broom cupboard, and turn up the volume full, you could get these characteristics from this type of system... otherwise, it is NOT a replacement for a proper hifi system, sadly.

But it does look beautiful. And sounds nice for e.g. cocktails with mates. Just not for a party.

WOWWWWWEEEEEEEE! The FatMan Rocks (and Dances, R&Bs, Electronicas and does Classical)!

This device should come with a health warning about the possible effects of dehydration from over-enjoyment! Partner it with decent speakers and you will fall in love with your music collection again. As well as your iPod, try plugging in your CD player, and enjoy.

The package comprises a docking station/control unit and a valve amplifier unit, plus the necessary cabling, but no speakers. The build quality, aesthetics, and feel of this product are all superb. The dock and amplifier units feel solid and substantial. It's great to get a decent set of speaker cables with proper gold plated banana connections. The controls are good, and the terminals machined so that leads fit snugly.

The unit took about 5 minutes to unpack and a further 5 or 10 minutes to set up. We used a pair of neutral, fairly sensitive book-shelf monitor speakers and a G4 iPod and we were ready for music...the magical greenish moving glow of the larger tube upon switch on announced that something special was about to happen. After an initial concern about low volume (the remote needed turning up) it did not disappoint!

We used the iTube in a room measuring only about 8'x8' (and half of this is taken up by a bed). The speakers and FatMan were crammed on a dressing table up against other furniture. We were surprised that the set-up worked so well in such confined conditions. We were also unprepared for the hour or so of manic enjoyment that followed. We danced in the small space on Christmas morning, as if enchanted by the pied-piper-like effects of the FatMan and his iTube. The awesome sound simply flowed out of the machine and we had to try track after track. So much so that we became overheated and started to suffer the initial effects of dehydration!

Whatever we played just sounded great - Depeche Mode, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, All About Eve, U2, Bodyrockers, Justin Timberlake, Akon - you name it, the iTube + our speaker combination reproduced it with feeling, vigour, and clarity. Now we know our little monitor speakers can only go down to about 65Hz, but the size and quality of the bass being reproduced was a delight - I normally only listen to R&B in clubs where the sound systems aren't top notch and detail is lacking...but the iTube did full justice to the genre. It resolved R&B productions with fabulous, meaty, wall-shaking, but well-defined lows, crisp highs, and exquisite vox - it was a revelation!

Tonight I connected a very good CD player to the iTube's Line 2 input (Line 1 is for the iPod). Wow! The FatMan certainly isn't embarrassed in this company - again, whatever disc you play, whether it be Nigel Kennedy's original recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, The Manhattan Transfer, Nina Simone, Goldfrapp or Radiohead - the openness, sense of ambience, bass and driving attack are beautiful.

This thing not only sounds and looks good; it's wondrous to watch it work. In light or total darkness, it's fascinating to observe the two bands of green plasma in the large tube dance - rising to meet each other on peaks and falling back in time to the music. I suspect the bands also indicate the limits of available gain. I guess when the bands overlap the amp is running at full tilt.

The iTube sounds great and gives real insight into the music, so you will get benefits by partnering it with decent speakers and using lossless encoding. Some speakers tend to wallow if placed too close to walls or corners, so be a little careful if the system's going to be used in a confined area. We used an old pair of Tannoy Reveal speakers (cheapish, but decently made, neutral sounding, semi-pro monitor speakers). They work well and seem happy in fairly tight spots. A set of speakers with more pace, agility, and detail retrieval, and perhaps a little more well-controlled extension, would no doubt repay the investment.

Also if you want to listen at high levels, you will need to partner the iTube with extremely sensitive speakers. Ours are a fairly sensitive 90dB/W/m, and with the FatMan iTube turned up they are loud and lusty enough for nearly all occasions. However, if you like to rock out or bounce at high-very high volumes, want to fill a large room, or have less sensitive speakers, then you will crave an amplifier with greater output.

For all other applications, I can thoroughly recommend this piece of kit and say it's easily worth 5 stars.

- G