Home > Consumer Reviews > Altec Lansing iMT800 Mix A Powerful Boom Box for iPod and iPhone

Altec Lansing famously provided the speaker system for the Woodstock festival forty years ago and the American company has been around, in one form or another, for seventy years. James B Lansing later founded the rival JBL speaker company. My first Altec Lansing product was a computer speaker system that came with a Dell Dimension PC over ten years ago - the old computer is now relegated to my den but the Altec Lansing system still sounds great when playing CDs or Spotify through it!

Today Altec Lansing make a fairly wide range of audio products, including iPod docks, of which the iMT800 Mix is the latest addition. An industrial looking beast that packs a big punch the Mix is indeed a mixture of good and bad features. The styling won't suit everyone - that's for sure! And there is a distinct lack of frills of any kind; an FM radio and err that's it. The bang for your buck is in the sound quality - a class D amplifier for lightness and power efficiency coupled with a well designed acoustic enclosure featuring good quality speakers add up to a good sounding party animal!

The Mix is so called because you can connect up to three players, an iPod/iPhone and two aux inputs and toggle between them mixing the music - maybe fun at a party. You can vary the sound using the EQ function; there is a basic bass and treble + or - control, or a seven band graphic equaliser with presets for different music styles. The whole system can be easily be reset to factory defaults if you cods the settings up!

The unit is easy to set up from new; the international power supply comes with a UK adaptor which needs to be slid on before you can use it - do this before it gets lost! The remote uses a supplied lithium battery which needs to be inserted +ve side up; slide up the protective guard between the units speakers, pop in your iPod, guard down, plug in the power and boom - you're away. Great sound from a solid unit which doesn't rattle.

So for the verdict on the iMT800 Mix, well the good is mainly the sound quality - this unit is basically an amp and speakers you can plug an iPod or other audio device in and get a good loud sound out of. The FM radio has RDS, a built in aerial and four presets can be stored from the remote. The remote controls all the units' main functions and can be clipped onto a belt loop - it is about half the size of my iPod Classic. Five iPod/iPhone adaptors are supplied and two short aux cables. The unit can be run on mains or battery - if the 30 hour battery life figure is correct that would be about 50p per hour using batteries.

The bad are some niggles with the design. I have an iPod Classic 120G and although five adaptors are provided none fit my model - the iPod sits in the unit ok without an adaptor but doesn't seem very secure. The remote only controls basic iPod functions, shuffle, skip + & skip - etc, you can't change album, for example, from the remote you have to use the iPod itself. Tricky to do with the iPod docked - my other iPod dock features full iPod functions from its remote control, much better! The two aux jacks are located in the recess for the top handle - this means you can't really use the handle to move the unit when jacks are plugged in. Other than that not a lot to criticise about the Mix. If you are ok with the styling, and don't want a lot of frills, this iMT800 will give you a very good sound across a whole range of music - you don't always have to crank it up, it sounds good at normal listening levels too!

I can't quite go to a full five stars at the price for the features, but the sound quality is worth more than four! I can only put four stars in - but this unit deserves four and a half stars!

Police Officer: Sir, are you classified as human?
Korben Dallas: Negative, I am a meat popsicle.

Wow! How do they do that? How do they get that much bass out of that small a pair of speakers? I've always associated Altec Lansing with giant rock P.A. systems, but it seems they've managed to condense down that sound into a box just 50cm at it's widest.

O.k., well, for all that, does it sound any good? Yes, it does. It's a clean, clear sound with crisp hi-hats, warm vocals and mid-range. But the bass, oh my goodness, that bass. The volume control goes from 0 to 40. On anything over about 16 (depending on the track, obviously) you can feel the bass through the floor, with the box sat on a table.

This is not going to suit every style of music. I mean, I don't think I'd play Beethoven through it, but Armin van Buuren's A State of Trance 2007 sounds great. Pharmacy Vol.4: Mixed By Yoji Biomehanika & Hellraiser will probably meat popsicle-ize you if over-indulged. On the other hand, old hippy music like Shpongle's Tales of the Inexpressible sounds a bit unwieldy - it's just not supposed to have that much bass.

Yes, there is an E.Q. - you can have bass + or - 10, you can have treble + or - 10. That's it. But even with the bass set to -10, it's still impressive (as in, it leaves an impression on you). There are also three EQ pre-sets - Rock, Pop and Hip Hop. Er, maybe that's a clue as to what you're supposed to be listening to. :-)

Looking at the pictures, I thought this was going to be a pretty ugly beast. It's certainly not got high-end hi-fi chic, but it's not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Simple, clean, functional, industrial. Plastic, yes, but a good, solid weight. Handy carrying handle on the top and a neat little amber display shows what source is being used and what track is playing. When you power up the beast, the display shows 'Altec Lansing', but you can edit this start-up message by holding down the four controls on the top after switching it on.

And there's an FM radio built in. It's good, yes. Hold down one of the tuning buttons and it'll go and find stations for you. And you can program 4 pre-sets into the remote (but not on the machine itself).

The remote is excellent. Small, very solid, simple and clear controls, and it'll clip on to a key ring, jeans etc. Powered by a (supplied) watch-type battery.

Any caveats?

I am using an iPod 120Gb Classic and all the recordings on my iPod have been done in Apple Lossless format. I don't know what it would sound like in standard Apple format - I wouldn't have thought there would be that much difference.

The machine comes with a number of different adaptors so should fit most iPods. But none of them fitted mine! I tried them all. One seemed to fit but when I used it, all I got were a few rude noises out of the machine. However, I fitted it without the use of an adaptor and it works. It's just not so secure. Still, there is a metal band that slips down around the iPod which gives some support.

Partly because of the metal band slipping down over the iPod and partly because the iPod is recessed into the machine, selecting different albums is quite fiddly. You can skip to the next or previous track easily, either by using the buttons on top of the machine or by using the excellent little remote, but changing albums is a pain. I think the idea is probably that you create party play lists, rather than skip about.

It would be nice to have a power adaptor for the car maybe. I've been running mine off the mains, but it claims that the battery life can be up to 30 hours. I imagine it'll be rather less than that if you wind it up. Batteries would certainly add to the weight, as well.

In summary then. Would have liked my iPod to fit a bit more securely. Still, it's a party machine. It's small, solid but has a truly stonking party sound. It's a Big Badda Boom Box! :-)

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2329X922FZUZN OVERVIEW:

So ALTEC LANSING decided to try and put the Ghetto back in the blaster and to be honest they semi succeeded and that's no bad thing... as what you have here is - with no hint of irony - a brick; lacking some of the sleeker curves of today's docks but aware of itself just enough so that it doesn't look retro-grade 80's awful!

When I saw I was going to review this item I thought (from the images on amazon) that it was going to be a an ugly dud that should be hidden from view. But the build quality is undeniable in its combination of metal and plastic - even the remote control feels a sturdy weight.

So what about the sound - well if you are buying this piece of kit you are going to be interested in the baseline and without hesitation the Altec will rip your heart out with its sternum rocking sound. If you want to turn your kit up to 11 then this is for you.

She is a beautiful purchase and worth every penny - register quickly on buying her and altec will even extend her guarantee by a year for free!

TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN:

Speaker System Components - 2 x Tweeter, 2 x Midrange, 1 x Subwoofer, 1 x Radiator
Connectivity Technology - WiredAdditional FeaturesBuilt-in FM radio, Side firing, iPod dock, Compatible with iPhone and iPod models

Speaker System Details:
Speakers Included - 2 x Right/left channel speaker
Driver Details - Right/left channel speaker : 2 x Tweeter driver - 1 in, Right/left channel speaker : 2 x Midrange driver - 3 in, Subwoofer : 1 x Subwoofer driver - 5.25 in
Driver Details - 2 x 1 in Tweeter, 2 x 3 in Midrange, 1 x 5.25 in Subwoofer, 1 x 5.25 in Radiator

The first impression of the Altec-Lansing iMT800 Mix when opening the box is one of solidity. This is a heavy piece of kit, and having looked at quite a few of the cheaper models the difference is palpable.

You can spend a lot more than this on an iPod dock, and there are a few similarly priced models out there. What they all seem to share is an emphasis on sound quality and design craftsmanship.

Style is entirely in the eye of the beholder. The Altec-Lansing design eschews the sexy curves or sculpted plastic balloon look of its competitors for an entirely more utilitarian feel, with straight lines and sharp corners. Any potential boxyness has been offset by angling the end panels to make a slight wedge.

Those slightly rear facing end panels contain the bass drivers whilst the mid driver and bullet style tweeter are on the front. There's an iPod dock with a little retaining cradle to keep the iPod in place, and a small control panel with buttons for on/off volume, EQ, source and track forward and back.

The carrying handles (on top and to each side) feel extremely robust, as does the body work itself. On the top rear there's a telescopic aerial for the built in FM radio. To the rear of the main carrying handle recess are two mini-jack auxiliary connectors which are inconveniently placed to hit off your knuckles when carrying the unit around.

There's a small key ring remote (actually a bit too small) that sits in a recess on the top, or it can be clipped to clothing.

In the box are a number of black plastic adaptors for various iPod models. The appropriate adaptor should be clipped into the dock before the iPod is put in place. Strangely, there is no adaptor for the iPod 120gb classic, meaning that the iPod is left balancing on the protruding connector. It seems safe enough, but does feel a bit wobbly. Some kind of adjustable support would have been better.

The controls are very simple, making good use of the single rotary dial - the only moving part on the whole device (unless you count the speaker coils!) The radio can easily be tuned, but only four presets can be stored and even these can only be accessed using the remote.

The sound produced by the iMT800 Mix is definitely not for the faint of heart. On first listen the bass is overpowering. With speakers of this size true extended bass in the sub 100Hz range is going to be problematic. There's plenty of bass, but it didn't sound particularly accurate to my ear. Some fiddling with the various EQ settings (bass, treble, four presets and 7 band graphic equaliser) eventually allowed some respite, and in the end I was happy enough.

The treble is very directional, but the Mix isn't designed for static listening. It is primarily a portable party machine, and in that respect the sound will definitely fill the room, and probably cause your neighbour's wallpaper to fall off!

The radio is somewhat hissy, and only four presets seems like an odd limitation. It's easy enough to use, but why include it if it isn't fully functioned?

At this price I'd have liked to see a CD player on board. People still have CDs y'know! And there's no headphone socket. I know that there's one on the iPod itself, but what if you wanna listen privately to the radio?

In conclusion, if sonic fidelity is your goal then look elsewhere. If you are looking for a box to fill a room with undistorted loudness then this is the guy for you, but you may find more for your money elsewhere.