The relatively small doughnut like gadget packs quite some punch, with 6 watts of power per channel it makes mincemeat of many other "Ipod sound systems" available on the market, of course most of these other systems are battery powered portable devices. The JBL On Stage is a mains powered unit that while small is designed to be able to fill a room with Ipod produced music, not some weak an feeble tinny sound but an output with bass that doesn't distort at high levels.

JBL are renowned for their quality audio devices, as part of the Harmon group JBL are not slow to spot a gap in the market and here they have capitalised on the surge in Ipod sales and the lack of any real Ipod amplifiers. The ice white styled On Stage device neatly accommodates your Ipod (3, 4g or mini) in the carefully designed integrated dock, your charging / sync cable can be attached to the rear of the unit allowing the Ipod to be kept topped up with power and full of tunes even when playing.

Measuring 175mm in diameter and 50mm high the 450 gram JBL On Tour is easily controlled from small touch buttons at the base of the cradle, these allow you to vary the volume level of the Ipod and also to mute the unit, it remembers your last volume setting on power up too.

Although the On Stage is aimed at Ipod users any audio device can be connected through the 3.5mm stereo mini jack to take advantage of the JBL's amplification, the Ipod dock suits all Ipods including the Ipod Mini by use of 4 supplied adaptors.

So what does the JBL On Stage sound like?

Put simply it sounds great, the rounded shape seems to lend itself to good stereo separation and the quality of the drivers used in the unit really shines through in aggressive tracks which would leave the other units we've tested either lacking or distorting! This offering from JBL has the ability to deliver a very rich warm sound which belies the overall size of the unit, close your eyes and you expect to see a good micro HiFi sat in the room not a white doughnut!

All this is good because as much as JBL want us to believe the on Stage unit is portable, it isn't, at least not in the normal meaning of "portable". The 450 gram weight plus the adaptor and of course the Ipod (not supplied as they point out) would take quite some effort to carry any distance. This is really meant to sit in a room and enable your Ipod to be heard not to travel with you round to a friends house. Oh and the designer who decided that a  black power adaptor brick would be in keeping with either the Ipod's or the On Stage's styling should have his eyes tested!

So the main competition is not the inMotion IMmini or the Altec's your alternate to the on stage system is a lead to plug into an existing HiFi, which of course will provide a better sound and something which we really thought was missing, a remote control!

Priced at £140 we did expect a few more features from JBL and the remote control would have increased the perceived value of the On Stage package.

Overall this is a good package, the JBL On Stage deliver s a phenomenal sound from a small package, it is well designed and works seamlessly with the Ipod, sadly it is not portable beyond room to room movement and lacks battery playback anyway. But if you are in the market for an Ipod speaker system and value sound quality above all else the JBL On Stage will make you very happy.

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