Arcam rCube

We're sure it has happened before. You're enjoying some pleasant tunes during an indoor party and then you decide to take it outdoors, but can't really hear the music from your hi-fi. Well that's what portable iPhone docks are for, taking your music with you, sans power cords. Much like the recently launched Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Bluetooth speaker by Bose, the Arcam rCube has a built-in battery. However, Arcam's answer to the iPhone dock is a lot bigger, and predictably, a lot more powerful. We take a listen to this speaker cube from the British hi-fi company.

Design

Staying away from its more uniquely shaped competition, the rCube looks modest and practical; this belies its high-end British hi-fi pedigree. The perfectly cube-shaped speaker dock comes in two colors matching Apple's current iPhone and iPod touch colors--white and black. Our set was the more conservative black and looks great. The top panel and small sliver of plastic below are both glossy and prone to showing dust, although it's quite resistant to scratches. Nonetheless, we'd still recommend cleaning it with the micro-fiber cloth that's provided.

The touch controls on top are simple and intuitive. There's a button in the middle for waking it from standby (the actual power switch is at the rear), volume controls and a choice of either the dock or a wireless dongle as the source. The remote looks very nice as well, keeping in line with Arcam's signature clean design.

Features

We've realized that less can be more on these all-in-one speaker docks. You really just want it to sound good and be easy to use. The rCube fits the bill here. You just plug it in--for the first time at least, since the battery may not be charged out of the box--and dock your iPod or iPhone. The included remote allows you some control over your iOS device from afar, too, which includes selecting new songs and albums in addition to the usual volume controls as well as play, pause, and track skip buttons. The rCube is also portable and has a nifty handle that serves as a cover for the docking cradle. There's a built-in battery inside that's supposed to last 8 hours, which is pretty good considering the power the rCube packs.

One thing we were puzzled by was the inclusion of a small circular Bass button at the back. It comes deactivated and this means some initial users will be wondering how such a bass-starved sound system ever got positive remarks from reviewers such as yours truly. Pressing that button solves this and boosts bass levels to suit the speaker's size. There's also a component output that looks like an S-Video output that requires a separate adapter to use.


If you need to take your music wireless, Arcam does sell two optional attachments, the rWand+ and rWave. The former plugs into your iOS device dock connector while the latter is a USB version for streaming music from your computer. We tried the rWand+ (which costs S$219 in Singapore) and it worked well. You need to pair it by pushing the button on the dongle for a short while, but connects immediately after that's done. We would have preferred the speaker to come with AirPlay, but the rWand+ is a good alternative and doesn't require you to be in range of a Wi-Fi network.

Performance

Unless you already own a much larger set of speakers, you'd probably be impressed at the power of the rCube. Bass is tight and extends well, while trebles are crisp. The midrange, however, can come off ever so slightly colored, which could be due to the boxy shape and mainly plastic build. We wouldn't write it off so fast though, as the rCube does sound better and a bit warmer with some run-in time.

On Coldplay's Paradise, the speaker sounded nicely balanced and handled the dense melody well. Chris Martin's vocals remained clear, while the bass beats didn't muddy up the experience. Jazz sounds great as well, with Michael Buble's Me and Mrs Jones sounding very warm and lively. Electronic numbers are presented accurately, but tend to be slightly clinical. An example would be the sharp electronic notes in the intro of Such Great Heights by The Postal Service. Overall, we'd say that the rCube performs admirably across most genres of music and should even impress more demanding listeners. Keep in mind that placing the speaker cube about 3-4 inches from a wall deepens the bass a bit, which brings it close to the rumbling levels of more powerful sets such as the NAD Viso 1 and Bowers & Wilkins' Zeppelin Air.

Sound was equally good with the rWand wireless attachment, which uses Kleer technology, a less "lossy" streaming standard than regular Bluetooth. Bass remained deep while treble was clear; standard Bluetooth tends to falter in these two areas.

Conclusion

If you need a portable speaker solution for your iOS device, the Arcam rCube could be the most powerful option out there. While there are more portable Bluetooth-enabled systems that cost less, those may not have sufficient oomph for a large outdoor barbeque, for instance, and probably won't sound as good when you're indoors and want a little more musical fidelity. There is a catch though: The rCube isn't cheap at S$1,200 (US$920) in Singapore. The extra wireless dongles add to the cost, too, so if wireless music is important to you, we recommend sticking with AirPlay speakers or good old Bluetooth.

Update (April 10 1600 GMT+8): The rCube recently had its retail price lowered to S$999 in Singapore.