Go Play Your Music!

“If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it..” These words may belong to Duke Orsino from As You Like It, but they are the truest words for any lover of music, even today. We all love our music, and we’d quite literally die without it.

The ‘consumption’ of music has undergone a revolutionary change. From the earliest LP’s, through cassettes and then CD’s; we are now at a point where we listen to almost all of our music, digitally. And most of this digital music, we listen to on our iPods!

The ipod however, is a personal music player. Though there has been an ernest attempt at taking the ipod beyond a personal music player, it has remained primarily a listening tool for the self. For sometime now, many electronics and computer accessory makers have tried to engineer Docks where you plug your ipod, and the speakers belt out music from the playlists. Efficient as these systems are, they suffer from a few major limitations. The more affordable Docking Speaker Systems have at best mediocre output & sound quality. And the bigger speaker systems, well there you’d have to connect your ipod using an Audio cable, and stay planted alongside to navigate your music library. So how do you turn your cute & tiny ipod into a full blown music system for your living room?

Go+Play!

Enter Harman Kardon. As most of you would be familiar, Harman Kardon is a leading brand name in the large Entertainment Solutions space. Their home theatre systems and sound systems have enthralled generations of audio and videophiles. And now, they bring us their very own interpretation of the ideal Docking Loudspeaker system for the ipod, the Go+Play. Lets find out more…

Substance in Style

If the food looks appetizing, half the battle is won! And boy does the Go+Play look stunning! With its modern take on retro-industrial design, the Go+Play will serve as your perfect ipod speaker system, but also inadvertently, as an object of avant guard art in your living space.

Sleek, futuristic, and finished in matt black and stainless steel silver; the Go+Play is modern, minimalistic, and fuss-free. It looks substantial, at the same time, is compact enough to fit into today’s small living spaces. Complete with its stylish credit-card sized remote control, the Go+Play is really the ‘cool statement’ to make!

Toned Up!

The HK Go+Play is an extremely simple and efficient tool to use. Just plug in your ipod into the docking space at the top of the system, press play, and what you get is pure, loud, ready-to-rock music.

The clarity (compared of course with other similar speaker docks) will amaze you. The system has an in-built 4 speaker set-up (as is illustrated by the four speaker cut-outs on the system). 2 in front, and 2 at the rear. Together, they generate a lot of power, volume and genuine quality to satisfy most audiophiles. In fact, I know several people who own exponentially pricier and professional grade sound systems; but choose to use their Go+Play for its convenience, ease of operation and more than acceptable sound quality! A full bass, clear mids and crisp highs mark out the sound of the Go+Play. Add to that genuinely hall-filling output, and no matter where you are, you will have pulsating music throughout the room.

In conclusion, most genres of music, including Rock, Alternative, Dance, Classical – will play seamlessly on the Go+Play, and make listening a pleasure for one and all!

Hassled Down!

The good chaps at Harman Kardon research seem to have studied the exacting needs of the ipod user to the tee! Several seemingly important functions, on first glance, might seem skipped. But the outcome is a product that is true in purpose, that to convert your ipod into a thoroughly enjoyable listening station. A modern day juke box if you will!

There is no external display. There is no radio (as is the case with a lot of the Go+Play’s competitors). There is no CD player/drive either. Glaring omissions you think? Not at all. In fact, the focus is purely on the ipod and on belting out great sound – just as it should be.

Yes, the remote does take a bit of getting used to. But as with all good things in life, patience here has very sweet rewards.

Expand Your Horizons

Aside from top-docking directly for the ipod, there are a few more tricks up the Go+Play’s sleeve that really justify its nomenclature:

• You can plug in your TV into the audio in slot (in the rear panel) and use the Go+Play as an additional speaker system, turning the less-than-appreciable sound of your flat panel into home-theatre like experience. Be it movies, TV or Gaming, you can enjoy it all with stellar sound to boot!

• Use the USB input, again at the rear of the dock, and connect your computer, laptop directly and enjoy your music with amazing quality sound. You can even connect mp3 players other than your ipod using this!

• Don’t be worried about what generation or type of ipod you have. From the nano to the ipod video, they can all be easily docked into the Go+Play using the set of Dock Connectors (included in package). Depending on the ipod you have, pick the relevant Connector and you are ready to play

• The best part about the Go+Play-  it is compact, relatively light, and can be battery operated as well!! This makes the Go+Play arguably the ultimate portable ipod dock! Sure, there are even more compact products out there – but here is one you can enjoy out in the open as well, for no other similar system will produce anywhere near its volume or quality of sound!!

Sound Investment!

All of this, and you must be wondering how much the Go+Play will set you back… I am thrilled to inform you that the price, is the best part of the Go+Play’s advantages. The system is now officially available in India at JBL Stores (like the JBL store in CR2 in South Mumbai), for INR 25,000 with warranty. It can also be your’s in the grey market for as little as 18,000 rupees!! Believe me when I say this, once you get out there and listen to the system, you will immediately conclude what terrific value it is.

For more information on the HK Go+Play, you can visit the HK website.

If I were to re-quote my opening – with regular ipod Dock Speakers, you get “If music be the food of love, play on”, but it is ONLY with the Go+Play, that you can “Give me excess of it”!

[Kartik Bajoria, a regular contributor, runs his own creative agency called BOLD & is also involved in Films & Music as a force of habit!]

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