Too often, the divergent goals of portable music and high quality audio lead to sound systems that skimp on the sound quality while simultaneously falling oddly short on portability. Speakers that require AC power but provide only mediocre sound trump both the iPod’s goal of portable music and an uncompromising listening experience that audiophiles demand. Luckily, the i-DS3 Plus falls short in neither of those categories, and brings with it innovative features and a streamlined interface that make its use a truly enjoyable listening experience.

The name Hercules comes with certain expectations. Personally, I think of two things: shiny, bare-chested, overdubbed dudes and this giant pinball machine at Cedar Point with a pool ball for a pinball. It’s kind of a negative connotation, now that I consider it, as the Hercules movies were always pretty bad, and the Hercules pinball machine was never really that fun to play. So, was the Hercules XPS 2.1 50 Speaker Kit also a let down? Not really, but it’s not exactly a champion of speaker systems, either.

Full review past the break.

I come from a time when a man was judged by the size of his stereo equipment. I used to see these racks of receivers, EQs and cassette decks, speakers as big as me, and think, “One day, I’ll have the money to fill a room with stereo equipment so big that people will think Presidents are buried under them.” Even now, I find myself taking over used component systems just because they’re large and have wood grained finish, but such systems always remain untouched in my attic.

This is because everything’s getting small. And everything’s getting small because the science of sound fellows are finding ways to get big sound of little systems. One of the littlest systems I’ve tried out recently is the eFizz Travel Mobile Station for iPod from Ewoo. And although it certainly delivers on the little, it misses the mark on the sound.

Reviewing speaker systems is a bit tricky for me for two reasons. First, I know little about the science of sound. Numbers and fancy symbols and awkward abbreviations mean as much to me now as they did when I wasn’t paying attention in junior high science class. I’ll display all those numbers and abbreviations later in this review, but it’s up to you to decipher them.

Second, although I can tell you whether something sounds good and why, I can’t tell you how good it sounds compared to the competition. At the electronics stores, I can sample four or five systems next to each other, determine what I like best, and make my purchase. Here, I’ve just got one unit standing alone, doing its thing, and I have to judge it on that alone.

Find out how the Mint 220 Digital Wireless Digital Music System does its thing after the break.