Playlist: Playlist's Plays of the Year: 2006, Page 2

Best Earbuds: Remix M-Class ($50 (Best Current Price: $26.25); V-Moda)

We’re generally not big fans of earbuds here at Playlist. Like Apple’s included headphones, most earbuds—thanks to their small size and loose fit in your outer ear—provide poor bass and mediocre overall sound. In fact, the genre has been so bad, relative to other headphone styles, that we’ve been recommending variations on the same Sennheiser earbuds for several years. (Not to mention that, as earbuds go, Apple’s stock models that ship with each iPod aren’t that bad.) But this year we have a new favorite: V-Moda’s Remix M-Class. At $50, they’re more expensive than most earbuds, but well worth it considering their excellent sound quality (good bass response, excellent detail, and a warm overall sound); quality build (each earbud, as well as the headphone plug enclosure and Y-connector on the cables, is made of polished metal alloy); and attractive design (available in metallic blue, metallic pink, or silver). And they’re comfortable to boot.—DAN FRAKES

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Best Canalbuds: CX300 ($80 (Best Current Price: $49.99); Sennheiser)

Halfway between earbuds and in-ear-canal (“canalphone”) headphones sit what we call canalbuds. Instead of sealing firmly inside your ear canals using foam or flanged-rubber eartips, like true canalphones, canalbuds have small rubber eartips that sit at the ends of your ear canals—they don’t fully seal out external noise, but they’re easier to put in and take out and they’re more comfortable for many listeners than full-fledged in-ear-canal models. This category has long been dominated by Sony’s EX series, but Sennheiser’s new CX300—the company’s first attempt at canalbuds, no less—handily beats Sony’s offerings in the sound department while also being lightweight (just four grams) and comfortable. And with a street price of around $55, the CX300 is priced competitively.—DF

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Best Desktop/Compact Speaker System:

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JBL’s Radial proved to be in a class of its own, thanks to beautiful design and remarkably good sound quality—easily the best we’ve heard from a one-piece system. The Radial also includes a radio-frequency (RF) remote control with the fairly unique ability to navigate your iPod’s menus from afar.

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Monitor Audio’s i-deck impressed us with its excellent detail, midrange, and—thanks to separate speakers that can be placed up to 6 feet apart—stereo imaging and separation. In fact, we found it to be one of the most balanced and natural-sounding iPod speaker systems on the market, and noted that “few systems… even approach the i-deck in terms of sound quality for the money.”

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to $150. At that price, there’s no excuse not to go out and buy one—or two or three

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Best Portable iPod Speakers

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11-by-3-by-7.8-inch, 4-pound system isn’t much bigger than a thick college textbook,

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Best Home iPod Speaker System

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he result is “a sub-sat system that provides home-stereo-quality sound, while being small enough to hide in most rooms…

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it’s a compelling combination of sound quality, iPod compatibility, and looks.… Combine an iPod full of music with the i300 and you’ve got a system capable of outperforming many of the stereos you’ll find at the big electronic chain stores, while taking up a fraction of the space in your listening room.”

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