So what was the consensus for this -- the question being, what's the best cheapest "totable" speaker dock/pair of actives/whatevs for the iPod. AudioEngine A5's? Quad 12L? Martin-Logan CLX? Bose? I guess the single thing I would miss the most is not distorting at medium volumes in the mid-field. Any 2.1 systems worth looking at that have any decent bass? I'm considering something like this or even ugly like this, but I suspect the latter of a midrange suckout (tweeters and woofers, no mids), and the former of boombox sound (doesn't go loud* enough well).

* And by loud, I don't mean party loud, I mean just normal for most other people loud.

What size are you looking for?

This is a little bit outside of the box, as far as for home use maybe, but it's what I use everyday at the jobsite. It sounds petty decent, and it's held up to all weather for 4 years now. The iPod is very well protected too.

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/R8408-Jobsite-Radio/

Dude, I am all about outside the box. Will definitely give that one a more thorough investigation.

What size are you looking for?

Something I can move from one room of the house to another in one or two trips. 3 is pushing it, but could be convinced. So like the Quad 12L's and a LOD would do it, but 2 speakers, sub, LOD and amp/dock/w/subout is a bit much, unless it was an all-in-one system that hooked together such as this if it sounded good enough.

Dusty the newer version is available at Home Depot for about $150.00 IIRC, though it is a bit smaller than the version I linked.