The Bottom Line: For an under-$80 budget, mm32 are good. Bit easier to carry than mm50 but extra $30-50 for mm50 gives you much improved sound quality and features.

I love my Logitech mm50 Portable Speakers (except for the fact that they are colored white... only recently has Logitech issued a black colored edition of these awesome speakers) but they aren't the best things to carry around on quick jaunts or very short trips. I was looking for something more portable as of late and stumbled upon the mm32 speaker set while at my local Best Buy. After some research online for some remarks and looking for the best price, I wound up buying a black set from Best Buy for $74.99 before my special 10% promotion discount (for reward zone members) and before my $5 reward zone award certificate. These brought the price down to $62.50 taxes. A reasonable price for a reasonably good portable speaker set. At least I got a black colored set to match my Video iPod 60GB and Zen Vision M.

Price

Note that the MSRP is $79.99. I've noted that several stone online and walk in sell these speakers for far above these prices (which doesn't make any sense!). Regardless, a cost of $69.99 will be the average price for these speakers online. However, I could only find the white colored mm32 speakers online.

You can read my article The Art of Buying... Getting your money's worth! to find some tips for saving a little money on electronic purchasing. It's a bit dated but many of the tips still work as well as they did when I first wrote the article.

In the Box

Inside you get the mm32 speakers inside a black carry case with a handle, an AC power adapter, and several plastic fittings to more securely fit your iPod units. There is a laminated poster sized instruction sheet (folded up of course) included as well. Of note, the power adapter fits into the carry case with the speakers.

The mm32

It seems that the mm32 is a cross of designs of Logitech's excellent mm50 and Altec Lansing iM7. The mm32 is a little less than a foot long and a bit more than 2 inches in diameter. The unit is a single solid piece that is cylindrical in shape. Having one in a black color looks quite a bit more stylish than the white colored one (but that is a personal preference). There are two drivers on each side of the speakers.

The center unit holds the large cradle that can accomodate many MP3 players not just Apple iPods! The only three controls for the unit are here as well. Two volume buttons and the power button with a LED to tell you that the power is on. Note that the cradle unit has an adjustable back (a knob on the back of the cradle unit itself) to more snugly fit your MP3 player of choice. The mm32 comes with two inserts to fit into the hold on the bottom of the cradle unit for a full sized iPod and the iPod nano (the inserts hold the iPod sync cable in place to make the mm32 a "docking station"). Note that the mm32 does NOT come with a iPod sync cable however.

There are two battery compartments (one on each side of the back of the speakers) that hold 2 AA batteries (you need a total of 4 AA batteries to power the speakers). The center console holds the port for the AC adapter and the integrated 3.5mm headphone jack. There is a little notch you can run your iPod sync cable through as well.

Sound and Volume... The Thunder and the Lightning

Okay... maybe more of a spring shower really.

Compared to the mm50, the mm32 sounds decent. The mm50 will clearly blow away the mm32 but you get what you pay for. As for the mm32 versus cheaper offerings, the mm32 does surprising well for its size. With volume set at a medium level, the sound is fairly rich and clear. It gets some bass response which is surprising for its size as well. The mm32 isn't as impressive but seems to offer average to above average sound for its size and price point.

Note to set the volume on your MP3 player accordingly as well. Setting the volume on your MP3 to the max caused some sound distortion (depending on the MP3 player)

The only major problem I had with the sound was that there was distortion near the upper limits of the volume of the mm32. I definitely would keep the volume on the m32 in the mid-range.

Although theoretically the mm32 could fill up a small room with tunes, the mm32 speakers are more to create a personal space of pleasant sound and isn't nearly as effective past that.

Battery Power

On the 4 AA batteries, Logitech rates the life at 10 hours. If you keep a medium volume setting, I got around 8-10 hours per set of batteries.

End Comment

Overall, if you're looking for a decent speaker set that is easily portable and under $80, the mm32 is a good buy. The mm32 are better than sub-$50 speakers but not truly outstanding. In fact the mm32 seems rather plain especially after comparison to the mm50. As far as iPods are concerned, I would recommend the Logitech mm50 speakers especially since it has an integrated dock connector for the iPod (and might explain some of the improved sound and well as the increased size and power). The mm50 also have an integrated lithium-ion battery and the 3D sound spatialization features.

Heck, overall the mm32 is a good speaker set for under $80 but you'll realy note the difference in quality if you've listened to the mm50 (which run as low as $97 in Costco!). In this light where the difference in price can run as low as $30 between the two, I can't give the mm32 a high recommendation, but the mm32s are good speakers in their own right just not nearly as impressive as the mm50 speakers are.