Epoz Aktimate Maxi review

There’s little excuse not to find room in your home for these excellent iPod active speakers Tested at £600

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

True hi-fi sound in the form of a speaker dock

Pros

  • +

    Substantial build

  • +

    dynamic, powerful sound

  • +

    controlled bass

Cons

  • -

    Poor remote

  • -

    screen is tricky to read

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

You'll be staggered to hear that the 32cm tall Maxis from Epoz are a fair bit bigger than the Award-winning Aktimate Mini speakers.

Size apart, the arrangement remains familiar: the active left speaker connects to the mains and then drives the passive right.

There's a volume control and power knob on the active speaker and also a remote control. Round the back you'll find two RCA audio inputs and one output, a 3.5mm line input and a USB connection.

Powerful, punchy and engaging
The larger box also holds internet and FM radio tuners, and has the ability to stream music from a PC over a wireless or wired network.

A small rectangular LCD panel allows you to flick easily between inputs using the remote. Or it should: our remote control proved frustratingly unresponsive.

Get past this inconvenience and the sound produced will have you forgiving this and any other sins. Vampire Weekend's Horchata is dynamic, powerful and punchy, with clear, engaging vocals sitting atop a staggering amount of deep but controlled bass.

We'd advise a set of speaker stands and wouldn't put them too near a wall, but otherwise there's plentiful listening pleasure to be had here.

Internet radio connects easily
The internet radio sniffed out our network easily, and sound quality (depending on the station, as ever) is fine. Scanning the stations takes time but that's true of the majority of internet radios. It's a similar story for FM.

They're available in glossy red, black or wood veneer: there's really very little excuse not to find room for these in your home.

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What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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