Grace Digital Kindle Fire Audio Dock

I love music. My boyfriend's in a band, I play several instruments, and music has that powerful way of transporting you into another place. Joyful, angsty, seeking solace, music can bring you there. And often it's the subtle aspects of a piece of music - the delicate highs, the booming lows - that are all important in its message. As much as I love my Kindle Fire, I definitely needed external speakers in order to play music or watch movies with it. The rich music definitely adds an important dimension to a variety of movies. It's a part of the story being told. And with songs, hearing all the notes can make the difference between liking something and adoring something. The MatchStick speaker system is designed for the Kindle Fire - it slides into a plastic set of guides and fits snugly into the adaptor unit. So this won't work with other units or even the Kindle Fire HD. It needs to be a Kindle Fire (original). So be aware when you're getting this that it's a very specific solution. This won't "travel" well in your life journey as you upgrade and improve systems. The unit lets you rotate your Kindle vertically or horizontally. So for YouTube videos or movies it's nice to have that horizontal layout, but if you're web surfing or listening to music you might prefer the vertical position. That's a nice touch. There's a remote control so you don't have to be right up against it to change the sound, which is nice. But, in the end, it all comes down to the quality of the sound. Is it worth it? I tested this unit for a number of months. So many speakers are great at first and then quickly run into issues over time. I'm happy to report that the system holds up and plays as well after months of testing as it did at the beginning. But, as you might imagine, the sound is about what you'd expect from a unit that's only 13 inches wide by under 4 inches deep. It's good but not rich. You lose the booming deeps and the thrilling highs. If all you're watching is an episode of a sitcom you might not notice or care. But if you're watching a well done movie, or listening to any of a number of amazing songs out there, you'll be missing out. Throughout the course of my testing I listened to classical and rock, to jazz and blues, to country and soundtracks. I ran the gamut. In case after case it sounded *good* but not *great*. My computer's speakers are Haman/Kardon Soundsticks so not even close to "top of the line" - but they are just SO much better than this unit. So, to summarize, this MatchStick setup is definitely convenient if you have a Kindle Fire. It's fairly compact if you want something easy to put on a dorm room shelf to listen to music. But I really think that spending even a little more money to upgrade to a standalone system helps in two ways. First, you can use it for ALL your music, not just your Fire. And second, you'll really get far more out of the movies and music you watch / listen to. So it's not that these speakers are bad, by any means. I'll give them four stars for being a good value for the money. But if your budget allows, I really suggest stepping up a bit. I was provided a review unit of these speakers.