If you've got speakers with a standard headphone plug, you can plug those directly into the iPod like you would headphones.

Alternatively, a bevvy of different companies make special iPod speakers. Most are made for regular iPods, but there are some good mini ones. Some of the best are:

Altec Lansing InMotion iM3 - Small and portable.

Altec Lansing InMotion iMmini - iPod mini version of the above.

JBL OnStage - Music Edition - Strong bass and a wide stereo field apparently.

Bose SoundDock - The most expensive, but also considered one of, if not the best.

All of these are available at the Apple Store Online, and various other stores, online and offline.

*** WARNING: nerdy answer coming up, feel free to ignore ***

Eve, i'm sure you're going for cute / girly / pretty / mini in which case go for any of the junk above

For those wanting great sound who have a tiny bit of time to invest, you would be as well to look at purchasing an amplifier and a pair of speakers. Ideally a pair of stands to put them on too. These can be had for reasonable prices from the likes of Richer Sounds, and second hand hi-fi usually represents excellent value for money. Good hi-fi tends to last for decades, and need not be expensive to get started out in.

Sadly when it comes to uber cute and small (esp where speakers are concerned) this thing called "The Laws of Physics" gets involved and things start sounding crap. Most of these tiny systems provide a subwoofer (a box with a bigger speaker for bass) which you hide away, to give the illusion of a full sound from tiny speakers, but even so they generally dont end up sounding all that brilliant. Cheap subs tend to "boom", and you'll also have hardly any midrange to the sound, its just "high" and "low".

You can get hi-fi that bridges the gap somewhat between "small and cute" and sound good, but it tends to be expensive and still not as a good as 'proper' kit.

(Edited by Funky Monkey 27/03/2005 21:58)

I'm no speaker/hi-fi guru, but don't you need speakers that will specifically work with an iPod, nt just any old type of speakers and amp

There's a strong possibility i'm talking out of an orifice...

Just any speakers and an amp will work fine The ipod is no diffrent that a walkman. You need a lead that takes the headphone output into a pair of phono leads. These can be had for £1 at my local market.

The advantage of some of the special ipod speakers is just convenience and looks as they're deigned to dock with the ipod.

Thanks guys, we had a big old amp and speakers in the garage so i hooked them up and the sound is ace! need new phono leads though, was looking in the catalogue for some and saw an ipod kit thing, £38 for some phono leads and one of those car convertery tape thingys (my technical term for it) rip off much?! xx