The iK501 was perfect out of the box although I feared the angle of docking connector would be a problem. (when docked, the phone stands almost straight up, and can lean slightly forward "prying" pressure on the connector) My intuition was correct - after a couple months of docking/un-docking, the connection between my iPhone & the iK501 began to have connectivity problems. *Have you noticed that almost every other docking station brand has the iPhone or iPod leaning backwards? Now you know why! Other than connectivity, the box sounds great when connected. Summary - I love the sound but hate the connector design.