iPod docking station - Belkin vs Wadia vs Arcam


Lazy and looking for an affordable (i.e. cheap) iPod docking station to play music thru my audiophile system. Don't want to have to invest in a DAC. Understand that the Wadia unit requires a DAC. I'm aware of units sold by Arcam ($300) and Belkin ($100). No remote with the Arcam. Anyone have any experience with these units?
rockyboy
Check out the Krell Kid. It is a pretty awesome piece. I have mine hooked up to a pair of quad 12L actives and for a small system that I can take everywhere, it is awesome. The kid also has tone controls and I think it definately improves upon the sound of the ipod. I own the wadia as well hooked up to the new ps audio dac and I think the krell sounds a bit better and the build quality smokes the wadia which is a plastic piece of junk.
the reviews of the wadia point out the advantage of the digital out to dac. the sound was highly improved in this way. using the analogue out wasts your money, your still using the ipod dac.
I know you guys get tired with rookies not knowing the terminology or what these new boxes do. I was so unsure of myself, I have an av system in the same room and separate from the stereo. This Arcam av is so good to my ears, it's hard to imagine anyone disatisfied. I will look at the Krell before I order the PS.
My $.02.....Just bought the Wadia iTransport. It is very good and waaaay better than using the DAC in the Ipod. You must have an external dac (I am using a Camelot Uther v2 mk 4). Honestly, the Ipod is so close to going from the CD transport that it is scary. In fact on most (99%) of recordings, I cannot tell the difference. This is such a cool piece because it allows a person to listen for mucho hours without having to get up and change the CD. Plus it is so cool and convenient to have hi rez recording for playlists. One caveat...you must record the Ipod songs in hi rez or you are defeating the purpose. Just record in AIFF or other "lossless" format and you will be amazed. The only thing I do not like is the remote as it basically will "start" "stop" or forward / back of tracks -- and it will not display on your tv. You cannot switch playlists or scroll to different tracks.
If you want convienance, not going to use an external DAC, and would like to change songs without getting up, you can use a long mini to stereo (red & white) cable. I am currently using a 16' Zu pivot cable. This allows me to sit back in my listening chair and have the Ipod in my hand.

Note: I also am curently in the market for the Wadia dock to transport to my Cambridge 840C CDP DAC inputs.