Believe us, when it comes to speakers for your MP3 player, there are plenty of options on the market. And we've had to compose uproariously witty essays about most of them. We been all around this great big world and we've sold all kinds of MP3 speakers, but we couldn't wait to get back to the JBL OnStage II, the cutest speakers in the world.

If you're into flying saucers, anyway. The JBL OnStage II speaker system may not beat the other guys when it comes to sound quality, but it stands second to nobody in its dedication to gimmicky design. Unless you plan to place it in the middle of the floor, its dogbowl structure doesn't seem to make a ton of sense to us. But then, if we knew anything about designing portable speakers, we'd be raking in that sweet iPod-accessory money instead of hacking out cheap gags for chump change.

So we'll trust JBL's genius engineers, and take their word for it that the OnStage II is awesome for reasons that only an advanced audio intellect can grasp. We shrugged off our doubts, plugged our iPod cable in (or connected our nonPod MP3 player through the stereo mini-jack, depending on how cheap we are), and frugged the night away with nary an earbud in sight. In no time, our "'90s Dorm-Room Hits" playlist was roaring through the room in 12 watts of power, boldly capturing the power and glory of legends like the Spin Doctors, Third Eye Blind, and Roxette. There were giants in those days, my friend. Giants. And standing on their shoulders is the JBL OnStage II speaker system.

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