I have an excellent Stack system bought a few years ago - NAD, the sound quality is to die for. Now I would like to know if there is a 'stack' available to connect an iPod to it. Same as we built up and added, CD player, tape player, radio and turntable. The speakers on this system are amazing - so I don't want a docking system with speakers, I want to use what I have - just need the docking facility.
If anyone can advise on my best (and cheapest option) I would be very grateful, thanks.

Best (and cheapest) option I went found was a high quality 1m phono to mini jack cable. However iPod sound quality hasn't much going for it TBH. You wont get it sounding like a CD stack.

I haven't seen any ipod stacks...
There are docks that attach to hifi systems with remote control capability - however I found they varied in sound quality and you didn't always get what you paid for either. The connection is via the iPods USB digital audio, however the docks then connect via a phono or optical cable (some are wireless)- which is a connection within connection. I found the best was high quality mini jack- a £5 short gold plated cable produces better sound than my old £100 dock.

If you are going for a dock - the best ones are the docks that connect via optical and bypass the ipods DAC. This can then be done in the amp. They are however getting on £100 -£150.
This Onkyo ND-S1 is highly rated...
http://www.hificorner.co.uk/onkyo-nd...ipod-dock.html

Mini Jack plug to two phono plugs.

Plug the mini jack into the headphones socket of the iPod and the two phonos into a spare line input on the amplifier.

Job done and no need of a dock of any description. You will need a means of charging the iPod however.

Thanks for the replies, you have told me what I really wanted to hear - that it's a cheap and simple thing to do!

I can charge via my PC - that seems to work just fine!

Once again - thanks.

just don't expect it to sound as good as a cd or record does on your system.... its still an mp3 player at the end of the day!

You may not want the expense but I have an Arcam dock connected to my bi-amped system and stream music wirelessly from Spotify (monthly subscription required to do this). My understanding is that the music is streamed at 320bps which is superior to CD quality. Superb!

LOL.
Good luck mate.
I compare it to a 78 record player on the Titanic.
The Titanic was the best there was. But it still sank.
As I said. Good Luck.

320kbs is no way superior to CD.

CD is just over 1.4Mbs and does not suffer any of the mangling that the audio has to go through to reduce the bitrate down to that level.

YUP your right there.

Try a comparison of a ripped CD on you iPod and the actual CD on your HIFI.
Have both playing at the same time and switch between inputs- you will soon notice CD has better clarity and warmth & dynamics.

http://www.nadelectronics.com/produc...-Dock-for-iPod

what about the NAD dock ? it is cheap

In fairness apart from a remote control and video out a mini jack to phono cable for £5 would give the same result. You still have to connect the ipod to dock and then to a hifi via analogue cables.

If you wanted a dock and were fanatical about the audio quality you need a one with Digital Audio out like Optical or Coax to benefit from that little extra quality in sound.
Docks with this feature bypass the iPods DAC that converts analogue to headphones or analogue dock output.

However in fairness the difference will be marginal and not that much better than a decent phono cable.
In general you aren't going to get a decent sound from mp3 compared to a dedicated CD player attached to the amp so a decent cable or digital dock is the next best thing.

A jack to phono cable is the cheap solution, sure, but the iPod's headphone amp isn't the place to get the best sound quality from an iPod.

Accepting that MP3 isn't as good as CD, I'd say if a sound system doesn't let you hear the difference between CD and MP3 player @ 320kbps via a cable then don't waste your money on a dock. But if it's clear there's a quality difference, then a dock might just be a decent investment.

Needless to say most people claiming to be able to hear the difference between 320kbps mp3 and cd, would fail a blind test.

Only those who either don't care or have the wrong hi-fi.

Here's an offer to you pocatello - Get yourself and a few friends up to Manchester and we'll put it to the test.

Spotify also do a lower bit-rate free service, which is limited to 20 hours a month. I find it's a great way to discover new music or to listen to an album to decide if you like it before buying the CD.

on my system there is a clear difference between CD and the ipod however even with a £100 dock there was still no improvement so I opted for a decent cable.

Saying that you might have a point if the dock had a Digital audio output and bypassed the ipod DAC. But they are well over £100 and i'm not shure if you will hear that much of an improvement.

Thank you to those above who corrected my comment regarding the quality of streaming music from Spotify compared to a commercially produced cd. My comment referred to music downloaded on to a cd which I understand is usually around 192bps. but was badly worded.
I must say I rarely have problems with the stream from Spotify and for a fairly modest sum it gives access to music of many genres so in effect, you can try before you buy.

I use the front Aux ports on my amp for sound and video. Cheap cables from the pound shop will do. If iPod classic use the port on the bottom, better than the headphone jack. Another long video cable out the back of the amp into TV and I can use it for iPod or camera. Makes it easier than scrabbling around the back of the TV.