I'd have to bet they sound phenomenal. I certainly wouldn't buy them but there must be a market for them to have been introduced.
Talking about washing your stuff; the other day when I was out shoveling snow I had my Sansa clip+ in my coverall pocket and when I came in I through my coveralls in the dryer. Well with the the coveralls went my Sana too. It didn't fair well. Had to go out then next day and buy another.
Theres still a chance of those devices surviving the washer, as long as you let the device sit and completely dry out for days before turning it on. The dryer on the other hand...did it melt it? That sucks that it doesn't work anymore. Did you lose a micro sd card as well?
