Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Loudspeaker Dock System for iPod and MP3 Players (Silver/Black)

If you go to the B&W website, you'll see that the Zeppelin has won several awards and rightfully so. The little details on this bad boy set it apart from the rest. Here's my take on it.

I like the chrome trim down the middle that discretely contains the power switch and volume up & down buttons. The sound quality and fit and finishes remind me of Bang & Olufson stereos in the 90's. It feels very heavy and sturdy. The packing was well done too.

Is it just me or am I the only one that doesn't like being surrounded by 4 towers speakers, a center channel, stereo components, and subwoofer? Not to mention the tons of wires going between all those things. I cleared out the surround system in the living room and bedroom and I feel a lot happier. Simple is better and Zeppelin hit it on the mark in the style and simplicity category. I also like that there isn't a huge power adapter eyesore; just one cord.

There's a line in jack on the Zeppelin, so it would be a great speaker for a flat panel tv as well. What a clean setup that would be sitting on the glass open shelf of a black BDI Vista stand. Reminds me of that Audi commercial where the camera goes around the room as furniture gets replaced with modern furniture.

I was a bit concerned that there is no subwoofer out jack but the Zeppelin turned out to be loud enough for my bedroom. If one really wants to attach a subwoofer, it would be possible to add a Y cable to splice the line in so it goes to both the Zeppelin and the subwoofer. One could link an ipod or other auxiliary source that way. However, it is not possible to add a subwoofer when an ipod is playing in the holder.

The shape of the speaker really disperses the sound well. The sound that comes out of the Zeppelin is very interesting. I'm sitting here 90 degrees to the side of it but the sound is coming at me rather directly and the highs are not muted like feeling like I'm behind the speaker.

I bought the unit for $493 new as a buy it now including shipping on that other bay. In this economy there are still great deals out there.

This is quite simply the best piece of audio equipment I've ever bought. Fantastic build quality and even better sound quality.

At an Apple store I compared the Zeppelin with Polk I-sonic 2, thinking I would buy the Zeppelin. A surprising disadvantage for the Zeppelin is that the sound quality (base, richness, "effect," etc.) can NOT be controlled on the device itself; it can only be controlled if the device you are attaching has software with the ability to change "equalizer" (EQ) settings.

Initially the demo iPod sounded notably inferior on the Zeppelin compared to the Polk I-sonic 2 (next to it, playing same song). After a long time wasted trying to get the answer from the Apple staff, we were finally able to get the settings fixed via demo iPod so sound was no longer thin.

While my Zen Vision M player does have internal EQ software, I did not have the right connectors with me to try it with the Zeppelin to see if the settings got the results that I would want. Since the Zeppelin seems overly focused on attaching to an iPod, if you plan to use an MP3 player with EQ settings, I would suggest testing it out to see if the results translate well for you.

In comparison, the Polk I-sonic has EQ settings built into the Polk unit. So anyone who values the choice of using a music player that does not feature its own EQ software (smaller MP3 players, CD players--maybe even the tiny iPods as I don't know how much software they have) should be aware of this disadvantage of the Zeppelin compared to other systems like the Polk I-sonic 2.

Since this discovery stopped my from buying the Zeppelin, I wanted to share this with others as it might save some customers disappointment or unnecessary frustration.

Thanks to the new iPhone 2.x Firmware, my previous systems, the Apple iHiFi and the Griffin amplifi do not work anymore. Not only is the cellular cross transmission bad also the charging has been disabled. Looking for a new system, I was able to test the B&W Zeppelin in the store and it did not only works perfect with teh iPhone, but it does not have the cellular signal issue (I have found out that B&W did not cut corners and used shielded wiring) and it still charges the iPhone. It's sound is crips and clear. If the iPhone EQ is used the "added bass" setting makes it sound to over the top. I can only highly recommend this system.

I just got my B&W speakers for a few days. First, from the design wise, this is without the best ipod compatible speaker you can find. The texture and quality is fully expressed once you open the box. The speaker was a lot heavier than I expected, indicating the amount of material used in this speaker. Leaving it on the shelf was just plan beautiful.
From sound quality wise, after three days of continuous playing, the speaker still needs warming up, but the sound quality has already surpassed most of the mid-small size speakers in the market. For jazz music or clear voice audio, this speaker delivers at its best. But if you're a rock fan, you might want to look for something like the Bose speakers, which has a thicker base. But I never was a big of a base fan, so...
If you're looking for ipod speaker that looks incredible and sounds great, this one is without doubt your top choice.