B&W Zeppelin

Though its name suggests something lighter than air, the first thing I noticed about the Zeppelin iPod dock for Bowers & Wilkins was how heavy it is. The device's oblong shape houses two woofers, two tweeters, and a subwoofer behind its soft cloth non-removable grille. The second thing that struck me was how great it sounded. The Speaker set pumped out room-filling and crisp sound with well-defined bass. What most people will see, however, is the Zeppelin's graceful design, from the metallic arm that docks the iPod and puts it on display (Apple iPods, we forget, are design pieces in their own right) to the bizarre body that seems impossibly balanced. I have to admit that even I drooled a little too. Something we're all bound to take note of, though, is the Zeppelin's stratospheric price. Six hundred bucks? Whoa, baby! That's a negative. The speaker system just sits there looking and sounding beautiful, without any of the extra features, (such as FM radio, an alarm, or a great remote) that make Chestnut Hill Sound's George worth its lofty price.

The Zeppelin is large (25.2 by 6.8 by 8.2 inches) and, as mentioned above, heavy (16 pounds). If it sits on the included rubber tilt pad (which repositions the angle of the speakers to fire more horizontally—good for seated listening), that height becomes 7.8 inches. The face of the speaker dock is black, with an LED that shines through the cloth grille to the left of the iPod dock arm. The LED flashes all sorts of colors depending on what the speaker is doing, but during normal operation, it's usually blue (No "LED Zeppelin" jokes, I promise). The stainless-steel iPod dock arm shoots up the middle of the front side and reaches out, away from the speakers. It fits most iPods, except the very early versions and any shuffle model. The speakers are hidden behind the grille, but each side has a tweeter on the far end and a woofer closer to the center, with the subwoofer sitting directly behind the iPod arm and firing towards the listener. The back of the dock is crafted from stainless steel and has two speaker ports to release air being pushed by the drivers, along with a row of connections. These ports, from left to right position, include: power adapter input (the adapter is included), USB connection for software upgrades (no cable, though), 3.5mm aux-in (for alternate audio sources), S-Video-out, and composite video out.

The Zeppelin's egg-shaped remote has a silver rear panel with a rubber plug that hides the non-rechargeable Maxell CR 2032 3V battery. The controls are limited: track forward and backward buttons, play/pause, volume up and down, power, and a toggle button that pauses the iPod and switches to the aux input, and vice versa (though it won't pause your aux source, obviously). That's it, however—no menu navigation to speak of, which is annoying. The George, by contrast, replicates the iPod's award-winning interface on the remote's screen so you can change artists and playlists, for instance.

The included rubber tilt pad is pretty easy to attach to the Zeppelin and takes the natural upward angle of the speakers (useful for people who plan to position the dock on low tables or shelves) and makes it more lateral.

The awesome sound quality of the Zeppelin is the biggest reason to buy it. In fact, it sounds better than the George, which has excellent audio quality but can't handle deep bass at high volumes the way the Zeppelin can. And although the George has considerably more rumble, it also distorts at higher volumes in ranges where the Zeppelin does not. Of course, the George boasts adjustable bass levels to make up for this shortcoming, and the Zeppelin doesn't. Part of the reason the Zeppelin is more successful with low end is because, frankly, it pushes out less. This is good news for audio purists, but not necessarily for any Daft Punk fans in the house. Though some seriously deep resonance was apparent on songs featuring heavy analog drum-machine sounds on Thom Yorke's album The Eraser, the emphasis was more on low-mid frequencies and less on the rumble subwoofers tend to provide. Perhaps that is why, despite the Zeppelin being a 2.1 system, B&W calls the speaker a "bass driver," not a subwoofer. I found music of all types to be crisp and enjoyable, however, and the lack of deep bass wasn't an issue for me. In these days of overbearing subwoofers, it's easy to forget that accurate bass can sound as good as or better than heavy, rumbling low end.

The aux input also sounded great playing my laptop's music library via the 3.5mm input. Switching between the iPod and the aux was a snap using the remote.

The Zeppelin performed well as a video-out conduit for iPod videos, too. I listened to excellent audio through it while I watched the corresponding video on my flat-screen TV. Of course, the iPod's video resolution is not quite up to snuff for watching on a large television—the picture was not at all sharp. This, however, is an iPod/iTunes video issue, not a Zeppelin shortcoming. The TV also worked well for my high-resolution photos in a musical slide show. In this scenario, the photos looked great, as they don't suffer from the low res of the iPod videos.

The B&W Zeppelin is priced very comparably with the George (which starts at $550). Choosing between the two is quite simple, though. The George sounds great and has an excellent remote that makes iPod navigation, setting alarms, and listening to the radio easy—even fun. It is without a doubt the best remote-dock combo on the market, and thus, it retains its Editors' Choice award in the high-end iPod dock category. That said, the Zeppelin sounds even better and is certainly more beautiful. It's geared toward audiophiles, but honestly I'm not sure if that uncompromising breed wouldn't just buy nicer, component-based speakers. There's no radio and no alarm or clock, and very limited navigation on the remote, so this is not a choice for people seeking a versatile toy.

B&W offers a limited one-year warranty on the Zeppelin. For customer support, go to bowers-wilkins.com.