Bower & Wilkins Zeppelin iPod Loudspeaker Dock System Review

July 14, 2009 by Chaz

The Zeppelin has arrived. iPod owners should rejoice. It is the first dock and speaker system that is truly worthy of the iPod. It is sleek, ingeniously simple to operate, and ultramodern. Like the iPod, the Zeppelin employs cutting-edge technology and is an intense engineering and design wonder. It doesn’t just make your iPod listening headphone-free. It transforms this powerful portable into a home audio system of superlative quality.

There have been a slew of iPod docking stations, but “audiophile” is a term you would not associate with their plastic housing and modest audio performance. The Zeppelin is in a totally different class. Created by Bowers & Wilkins, it gives the iPod world-class studio-quality sound at room-filling volume. It also charges most iPods, provides video streaming to TV, computer connectivity, and allows input of other sources such as CD or MP3 players.

Who is this Bower & Wilkins?

Many iPod owners may never have heard of Bower & Wilkins. But those familiar with B&W’s reputation and products will have ready appreciation for the Zeppelin. B&W is a British company that for 40 years has designed and built very high-end speaker systems for pro studio and theater applications, and their reference monitors and used in top studios like Abbey Road and Skywalker Sound. In designing the Zeppelin, B&W called upon its vast knowledge and expertise.

A Zeppelin in my living room

The Zeppelin has been a welcome guest in my home for several weeks now. It, combined with my iPod, makes a great home stereo system–space saving, cool looking, and it sounds fantastic. I’ve found I’ve been listening more. Because the sound is so clear and detailed, it’s easier to hear and listening is more pleasurable.

Musicians tend to listen more closely to music than non-musicians, especially to their particular instruments. Because I play bass, I especially want to hear bass lines clearly, to learn parts or just appreciate them. The Zeppelin delivers every note from the bass (and every other instrument) with perfect clarity. Its sound is crisp without being brittle, bassy without being boomy, and the mids articulate without being edgy. Though it is compact single unit–just over two feet in length–when you are in front of it, you hear amazing stereo separation, as if the speakers were much further apart creating a very natural sound stage. This effect is the result of speaker design and special DSP processing.

The inside scoop

When I first picked up the Zeppelin, I found it surprisingly hefty. It is no plastic box. It is solidly built and has a lot going on inside: two pairs of mid/bass drivers and tweeters, single subwoofer, three amplifiers (50W for the bass and two 25W amps, one for each side’s mid driver and tweeter), and DSP circuitry. All of this is contained in a composite shell wrapped in a protective outer steel cabinet with a base and iPod dock. The speaker enclosures are lined with a special dampening material to make them acoustically neutral and shaped (even pointed ends) to maximize speaker efficiency.

The speakers themselves have unique design features. The midrange drivers that do most of the work have glass fiber cones that are slotted in a manner that prevents standing waves. The aluminum-dome tweeters incorporate design features from B&W’s latest versions of the 800 Series reference monitor and a technology called Nautilus Tube Loading that acts like an acoustic sponge, soaking up superfluous sound from behind the tweeter.

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As easy as an iPod

Like the iPod, it is simple and intuitive to operate. Two controls handle on/off, volume, and source selection, and you can use the remote that comes with the Zeppelin, or you can use the iPod’s own controls. Once you hit play, everything is pretty much automatic. As you turn up the volume, for example, DSP circuitry make appropriate EQ adjustment and different colors of LEDs indicate power status.

The Zeppelin’s I/O gives it enhanced versatility. Beside the iPod dock connection, it has a mini jack input that functions for analog sources and as an optical digital TOSling connection. There’s also a USB 2.0 connector that links to your computer for software upgrades that will enhance functionality as new versions of the iPod come out. S-video and composite outputs let you send streaming video to your TV. The iPod dock 30-pin connection can be used for streaming Internet audio content (YouTube, AOL Radio, Yahoo, etc.) to the Zeppelin.

A note of caution: not all iPods are fully supported by the Zeppelin. Third-generation models do not charge on the Zeppelin, and there are other functionality issues with older models. The oldest iPods, which do not have 30-pin connectors, can be connected to the Zeppelin by using the iPod’s headphone output and Zeppelin’s aux input. See the PDF manual on *Bower & Wilkins Zeppelin website’s product page for more on these iPod compatibility issues. Latest upgrades make the Zeppelin not only fully compatible with current iPods, but also compatible with the iPhone, nano, and iPod touch.

It’s the sound that matters

Ultimately, incredible sound quality makes the Zeppelin a winner. Serious listeners and musicians will especially appreciate the way it lets them hear the music fully with all of its nuance and detail. And everyone will appreciate a home stereo system that takes up so little space and does away with multiple system components. With the Zeppelin, you enjoy the space-saving and easy access of the iPod, plus world-class, reference-quality sound.

By Jim Gault, Musiciansfriend Staff Writer

Zeppelin iPod Loudspeaker Dock System………………………………………………..$599.95

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