The Unofficial B&W Zeppelin iPod Speaker Blog

It’s finally here. The long rumored B&W Zeppelin Mini has been announced. The only bummer is it won’t be available until October. As we predicted it’s a smaller iPod speaker system that has a footprint more like most conventional iPod speakers. It’s still bigger than the Bose SoundDock, but I know it will sound way better! It will be priced at $399 which is not cheap but still it’s much more affordable than the original B&w Zeppelin at $599. I will say it is not quite as beautiful as the original but it’s certainly still pleasing to the eye. I can’t wait to get one!

UPDATE: Amazon now has the B&W Zeppelin Mini
available. However, it says that it will ship within 1-2 months. So it looks like the product has been delayed from its original October release date.

So the rumor is out and supposedly it comes from credible sources that B&W is developing a smaller version of the B&W Zeppelin that will be offered at a lower price point. This will be interesting to see if this is real. If so it will be competing with a number of other iPod speakers. Stay tuned!

The accolades continue to pour in for this beautiful speaker. iPod User Magazine said that they found the Zeppelin to have “awesome sound” with a “cracking design”. The one downside they said was that the bass is not as big as with larger speakers and that it costs a fortune which we already know. My favorite quote is when they say that the Zeppelin is built solidly like an “anvil when you compare it to the hundreds of cheap and nasty iPod speakers on the market.” Bravo! My sentiments exactly.

Here is a link to the full iPod User Magazine Full Review PDF.

Buy the B&W Zeppelin now from Amazon!

So I just got myself a 3G iPhone and I found out it doesn’t fully work with the B&W Zeppelin. First of all it doesn’t sit that well in the Zeppelin dock. Second it does not seem that the iPhone charges in the Zeppelin which is a bit of a problem. I also think the Zeppelin is not shielded from the iPhone cell signals so sometimes it makes these strange noises when the iPhone is receiving a call or a text message. I have had this happen to me at work as well near speaker phones. And lastly, I get the dreaded “This accessory is not made to work with iPhone” error message. Arrgh!

Now I have heard rumors that B&W plans to address these issues so that the Zeppelin is fully iPhone compatible. Many other iPod speaker companies have done similar things. I imagine many other iPhone users are having this same issue. It’s more and more that I only have my most recent playlist on my iPhone and not my old iPod nano. So I’d prefer to be using both with the Zeppelin. I’m guessing B&W will come out with a iPhone 3G compatible Zeppelin hopefully sometime soon. Maybe by early next year? If you are not in a rush to buy a Zeppelin it may make sense to wait. But as of yet it’s unclear if this will happen for sure. If it does my Zeppelin will have to be going up on eBay

If you are having similar issues with your Zeppelin and iPhone let me know!

The accolades for this speaker just keep pouring in. This time the folks at Macworld magazine have reviewed the B&W Zeppelin and they give it 4.5 out of 5 mice (the equivalent of 4.5 stars). Here is the quick and dirty summary:

Pros

• Stunning appearance; excellent sound quality for a one-piece system; solidly built; clever dock design; unique technical features; digital/analog audio-input jack.

Cons

• Expensive; large as one-piece iPod speakers go; no data port for syncing iPod with computer; rubber stand clumsy and inelegant compared to the rest of the system.

Overall, Macworld praises the design of the Zeppelin but does note that it is one of the larger iPod speaker systems and that it is not conducive to travel. Well, duh! If you need a travel iPod speaker you should get a Bose SoundDock Portable or an Altec Lansing inMotion as they are built to be folded up and packed away. The Zeppelin however is meant to be a showcase piece of speaker art in the home. Macworld does give the BW Zeppelin high praise for sound quality comparing it to more of a small home stereo system instead of an iPod speaker.

The greatest compliment I think is summed up in this quote, “In many ways, the Zeppelin reminds me of Apple’s own hardware, which often stands out for a compelling combination of design, performance, and overall quality.” In fact, the author mentions that the Zeppelin often made him wonder if it was what an “iPod Hi-Fi Pro” might be like. My thoughts exactly.

Read Macworld Review of B&W Zeppelin

Wow. The B&W Zeppelin has really gone mainstream. Now it’s getting attention from technology website CNET. And the good news is that they liked it as they rated it 7.7 out of a 10 point scale. CNET thinks the Zeppelin is “very good”. They do a very in depth review that includes videos and a comparison chart of the Zeppelin with other top iPod speakers.

Read the CNET Review on B&W Zeppelin.

This quote I think sums the review up, “The Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin effectively combines substantial build quality and detailed sound–but you’re still paying a hefty premium for the iPod speaker’s stunning good looks.” CNET notes that the major weakness is when playing more hard-driving rock and hip-hop instead of acoustic or instrumental music. So they say that if your musical taste is more mellow and that if you want to invest in essentially a piece of speaker art then the Zeppelin is for you. I have to disagree on the B&W Zeppelin not being able to handle hard-driving rock. I find the bass to be more than adequate and much better than top selling speakers such as the Bose SoundDock or JBL OnStage.

Wow. Finally the wait is over. Amazon is now selling the B&W Zeppelin (aka B W Zeppelin speaker). Amazon is offering the B&W Zeppelin for $599.95 with free shipping. Still expensive, but for a high end, in-demand iPod speaker like this I have yet to see it go on sale. And depending on what state you live in you can also avoid paying sales tax! That’s a savings of $52 for folks living in New York.

Buy B&W Zeppelin iPod Speaker from Amazon

Amazon also has tons of great pictures of the B&W Zeppelin iPod Speaker in all its glory. Get it while it is still in stock as it tends to sell out quickly. It also appears that many local resellers are also getting stock in of the B&W Zeppelin. But considering you can buy it on Amazon with free shipping and no sales tax I think the answer is clear for where to buy it.

Mike Kobrin of CrunchGear.com has reviewed the B&W Zeppelin (aka B W Zeppelin) and overall he is impressed! He applauds its beauty and design as “gorgeous”and the sound quality as “excellent”. Here is a quote from the article that I think sums it up:

“Even if the design weren’t outrageously hip, this would be a great speaker even at a hefty price of $600 (still not bad for a direct descendent of one of the best reference speakers series ever. But it just so happens that the design itself contributes to the excellent sound.”

To read the full review click here.

iLounge, one of the leading iPod news and information sites, has published an in depth review of the Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) Zeppelin iPod Speaker. It’s a great in depth review that includes some high resolution images of the speaker and a comparison of the Zeppelin with competitors such as the iPod Hi-Fi and the Altec Lansing iM7. They evaluate the build and quality of the BW Zeppelin and rate the audio performance.

Overall, iLounge rates the Zeppelin a B+. In terms of positives, they found the BW Zeppelin to be a “precisely tuned piece of listenable art, with balanced, impressively detailed sound, an unorthodox but attractive enclosure, and a novel chrome dock.” They considered the acoustic performance to be solid at volume levels ranging from quiet to blistering. On the negative side, they did not feel the audio performance and design improvements totally justified such a price premium. In the review, iLounge states that, “no matter what’s playing, B&W’s system does present audio with at least slightly superior clarity” when compared to significantly less expensive competitors such as the Logitech AudioStation ($100) and Altec Lansing iM7 ($250). Luckily, they did find the Zeppelin to have “substantial improvements” in sound quality over the more expensive and very popular Bose SoundDock ($299). Lastly, iLounge docked the BW Zeppelin for a poor rubber stand and bass/tone controls that are not as adjustable as competitive systems.

To read the full review click here.

So Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) is coming to the market with the highly anticipated B&W Zeppelin iPod speaker. As rumored it will be priced at a steep $599 making it one of the most expensive iPod speaker systems on the market.

B&W is a high-end British loudspeaker company with a long history of producing reference quality hi-fi and home theatre speakers. So theoretically they will invest in producing a truly “audiophile” quality iPod speaker. We will have to wait to see if the sound of the Zeppelin delivers. But visually it is the most stunning iPod speaker system on the market. The speaker is shaped like a football with black and chrome being the distinguishing features. It truly looks like a piece of art. I can’t wait for its release.