A 10 Best 2008 Design winner

I suppose Bowers & Wilkins created the Zeppelin iPod speaker system merely to cash in on the more than 100 million iPods sold to date. But the legendary British speaker maker may well have redefined the high-end audio system with this product.

Back in the 1960s, upscale homeowners considered a so-called "hi-fi" system—with separate speakers, amplifier, and source components—as fundamental to luxury living as a wet bar. But when smaller, simpler gear became available, the general public turned against elaborate audio systems. Now high-end stereo systems are the province of a handful of hard-core enthusiasts. Most people rely on stereo systems that look, sound—and are—cheap. As high-end audio gear reaches stratospheric prices, and mass-market systems get cheaper and cheaper and worse and worse, it seems there's not much for someone who just wants a simple way to get good sound.

In flies the Zeppelin, B&W's attempt to make an iPod speaker system attractive and simple enough for the general public to embrace, but with performance that wouldn't sully the company's decades-old reputation for excellence.

At first glace, the Zeppelin seems like little more than an indulgent design exercise. However, its shape actually arose from the desire of B&W's acoustical engineers to minimize the area of the front baffle that holds the unit's two tweeters, two midrange drivers, and single woofer. Any sound that reflects off of the various surfaces of a speaker interferes with sound that comes straight from the driver, unnaturally reinforcing certain frequencies and canceling others as if someone had gone crazy with a graphic equalizer. The rounded curves and narrowing tips of the Zeppelin's body help minimize the reflections.

The unit itself has only two control buttons, both residing on the vertical stainless steel band that bisects the body. The top one turns it on with a push and also selects either the iPod audio or the audio from the rear input jack, which can be connected to a radio, CD player, etc. The other button is a rocker switch that controls volume. The remote looks great but the black buttons are hard to see against the black body of the remote. It's adequate for adjusting volume and pausing iPod playback when you get a phone call.

You may want to ignore that phone call, though, because the Zeppelin rocks as hard as its pop-culture namesake. It sounds balanced, robust, and muscular—particularly in the bass, which astounds me with the very first note of the first cut on my test CD, singer Holly Cole's "Train Song." The deep bass note that begins the song often strains even large subwoofers, but the Zeppelin's 5-inch woofer reproduces the note with enough verve to vibrate the hutch I place it on. Yet the bass does not sound artificially pumped: It's tight and well-defined.

Just as surprising is the sense of ambience the Zeppelin produces. It can't array instruments across a room as a conventional stereo system can, but it does convey most of the sense of depth inherent in spacious-sounding pop recordings and audiophile favorites from Chesky Records. The balance from bass to treble is remarkable for a tabletop system. Once in a while the bass sounds a little loud, although if you use a Video iPod you can access tone controls through the iPod and turn the bass down (or up). An audiophile might note a slight emphasis in the midrange. But the Zeppelin's overall sonic neutrality and outsized sound make it satisfying enough for me to rely on this system for most of my listening.

According to the press release, the Zeppelin contains a digital loudness circuit that contours the sound to suit the volume level. The circuit seems a success, as the Zeppelin certainly sounds great at any level from soft to fairly loud. Party-level volume makes the Zeppelin's tweeters distort. I doubt it would blow up like its vehicular namesake, but it wouldn't be my choice for entertaining at a drunken frat party. I would never recommend a small system for such abuse anyway, but given that many drunken frat boys will surely be attracted by the Zeppelin's sexy look and reasonable price, I feel it my responsibility to warn them.

My wife's reaction to the Zeppelin proves edifying. It initially provokes in her little more than curiosity, but as soon as she hears it she falls in love with it. Despite the fact that she has heard countless excellent sound systems, this is the first one whose form factor she could relate to. I could envision almost anyone reacting similarly—seeing the Zeppelin in a store, hearing it, buying one, and cherishing it and showing it off as he or she would a favorite watch. I cannot say that about any other audio product I have ever reviewed.

The Zeppelin is the most accessible high-end audio product ever created. B&W deserves to sell a million of them.

DESCRIPTION
Tabletop iPod speaker system

COMPONENTS
5-inch woofer, two 3.5-inch fiberglass cone midrange drivers, two 1-inch aluminum-dome tweeters; 50-watt amplifier for woofer, two 25-watt amplifiers for midranges/tweeters

CONNECTIONS
USB connector for software updates, 3.5mm optical/digital audio input jack, S-video and composite video outputs, 30-pin iPod connector

DIMENSIONS
6.8 x 25.2 x 8.2 inches (hwd); 7.8 inches high with tilt pad

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: $599
CONTACT: 800.370.3742, www.bowers-wilkins.com/iPodspeakers