zeppelin air

Before you buy an expensive Bluetooth, AirPlay, or docking speaker, read this

This is a follow-up to last week's "Before you buy a sound bar speaker, read this" post, but this time I'm setting my sights on expensive, $400-plus iPod and Bluetooth speaker "docks." They have built-in limitations common to all single-speaker systems. They might have two sets of speaker drivers housed in a single cabinet, but when the drivers are just a few inches apart, "stereo" sounds more or less like mono. In the quest to make these speakers as sleek and lightweight as possible, bass and dynamic range capabilities are limited, compared … Read more

Monitor Audio i-deck 200 iPod speaker, worth $599?

It seems more than a little strange to me, but iPod speakers are really popular. This much I do understand, people love their iPods, and if they don't have a hi-fi system an iPod speaker might look like the best way to go. At $599 (MSRP) Monitor Audio's i-Deck 200 is priced at the upper end of the market, and competes with the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air ($599), Bose SoundDock 10 ($599) and the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Beatbox iPod Dock ($449), but are any of these worth the money?

For most buyers of high-end iPod … Read more

B&W Zeppelin Air with Apple AirPlay (review)

B&W, which is now branding itself by its longer, more formal name, Bowers & Wilkins, is known for its high-end speakers. However, a few years back the company dipped into the more mainstream consumer market with its first iPod speaker system, the $600 Zeppelin, followed by the smaller and more affordable Zeppelin Mini.

Now the company is back with a new version of the Zeppelin called the Zeppelin Air that shares many design traits with the original Zep but offers better sound and one very important new feature: support for Apple's AirPlay. That feature allows you to … Read more

B&W's Zeppelin Air gets AirPlay-friendly

LAS VEGAS--B&W's series of Zeppelin iPod speakers have always been known for their striking design and better-than-average sound quality and at CES 2011 the company announced the Zeppelin Air, now compatible with Apple's new Airplay streaming audio platform.

AirPlay compatibility means you'll be able to stream music wirelessly directly from iOS devices (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch), either from apps or your own music collection. You'll also able to stream music directly from iTunes on a networked computer. The Zeppelin Air still includes a dock, which is handy in case you want to charge your … Read more