What Hi Fi Sound and Vision 04 JAN 2008

B&W Zeppelin

£ 400 5

* * * * *

Unashamedly aspirational, the Zeppelin has enough sonic talent to justify its price tag

For
Looks, build and finish are all top drawer; sounds detailed and a good deal bigger than it has any right to
Against
Soundstage width is only so-so

It's only fitting that the most expensive dock in a test should be the most attractive, and on that score B&W's dramatic Zeppelin leads the field by a distance.

No rival can match its knockout combination of curvaceous good looks and industrial-strength build quality - from its heavy rubber plinth to palm-friendly remote control, the B&W doesn't so much scream 'quality' as pronounce it very precisely.

If you're expecting a party trick or two for your money, though, the B&W will be a bit of a disappointment. This is an iPod dock with speakers, and that's all - none of your battery-powered portability or wireless streaming here.

If, however, you're after nothing more than great sound (and a bit of video streaming) to accompany the lovely looks, the Zeppelin remains a splendid way to spend your money.

Every centimetre counts
It's a relatively wide device (64cm, in fact), and B&W makes every centimetre count by spreading the speaker drivers as wide as possible inside the chassis - this provides as convincing a stereo image as it's possible to get from a fixed unit such as this.

A downward-firing bass driver is mounted in the centre, just behind your iPod, and there is a pair of reflex ports sculpted into the back of the machine.Its relative lack of facilities means the Zeppelin is simplicity itself to use.

Your iPod docks on the sturdy cradle (5G or later models are granted access to the B&W's tone controls) and basic functions (stop, go, forward, backward, volume up and down) are handled by the remote control. All you need to do is press 'play' and sit back.

With a 320kbps file of Brian Eno's No One Receiving dialled up, the Zeppelin's room-filling, substantial performance is initially quite startling.

Super sonics from top to bottom
There's unexpected scale and muscle to the sound, and the low frequencies are solid, taut and integrated smoothly into the rest of the frequency range.

The jittery tempo is handled without fuss, the vocal is imbued with character and intensity, and the top end is crisp without veering too far into hardness.

It's a similar story with The Beatles' I'm So Tired. Separation is impressive given the proximity of the speakers and, though there's an inevitable shortage of soundstage width compared with competitors with detachable speakers, the B&W is a deft and engaging listen.

The Zeppelin combines great sound, heavyweight build and shameless desirability in one curvy cabinet. If you require nothing more from your iPod dock, you'll have to go a long way to do better than this.