I began this comparison as a totally neutral party. My goal was to find a one piece music system that provided the very best sound. I researched different options for several months and narrowed my choices to the Bose SoundDock 10 and the B&W Zeppelin. These were both "high-end" systems, but I knew it would take a good system to serve as a suitable replacement for high quality separate components. To begin my evaluation I made a playlist including 50 songs encoded in apple lossless format from my CD collection. Then I critically listened to portions of each of those songs on my home reference system which is a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.8MkII towers, NAD amplification, NAD preamp, and Marantz CD player with Crystal DAC. I made sure that I listened at a volume that was comparable to the volume that I would be using during evaluation of the two systems. I played pink noise through each system for 50 hours to break everything in and then I level matched the systems for volume using a pink noise track and SPL meter. Then I listened to portions of all 50 songs on both systems. Then I had my wife listen to 5 of her favorite songs through both the Sound dock 10 and the Zeppelin. I made sure that she was unable to determine which system was playing. She doesn't care about sound systems in the least and she did not know anything about either system, so I knew that she would be a relatively unbiased reviewer. After my listening tests three things were apparent, 1) The Bose system could go louder, 2) The Bose could produce more and slightly deeper bass, 3)The Bose sounded hollow, unbalanced, and anemic, compared to the refined and absolutely musical performance of the B&W. Even where the bass was less pronounced it was musical, tight, and tonally correct. The Bose was loud and "boomy", but fell flat at producing real MUSIC. I was amazed at how every single song sounded better on the B&W, Some songs more than others. Acoustic instruments, synth, classical, pop, vocals, bass guitar, big band and dance all sounded better, more accurate, and more dynamic on the B&W. Not once did the Bose sound better to my ears, but perhaps my wife, who was under the impression that B&W made cars, will like the Bose sound that so many people flock to. So...how did my wife feel about these two systems? Without the benefit of her eyes to bias her, she picked the B&W as sounding far better every single time. I finally threw in a Jack Johnson track that I thought really brought out the best in the Bose and created a little low frequency resonance in the B&W, but even then the B&W resolved his voice and guitar licks so fluidly that we preferred the Zeppelin version. Her exact words were "it is rich, and the instruments sound like they are in the room. In fact they remind me of your big speakers." Enough said!!! In some cerebral way, the B&W was likened to an $8,000 stereo. In its defense the Bose SoundDock 10 has some characteristics that may make it the right choice for you. It is quite a bit louder than the Zeppelin, and doesn't sweat a bit when the volume is up. It just doesn't sound as good at any of the volumes that the B&W can attain. The B&W is loud enough for me. Needless to say the SoundDock is going back to Bose today, and the B&W will be staying right where it is! I hope this help the folks out there that were struggling with the same decision that I was. Thanks! Bose SoundDock 10 Digital Music System
This is a very, very nice piece of hardware indeed. I had one of their 5-piece floor speaker systems from the mid 1990's, and frankly, this sounds better than that. Not cheap, of course, and if you want detectable stereo separation stick with headphones. There are no controls on the unit itself - everything is done through the iPod menu, making it immediately familiar, either by twiddling the iPod itself or through a supplied remote.
Be nice if you could access more of the iPod menu tree from the remote rather than the primary emphasis on nexting thu playlists, not albums. You may next WITHIN an album though, but not within an artist. Oh well, time to hack together a bunch more lists. With 4500 tracks on the pod, I tend to go thru Music/Artists, and never spent a lot of time putting together lists other than a few I downloaded. Being middle-aged, I grew up listening to albums at a time, just my background I suppose. Cueing LP's had overhead!
I now carry the iPhone around with me, making this the perfect resting place for my previously retired iPod classic. It does pack a decent punch, by the way - they do not publish output wattage but will draw a max of 150 watts input, whatever that translates to for output. Fills a cathedral-ceiling lr/dr nicely, with pretty kick-butt bass for it's size.
I have owned several high end speaker/dock units including GenevaSound's L, B&W's Zeppelin, Jamo's i300 , as well as several Altecs, Logitecs, Bose SoundDock I, II, and Portable, and Soundmatters excellent FoxL mini speaker ($200.00) and many many more.
This is Bose at its very best. No balance, treble, bass, or surround control to dilute it's audio signal. It is like hearing my Shure SE530 earphones for the first time...Pure Magic! I really think the SoundDock 10 even sounds better than the $600.00 asking price. One thing I've noticed, when you change iPods, the EQ setting goes back to off on which ever iPod you have just docked. - Ipod Speakers - Sounddock - Ipod Dock - Ipod Dock System'
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