Luxury iPod Docking Stations – Best iPod Docks
Best iPod Docks
Sometimes ‘Good’ just isn’t enough, particularly when it comes to sound quality and getting the most out of your iPod. For the music enthusiast, or casual listener with deep pockets and a desire for cutting-edge technology, a high end iPod docking station is the ONLY way to listen to music through an iPod – Anything less is borderline blasphemy! Not really, but the point remains…It’s perfectly understandable to want better quality music from your iPod than what the $50 docks can offer (not much).
In this review what we’d like to try and do is give you a detailed overview of what we think the best iPod docking stations are if you’re passion is high quality sound. This review will cover the docking stations that are a little out of range of other reviews – Not everybody has the budget for a high end system, so we though we’d just group everything here into one review instead of spreading out and making it more difficult for you to get the information you need.
So, as you continue reading this review our goal is to give you everything needed to make an informed and confidant decision about your luxury iPod docking station. Not only will we be comparing each docking station to the other 2 luxury speaker systems, but we’ll also let you know how the dock stands up against a similarly priced separate component setup.
We’ll review our top choices from cheapest to most expensive.
#1) B&W Zeppelin Loudspeaker iPod Dock System; $500 – $600 – check Amazon.com
We’re going to try and avoid over generalizing this review, because we’m assuming that you already know a little something about this iPod docking station; If you’re not, be sure to checkout the Amazon page for detailed product specs. We don’t want to waste space here telling you information that’s so readily available elsewhere (The same is true for the other 2 speaker systems We’ll review below).
This sound system stacks up very well against most separate component systems of a similar price because of the unique design and layout of the speakers. There are 4 speakers plus a mini subwoofer all packed beneath the grill of the Zeppelin iPod dock.
We’ll just tell you up front that unless you have $1K to spend on the GenevaSound iPod dock, we personally recommend the B&W Zeppelin over the Bose.
Why?
The Zeppelin delivers a much more ‘musical’ quality to the songs that it plays. Just read any review of someone who’s actually bought and listened to both systems, or better yet go give them a try at your local electronics/tech shop. They’re worth the drive, and what you’ll find is that side by side, the Bose sounds rather hollow and 2 dimensional compared to the Zeppelin. While the B&W won’t go as loud as the Bose Soundock 10, and at purely a measure of decibels the Bose’s bass beats out the B&W’s any day, the superior quality and dimension of the sound makes the Zeppelin the superior choice for us and many other listeners.
#2) BOSE SoundDock 10 Digital Music System; ~ $550 – check Amazon.com
Now, if you’ve read our review up to this point you’rev probably wondering why we even bothered including the Bose sound system iPod dock in this review – After all, if we recommend the B&W Zeppelin, who cares about Bose?
Well, that’s just the problem. Everyone LOVES Bose and honestly they really do create high quality systems…we just prefer B&W’s iPod docking station in this particular instance. However, not everyone feels the same way.
The Bose SoundDock 10 tends to handle songs better than the Zeppelin iPod dock on a technical level (aka, less distortion, more range, louder clear volume). Additionally, the Zeppelin comes with nothing other than the power cord needed to power it, meaning if you want integration with other sound systems you own you’ll need to make a trip to radioshack. While the Bose doesn’t come with anything different, the remote works much better and the system itself has more input/output capabilities, meaning it’s MUCH easier to integrate with a home system.
Now, again, all this at the sacrifice of sound quality. Ultimately you’ll need to prioritize what you want from your iPod dock before deciding between the Bose Sounddock 10 and the B&W Zeppelin.
#3) Geneva Sound All-in-One Stereo iPod Docking Station; $900 – $1,000 – check Amazon.com
This is it – If you were put in one of those ‘if you could have anything’ situations pertaining exclusively to iPod docks, the Geneva All in One stereo docking station is the one that you would wish for. The only down side to this system, and we mean ONLY, is that there’s no headphone/auxiliary jack. However, other than that the Geneva will outperform either the Bose or the B&W docks on all accounts.
The GenevaSound is actually able to fully replace whatever multi-component stereo setup you currently have. For being a small little docking station, this stereo sound system is capable of BOOMing out some crystal clear sounds. Several advanced reviewers on Amazon have put this system through the audio-technology wringer – In other words, tested this system across a wide range of frequencies and musical genres – And found that the Geneva sounds just as good out of the box as it does 50, 100, even 250 hours into use. This is a powerful system that’s been designed to give you a very 3 dimensional presence to the music you play through your iPod.
You’ll want to make sure you re-rip your favorite songs to get the most enjoyment from this iPod docking station – Putting your songs in lossless format will give you the ability to enjoy your music without distortion or disruption.
All in all if you’re looking for a luxurious iPod docking station that offers a surprising presence for a small package, and that looks sleek enough to proudly display in your home, then the B&W Zeppelin is probably more than enough for your needs. However, if you’ve got deep pockets, or are really committed to getting an absolute ELITE level of sound quality and depth from your iPod, then the GenevaSound is for you. And if you’re a Bose-person who loves Bose and nothing else? Well, we guess you already know what you want!
Thanks for reading and good luck shopping!
For general information on iPod Docking Stations visit our main page: iPod Docking Station