B&W floats out the Zeppelin Mini iPod dock

It doesn't look nearly as dirigible-esque as the original B&W Zeppelin, but Bower & Wilkins' new Zeppelin Mini still sports an impressive pedigree. Its black and silver frame was designed by the same team that made the first Zeppelin.

Underneath the Zeppelin Mini's angular, cylindrical exterior is a pair of 3-inch, full-range drivers powered by a 18W-per-channel stereo amplifier. Its specs are dwarfed by the first Zeppelin's 100W total power output and three stereo-plus-bass drivers, but as a much more compact, desktop system it still packs enough juice to fill a room. Its pivoting arm lets iPhone and iPod Touch users turn their players sideways for using the Cover Flow feature to browse their music, and its audio and USB ports can accept virtually any media player or computer connection. It also features the same digital signal processing as its big brother.

B&W adds a new subwoofer to its lineup

British audio manufacturers Bowers & Wilkins has just announced a new subwoofer, the ASW12-CM. The 12-inch subwoofer completes the company's CM series of speakers, which consists of a pair each of bookshelf, floor-standing, center-channel, and subwoofer models. It's the bigger brother to the ASW10-CM, the 10-inch subwoofer the company previously released.

The subwoofer features a 12-inch paper cone driver, and uses the same 500W Class D amplifier found in the ASW10-CM. It includes a 3-position tuning switch that sets the subwoofer to 18, 23, and 28Hz, and a 40-140Hz adjustable crossover gives it flexibility for a variety of home theater setups. It ships next month, and will retail for $2,000.

— Will Greenwald

Zeppelin sells 100,000. (This is not a '70s story.)

The economic climate doesn't seem to be having a deleterious effect on dirigible-inspired iPod sound systems. Bowers and Wilkins has just sold its 100,000th Zeppelin iPod system, an impressive feat for an iPod dock that's only been on sale for a year and a half (especially since that year and a half has seen a rather abrupt shift in global economic outlooks).

The thoroughly British-sounding Bowers & Wilkins shares many traits with Led Zeppelin, appropriate considering the successful iPod system. Both the band and the company were borne out of England in the 1960's, and both have been delighting music fans for decades. Also, legend says that the company's founder John Bowers was quite fond of suits with dragons on them.

— Will Greenwald

B&W&E Street: Steve Van Zandt is a B&W Fellow

Audio company Bowers & Wilkins has just announced that Steve Van Zandt is the newest Fellow in the company's Society of Sound. Van Zandt is a longtime member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, as well as a solo artist and actor (best known for his role as Silvio Dante on The Sopranos). He's also a very vocal audiophile, who had some interesting things to say in the announcement:

"The CD was the biggest scam perpetrated on the public. If you don't believe me, compare your CD to the same record on vinyl. It's shocking: The difference is vast. "The challenge for the industry is to archive these very cool records that our elder brothers and sisters made — archive them in their original analog form. Currently, this isn't happening; they are being preserved in a digital format, which is a big problem."

The Society of Sound is a collective of musicians and other music industry professionals who discuss issues regarding music, audio quality, and the issues that affect sound. As a Society of Sound Fellow, Van Zandt joins the ranks of musicians like Peter Gabriel, Cassandra Wilson, and Alfred Brendel, along with other prominent figures in the music world, including producers Peter Van Hooke, Michael Gleason, and Dave Stewart, composer James Newton Howard, and Professor Tod Machover of M.I.T.'s Media Lab.

— Will Greenwald

CES 2009: B&W Panorama

Well, it's official. The soundbar is a genuine contender in the loudspeaker market. It acquires this status as long-time, old-school loudspeaker maker Bowers & Wilkins introduce their first soundbar.

The Panorama is a powered soundbar, sized to fit TVs of 37 inches or more. It houses nine drivers within a sleek aluminum chassis. Interestingly, and acknowledging the importance of the center channel (that's where the dialogue is), the Pandora dedicates five of the nine drivers to center-channel playback: one aluminum dome tweeter, two midrange drivers, and two bass woofers. The tweeter uses B&W’s proprietary Nautilus Tube Loaded technology.

The remaining four drivers handle the left, right, and surround channels, and each is mounted in its own enclosure. The drivers are powered by six Class D amplifiers. Combined power output is 175 watts. Audio connections comprise two optical and one coaxial digital audio input, as well as two stereo analog inputs. There is also a subwoofer passthrough. The cabinet can be placed underneath or on top of a screen, resting on a shelf, or wall mounted. B&W says that bass output is sufficient for most rooms; however, in large rooms, a separate subwoofer may be needed.

The Panorama will be available in the spring. Retail price is $2200.--Ken C. Pohlmann

Bowers & Wilkins Newest Home Theater Offerings

B&W has a great-looking new line of home theater speakers with a subwoofer to match. The CM Series can be purchased separately, but put together the floorstanding towers, stand-mounted bookshelves, center and sub for a kick-booty total package.

The speakers are all available in a variety of wood veneers. Unlike other systems, even the center and subwoofer can match.

The floorstanding CM9 is a 3-way design with a 25mm dome tweeter, 150mm Kevlar FST midrange, and two 165mm paper/Kevlar bass driver. The CM5 is the 2-way bookshelf/stand mounted speaker. It uses a 25mm tweeter that matches the tweeter on the CM9. The CM5 has a 165mm Kevlar midrange/bass driver. The MC Center 2 features an FST midrange driver and the same 25mm dome tweeter as the other speakers.

The subwoofer is the ASW 10CM. It's powered by a 500-watt amplifier with a 25cm paper/Kevlar cone.

The whole series will be available in October. The CM9 will retail for $1,500, the CM5 is $750, the center speaker is $1,250, and the ASW 10CM will run $1,500.

Keep reading for info about another new subwoofer.

B&W's Society of Sound

Audiophiles, get your downloading fingers ready. Finally, a music download service with a sound we can all be excited about. Peter Gabriel and his Real World Studios are joining forces with Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) speaker manufacturers to create a unique concept, beneficial to both music lovers and the artists creating the music. Take a look at this innovative new business model.

What Means Innovation?

Each year at the Consumer Electronics Show, the Consumer Electronics Association highlights top new products in select categories and honors them with Innovations awards. The tech press got a peak at winners last week at a pre-CES event in New York. Just how innovative are they? Here's what we think.

The Kensington LiquidFM Deluxe for iPod ($99)

Award: Audio Accessory

Rationale:  The Quick Seek feature finds the clearest station in seconds, and ClearFM technology provides superior sound.

Truly Innovative? What we really want is a product that automatically finds the clearest frequency and keeps it clear all the way up I-95, but getting RDS artist and track info on the head unit display is a nice touch.

Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin ($599)

Award: Audio Components

Rationale: The Zeppelin is a one-piece amplified speaker system and docking station that transforms an iPod into a capable yet highly compact stereo music system.

Truly Innovative? Everybody and his brother is coming out with a music system for the iPod, but you gotta believe that B&W does it better than most. At more than 2 feet wide, though, it overwhelms the little iPod. If only the wingspan were narrower….