I have been looking for an iPhone/iPod dock for sometime. I want something that looks good, and can fill a room with decent sound. After many months of looking, reading, playing with and examining I have decided that I am either going to fork out the money for the Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin, or I am going to get the iVTube by ValveDock. I know it’s a bunch of money for an iPhone dock, but they look good enough to have sitting out in the room, and they sounds great. Right now I am using an ancient Powerbook with iTunes streaming to a set of speakers tied to an Airport Express, so anything is going to be a step up. And until I make enough money to but the over priced Bang and Olufsen system of my dreams one of these will have to do.

In the process of looking I put together a list of my top three choices for iPhone/iPod docks. My criteria was pretty simple. Is it well designed, does it look good, does it sound good, can it fill up the living room with decent sound?

First up the Philips Fidelio DS9000.

The design combines natural wood and metal and is quite stylish.
It really looks great.
The sound is above average.
It packs enough power to fill the living room.
The resonating chamber helps boost bass.
At $675.00 it’s pricier than the Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin.

Next is the iTube ValveDock.

It looks awesome.
It has Vacuum tubes.
It has superb audio reproduction.
It was awarded iPod product of the year.
It features separate docks for the iPhone and iPod.
Valve Processing gives your audio a warm rich tone.
Did I mention vacuum tubes?
It’s about $600.00.

Finally the Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin.

Once again, it looks amazing.
Bowers and Wilkins has a great reputation for build quality.
It is well designed.
I like the remote the best.
It sounds great, and at 100 watts of power it can fill the room with audio.
Video output to the TV.
It’s about $600.00