Kitchen ipod dock dilemma!

[admin_exported]

Hi! Please could someone advise on the purchase of an ipod/ipad dock. My priority is sound quality, then wireless ability plus aesthetics. I have a shortlist based on reviews, looks and demoing in store (unfortunately haven't demo'd all) I like the Zeppelin Air, Rcube, Jbl Onbeat Extreme, Audyssey SoM, Monitor Audio ideck 200 with bluetooth/airport adaptor?
I realise they vary greatly in price but due to vouchers for some stores, all can be bought for between £250-350 max.

I really like the look of the new Sony XA900 which has both airplay/bluetooth & massive 200w spec - any idea how it sounds?

The dock will be placed in our large ish kitchen so it needs to be pretty (not my words!) and pretty loud (my words!)!

Our very broad taste in music is currently stored on a Sony Vaio laptop and we also have an ipad, iphone and ipod touch!

Sound quality is vital but particularly wireless sound quality as I dont want to have to dock the ipad/iphone all the time.

Any thoughts?/any other dock suggestions would be welcome,

Many thanks,

Jonesy.
Top

 

[psurquhart]

Nice one - was just about to post something similar myself. The wife wants one for her birthday which she can operate with a remote. So apologies for bumping your post but those that do reply could they bear me in mind too - my budget is less and I would like a DAB radio thrown in.

For what its worth to the above post, I would go for a Zeppelin Air all day long - ticks all your boxes and sounds great.

I cant quite stretch to one though just yet. I was thinking of buying a clock radio type even though its for the kitchen.

 

[BenLaw]

The zeppelin is known to be a 'dust catcher', I'd have concerns about keeping it clean in a kitchen. The rcube would be a good choice at that price, although having to use kleer adapters instead of AirPlay may be annoying.

 

[psurquhart]

Anyone else have any ideas ?

 

[bigboss]

Hi! Please could someone advise on the purchase of an ipod/ipad dock. My priority is sound quality, then wireless ability plus aesthetics. I have a shortlist based on reviews, looks and demoing in store (unfortunately haven't demo'd all) I like the Zeppelin Air, Rcube, Jbl Onbeat Extreme, Audyssey SoM, Monitor Audio ideck 200 with bluetooth/airport adaptor?
I realise they vary greatly in price but due to vouchers for some stores, all can be bought for between £250-350 max.

I really like the look of the new Sony XA900 which has both airplay/bluetooth & massive 200w spec - any idea how it sounds?

The dock will be placed in our large ish kitchen so it needs to be pretty (not my words!) and pretty loud (my words!)!

Our very broad taste in music is currently stored on a Sony Vaio laptop and we also have an ipad, iphone and ipod touch!

Sound quality is vital but particularly wireless sound quality as I dont want to have to dock the ipad/iphone all the time.

Any thoughts?/any other dock suggestions would be welcome,

Many thanks,

Jonesy.
Top

Have you thought of going the Sonos route?

 

[bigboss]

Anyone else have any ideas ?

What's your budget?

 

[Andy Clough]

The new Sony RDP-XA900iP is certainly interesting – I saw a prototype out in Japan earlier this year, although we haven't tested it yet – and you might also want to consider the Pure Contour Air 200i, due out any day now. We were very impressed with the JBL OnBeat Xtreme too.

 

[psurquhart]

Anyone else have any ideas ?

What's your budget?

Cheaper the better really - dont really want to spend much above the £200 mark but is something is really good I usually end up paying more !

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry for lengthy delay replying - away on hols!

Saw the JBL extreme but didn't really like the styling - looks odd without an idevice docked!

Cant find Pure Contour Air 200 anywhere to demo but it looks cool - low wattage is a concern though in a big (ish) kitchen.

The Sony RDP-XA900iP sounds good but I had to demo it in a less than ideal envrionment/store - Currys! It's £500 though.

The Audyssey SoM dock sounds great especially for its size, but not as good via bluetooth - a good buy at £300 though?

Otherwise, a local hifi shop has a mint cond ex display Zeppelin Air with 2yr warranty for about £350 - seems like a great deal? The dock sounds awesome on an in store demo and Airplay seems to work well with little quality loss.

Any thoughts?

Jonesy.

 

[Anonymous]

I've just recently solved the same issue experienced in our home. All rooms (except the kids) have AirPlay enabled devices that can be individually controlled via an iPad or iPhone using Apples Remote app but the wife wanted it in the kitchen too (pun unintended). My preference is the Zeppelin Air, of which we have two, for pure spine tingling sound and performance. I agree that it can attract dust, which is no issue in our bedroom but I was worried that an environment of cooking oils and greases etc would quickly ruin such a beautiful (and expensive) product. I like the Arcam Rcubes sound but dimensionally it's too large for the windowsill where it would be located. It's also not AirPlay compatible. The solution? The Zeppelin Mini. With its silver mirrored top it's wipe clean and the sound is probably more surprising than the Zeppelin Air. It's an amazing little piece of engineering and damn loud to boot. It can certainly hold its own against the larger and more expensive Air!

"But what about AirPlay?" I hear you ask. That small issue was solved by the awesome Apple AirPort Express. Renamed 'kitchen Zeppelin' I can now choose it from the list of devices in iTunes or via the Remote app as if it was natively AirPlay equipped.

One happy music fan!

 

[motley]

Roberts Stream 63i does everything sounds great, no air play but streams from a NAS so who cares and you could always us a bluetooth dongle if you had to.

 

[KeithT]

Harmon Kardon Soundsticks, look good and sound decent.

 

[Tone1981]

I've just bought the Monitor Audio ideck 200 and i think it sounds superb. I'll be adding an airport express in due course, budget willing. I'd definitely give it a listen, an absolute steal at £250 too.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone for all the great advice and ideas - much appreciated.

Well, after much deliberating - much to the annoyance of my heavily pregnant other half- I finally bit the bullet!

I went with my gut and ears and bought the Zeppelin Air - sounds amazing, looks great & airplay is fab.

Best of all, played a lossless file of Bon Iver and the baby started kicking like mad - approval indeed!

Very pleased all in and now busy converting my cd collection to apple lossless - what a difference it makes.

Cheers one & all,

Jonesy.

 

[Andy Clough]

Good choice, you won't be disappointed