Bang and Olufsen finally enter the ipod compatible device market with the Beosound 8

The ipod will celebrate its 10 year anniversary next year, having been launched in 2001 and managing through its various different release versions to completely conquer the world of portable music players, and subsequently the world of portable media players also.  Time was buying a Hi-Fi was merely looking a selection of different models and choosing the most attractive, now it is difficult to find any modern Hi-Fi that does not incorporate an iPod dock, and looking for how discreet the iPod dock is has become an extra requirement of choosing a music system.

Bang and Olufsen is a brand well known for taking a considerable amount of time before dipping its toe into the shark infested waters of any new trend, at least 4 different digital media formats have come and gone and it still does not have a Blu Ray player, despite Blu Ray being the de facto Hi Def format war winner.  It comes as little surprise that they have waited this long, and until absolute ubiquity before releasing an full iPod dock type product.

And the Bang Olufsen version of the iPod dock really is quite something.  One thing it cannot be called is a portable dock, at 4.25kg you will not be carrying it to the park for an improptu beats session, and with no battery pack you couldnt anyway.  It is designed firmly to be fitted in one main area and be moved potentially from room to room and plug point to plug point.  And for some consumers may either replace their existing ipod dock as a better main system, or convince some people who rely on a mid range hi-fi with iPod dock attached to move over to this as a main system.

In terms of sound quality, it of course manages to provide that special Bang and Olufsen sound quality which is so polarizing to audiophiles and consumers, the perfectionists claim that B&O is style over quality, and everyone else knows that the sound is better than 90% of the stuff out there, and the difference between this and the absolute top end is not perceptible to the human ear anyway.

So if you like its design, then make your way to your nearest dealership now, retailing for £849 including the wall bracket, desk stand spikes, small remote and a colour of speaker cover of your choice this is really designed to be an all in one product from B&O and still manages to be compatible with the Beotime, Beo 4, Beo 5 and the Phone volume controls.