B&W, Onkyo Launch AirPlay Music Systems, Docks, But Consumers Need to Buy Adapters from Apple

Following the iPhone 5 announcement last week, some AirPlay-equipped audio systems launched, including two wireless music systems from B&W that debuted Thursday. The A7 ($799.99) and A5 ($499.99), both due in October, joined the $599.99 Zeppelin Air, B&W’s first AirPlay-compatible system, which hit the market last year. The A7 packs 24 bit/96 kHz digital audio converters and a 6-inch dedicated bass driver. The smaller A5 offers wireless streaming via AirPlay along with an iPod/iPhone dock with a 30-pin connector, the company said.

Consumers who want to be iPhone 5-compatible will have to buy one of two Lightning adapters ($29, $39) from Apple for the time being, said Brian Devlin, B&W director-global marketing. He said B&W will not offer an adapter. B&W, one of the first high-end audio companies to offer a built-in dock for the iPod, played up the dockless look of the high-end model. “With no dock or control panel to break its clean lines, A7 is a model of discretion,” the company said. The wireless AirPlay products will “address the needs of consumers who do not require a dock, but demand high quality wireless streaming functionality,” Devlin said. B&W, whose systems sell at Apple stores and through general distribution, plans to integrate the Lightning connector to its Zeppelin Air later this year, Devlin said, “but it is too soon to give specific launch details,” Devlin said.

Onkyo joined the growing number of audio companies adding AirPlay wireless streaming capability to its audio products when it launched the DS-A5 docking station Thursday. But out of the box, the dock -- with a 30-pin connector that fits the current 30-pin iOS devices currently in the market -- is incompatible with Apple’s latest mobile device. Users who want to dock the iPhone 5 will have to use one of two Lightning adapters, sold by Apple, Onkyo said.

The $199 Onkyo DS-A5 dock is Wi-Fi-certified and comes with an Ethernet port which allows users to stream iOS devices through Onkyo AV receivers, the company said. It wasn’t clear whether the dock, which charges “most” 30-pin iOS products, would charge the iPhone 5 through the adapter, and Onkyo referred us to Apple for an answer. Apple didn’t respond by our deadline. The dock packs digital audio, RCA audio and a composite video output, Onkyo said, and is slated to ship next month. The DS-A5 can also be used to add AirPlay capability to non-Onkyo audio systems and standalone DACs, but automated functions available with all-Onkyo setups with a Remote Interactive cable, such as power from an iOS device, aren’t possible from third-party products, Onkyo said.

For Peachtree Audio, whose $1,799 iNova integrated amplifier packs a 30-pin iPod dock on the top of the chassis, the Lightning connector “means we have been forced away from an integrated dock,” Jim Spainhour, president of Peachtree parent company Signal Path, told us. That “also means a shift in the hardware,” he said. Later this year, Peachtree will provide a separate box with AirPlay and that offers a way to stream digitally using an Apple cable, Spainhour said. The box will work with any hi-fi system, he said.