Sometimes, life can be really strange. Take the battle for the hearts and minds of computers everywhere, for example. Sales of computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system far and away outnumber those made by Apple, even if the latter are preferred by a dedicated band of hardcore enthusiasts. Still, it wasn’t those die-hard fans that saved Apple’s bacon: it was the ipod.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft responded with a portable digital music player of its own: the Zune . Sure, it was a few years late to the party with the player, but when it arrived it slowly built a fan base of its own. Still, sales of the Zune were dwarfed by those of ipod, and Microsoft ironically enough finds itself playing the Apple role in the media player market.

Contrarians that we are, we must confess that we count ourselves amongst the smaller number of Zune owners. And as such, we now know what the other half feels like: just as Apple owners have a more limited selection of software than those with PCs, Zune enthusiasts have had a more limited choice when it comes to accessories. We can’t tell you how many times we’ve strolled through the local Best Buy or Costco, longingly admiring the compact audio systems built to dock with an ipod, but alas, not a Zune.

Times are changing, however. Recently, the two millionth Zune was sold, and the number of available licensed accessories is increasing as well. Perhaps most notable amongst these is the Kicker ZK500 zKICK Digital Stereo System for Zune. Long known for their quality car stereo products, Kicker has now applied its audio acumen to the home audio market.

Right out of the box, we were impressed with the hefty feel of the ZK500. This is truly a solid unit, weighing about ten pounds and built to last of high impact plastic. Steel mesh screens protect the front drivers, while plastic bars guard the subwoofer in the rear. Then too, the Kicker ZK500 is as attractive as it is sturdy. With its directly contrasting sharp angles and soft curves all in flat black, the zKICK has a futuristic, almost sinister look to it. The glowing blue display only amplifies this effect. Unobtrusive the ZK500 is not.

The unit is, however, highly portable, easily toted around from place to place with the built-in recessed handle. That said, this isn’t a boom box, nor is it built to be used by the pool or at the beach. The ZK500 is mostly meant for indoor home use, and it must be connected to an AC power source to operate; battery power is not an option here.

The zKICK couldn’t be easier to use. Any model Zune (I have an original 30 GB unit) will dock comfortably in the central cradle, and that’s really about all you need to do to get up and running. From there, you simply select the music you want to hear from your library or even the radio and crank it up. Although you can use the normal controls on your Zune, we find the credit-card sized remote much more convenient, allowing you to change songs, adjust volume levels, pause, navigate through playlists and menus, and more from across a large room. Basically, you can do just about anything with the remote that you can from the controls of your Zune.

The ZK500 takes advantage of the Zune’s larger display by always illuminating the album art for the current selection you’re hearing. We like this “now playing” feature, and visiting friends were impressed by it, too. Don’t worry about the power this consumes, though; not only does the dock supply your Zune with juice, it will even charge it if your battery is running low.

Now back to those visiting friends. Let’s say their jealous, and want to hear some of their own music on your ZK500. Not a problem. Just use the input jack in the back of the unit along with the included male to male cable and they can enjoy their music with room-filling sound, too. You can, too, from just about any audio player, with excellent results. The included cable is rather short, alas, but buying a longer one will allow you to expand the utility of your ZK500, and we like the way we can enjoy streaming internet audio from a laptop through it in any room (even a hotel).

All this is great, of course, but none of it would really matter if the ZK500 didn’t sound good; fortunately, it sounds great. This little unit will rock your world, and fill a room with rich, full, and vibrant sound. That sound is delivered in the front by two 5-inch woofers and two ¾ inch tweeters, but it’s the depth that makes the difference here, and that comes from the 6 inch by 6 inch square subwoofer in the rear.

Stereo separation is always a concern with compact audio systems, simply because by necessity, the speakers must be located so closely together. It’s not so much a problem when only one channel is firing (we listened to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, with cannon blasting from first the left channel, then the right, with excellent results). But separate components of a song playing at the same time from different channels can sort of get blended together, seeming to originate from the same source. Not here, though. We played the Eagles Peaceful Easy Feeling, and clearly discerned Glenn Frey’s vocals coming from the right while the gentle strumming of the guitar came from the left.

And we truly love the rich, spacious sound the ZK500 delivers. You can customize that sound to your taste, as depressing the volume knob allows you to also adjust the bass and treble levels. We find the results for this are best when you first disable any equalizer settings you’ve applied to your Zune and simply adjust through the dock.

When you do, you’re going to like what you hear. Crisp, clear highs are bright and vibrant, while the subwoofer delivers deep, thundering bass. The ZK500 delivers plenty of volume, too, enough in fact to fill our entire (and somewhat large) living room. Even cranked up on high, the zKICK delivers distortion-free music, faithfully reproducing every type of music we played on it: from pop to classical, hard rock to jazz. Only near the very highest volume settings did we start to pick up a bit of distortion. The aforementioned 1812 Overture thrilled us with it’s deep crashing cymbals and thundering drums; the acoustic and electric guitars of Boston’s Foreplay/Long Time sounded so clear that we couldn’t help but break out our own air guitars and join in.

We’ve often admired the Bose Sounddock for ipod, and secretly hoped they might one day make one where we could park our Zune. Happily, however, we’re convinced the Kicker ZK500 sounds even better, delivering the same big, realistic sound but with more bass depth.

The one drawback here is the price. Suggested retail is a bit steep at $349.99, although right now the unit is available online at an introductory price of $299.99. That might seem a tad hefty, but is still considerably less than the Bose Soundock’s $399 price tag. Overall, we give the zKICK four and a half stars.

And ipod users, don’t fret. Kicker makes an iK500 iKICK model just for you.

Disclaimer: I received the ZK500 free of charge from SCC Grossman Public Relations in exchange for my unbiased review.

Recommended: Yes