Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air Speakers

I've been working with the Zeppelin Air for a client during the last week, and the Zeppelin has great sound, but I've encountered a few usage issues.

First, if you unplug it from the wall, there is no internal battery backup for the settings, so if you move it to another room, be prepared to use an Ethernet cable again to set up the wireless network and password.

Also, whenever I've undocked an iPad 2 from it, I've had to press the power button again briefly for it to be recognized by AirPlay again. If I don't, iTunes doesn't see it as a speaker. I assume this would apply to all iOS devices, but I've only tested it with an iPad 2.

Setting up Airplay is driving me Crazy!! It has been 4 days now.

Picked one up today from the Black Friday Sale in Australia.
Very Good Packaging.
Stylish Unit and Impeccable Build.
Using it on a iPhone 4S.
Crystal Clear Sound.
Perfect Bass.
Great Mid's.
No Distortion.
Neat Remote Unit.
Highly Recommend !!

Superb quality, took bit time in setting up air but no issues like some had. Love every beat from it, need to make sure idevice doesn't have volume to full.

Not a novice with setting up audio and computers. Have A+ certification on Operating systems and Hardware.......I say this because....During setup, had numerous errors and problems....sometimes worked, other-times didn't...Called B&W....they gave me completely different instructions to setup different than instructions with unit..Finally unit stopped working and B&W told me to return because it seemed a defective unit......LOTS of other websites where people are having same issues....I spent 6-7 hours a day for 3 days before giving up.
I must say B&W speakers are some(if not) of the best you can buy anywhere...totally top of the line....but the Zepp air is a product that shouldnt be at market....buyer beware

This is tremendously frustrating since I bought it online (US Military living overseas) so it is impossible to return, can not get the system to pair with my Apple desktop, the Led keeps blinking and will not go solid as advertised, what an enormous waste of money - I would tell you how great the sound is if I could hear it!

Picked one of these up the other day for my living room as I had been spending the last few months trying to decide the best way to get a sound system setup for casual listening. Something that wouldn't take up a lot of space, but still sound great. This definitely fits the bill. My main use will be streaming to it from my iTunes library.

I have a bit of a background in audio production / mixing so I'm quite picky when it comes to what I spend my money on, let me tell you when you read a review that says this thing sounds great, it really does. Of course, it helps to start with good quality music. I imagine low bit rate MP3's would be awful, and this system might even bring out the flaws in them more so than another speaker of lesser quality.

My iTunes library is all in Apple lossless format and whether I'm playing The Beatles, Neil Young, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Tracy Chapman, Gorillaz, Eminem, Nine Inch Nails, or Tool this system performs. It sounds clear, smooth, full and balanced. Separation between instruments / vocals is excellent. Anybody who says "there's not enough bass" is simply misspoken. They may prefer more bass sure, but this system has a balanced and natural amount of bass as far as I'm concerned. For me, more would be bad. If you need more, EQ to your own personal preferences.

Just to wrap it up, a lot of the online reviews complain about two things a) it's expensive and b) the stereo imaging / separation is poor unless you are listening from within 2-5'.

Well my answer to that is;

a) You get what you pay for, and when it comes right down to it for an all in one compact system of this quality, the price is what it is. Personally I don't think it's unreasonable.

b) This is not a flaw in the unit, but a limitation of physics. The way stereo imaging works (your ability to distinguish between the left / right speaker channels for a good stereo effect), is that the closer the left / right channels are together, the closer you have to sit in front of the speakers. The farther apart they are, the farther you need to sit. If you want good stereo imaging from 10' away, then the left / right speakers have to have a distance of 10' between them. Now I don't know about you, but I think having this thing 10' wide would defeat the purpose no? This is after all a speaker dock is it not? It's meant for quality, casual listening. If you want the ultimate hi-fi stereo setup where you can adjust your listening distance accordingly then buy the ultimate hi-fi stereo system, but be sure to have the proper sized room for it!

I must say that this is the sweetest sounding set I have bought. It was super easy to set up and the sound fills my town home. I have already told friends about it and bought one as a gift for my brother.

B&W great job!

I am lost for words, the speakers arived in 2 days And ever since I got this it blasted the sound through my flat it was phenomenal never go a day without music a must buy! It's worth every penny!