Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air Speakers

The quality of sound from this speaker exceeds that of my B&W MM1's, just. And that's saying something. The ZA edges out the MM1s because ZA will fill a very large room with gorgeous, rich, warm music whereas the MM1s are designed to be heard at close quarters. As with the MM1s, there is a very effective sound-stage, giving each instrument its own space floating outside the speaker enclosure. It makes for mesmerising listening.

Treble is crisp and true; midranges are warm and open, bass is authoritative and tight.

The fact that the ZA uses its own high quality digital-to-analogue converter instead of the cheap one inside your computer/iPhone/iPad (even over AirPlay) raises the quality of the sound it produces way, way ahead of other speaker docks.

Result: it sounds gorgeous.

AirPlay adds another dimension. (Unlike some reviewers I had no problems setting it up - it took no more than five minutes and worked first time). I use it with my O2 wireless router to stream music from my Mac Book Pro, iPhone and iPad. The Mac Book and iPad give a rock-steady feed that never drops. The iPhone link is prone to drop-outs maybe once each hour - it might be because of the poor phone reception in my area and interference from the phone's constant attempts to pick up a carrier. I don't know.

One thing is for sure: this is the best-sounding set of speakers I have ever bought and I absolutely recommend the ZA to anyone wanting to hear their favourite music at its very best.

The only criticism I have is that the bass is slightly too over-pronounced even when adjusted to the -3 setting provided by the speaker's software. An ability to go to -4 would be appreciated.

If you love music, its a no-brainer. Get one!

5 of 5 people found this useful

Bought the Zeppelin Air along with an iMac back in early January, it had been sat in its box since, till last week.

Fired it up with the ipod touch to start with and All Along the Watchtower, Mr Ferry's version from his album Dylanesque. Room filling, pin sharp sound out of such a small unit is astounding.

Followed the Air set up to the letter, done and dusted in under 5 minutes. Took it to the furthest point away from the Virgin router and streamed the same track. If there was any difference in the quality, my old ears couldn't detect it, all I got was the same blisteringly fantastic reproduction as I had from the ipod.

Was it worth the £500? Yes. Does it deliver what it says on the box? Yes. Am I pleased? Yes.

Unlike my old Nakamichi Soundspace system, or any other for that matter, this delivers and does so anywhere in the house with only the power cord to worry about.

In closing, I reripped my whole collection to Apple Lossless, a time consuming affair, but worth it.

It's your choice, I made mine and don't regret it.

4 of 4 people found this useful

Firstly let me state that this is an excellent piece of kit, it looks and sounds very good and the air play feature is very good indeed (using my iphone 4 to access my entire library on my mini mac). Got to say though that the sound quality is better when your iphone/ipod/ipod touch is docked, but it's not something that will deter you. Just make sure you position it well and you'll probably have to reduce the bass as well.
I've also got my Sky HD, PS3 and XBox 360 running through it via HDMI cables to the tv and an optical cable from the tv to the zeppelin. The sound is handled well and transferring from one source to the next is a breeze.
One problem i have encountered is if you have tv shows or movies from itunes stored on your mac you may experience problems when you start playing one (it keeps pausing). To overcome this i've found that if you start the tv show/film and then select the source on the zeppelin via the remote it will be ok (if you select the source first and then press play it will keep pausing).
So overall brilliant, you shouldn't hesitate to buy!

5 of 6 people found this useful

IOS 5.1 seems to have fixed the issue that many people have encountered with the iPhone 4s, including myself. The is no cutting out every 10 seconds and I haven't had any other issues since downloading the update.

All in all, there's now no reason to prevent people from buying this speaker. My setup went smoothly and as long as your network is stable you can let the speaker do the talking.....incredible sound!!!!

6 of 9 people found this useful

I've only just got this and the jury is still out.

It looks gorgeous of course but I'm not too sure about the sound. This is the first speaker system I've ever had that interfaces with my iMac and iPhone so I'm not sure whether the Zeppelin is just reflecting the shortcomings of the hardware.

Sound from the iMac is far superior than from the iPhone. When playing from the iMac the bass is truly awesome, if not a little overpowering. I think placement has a lot to do with the quality of the sound output. Its currently on a set of cabinets and I've noticed quite a bit of "boom". The sound quality when its placed on the stone hearth of my fire place results in better, more solid sound although its then at the wrong height. As this product is clearly designed to be placed on coffee tables and other items of furniture B&W must have anticipated the "boom" effect resulting from less solid/stable surfaces. Maybe they should also sell a dedicated stand?

All in all, I am still unsure about the sound. i've experimented with everything from hip-hop, pop, jazz; easy listening and acoustic and have found the sound to be a bit cluttered, especially the bass. I've also played around with the equalisation. The treble isn't very crisp and vocals seem subdued. Its a bit like having a very high quality ghetto blaster and does not really replicate what you would ordinarily expect from two separate speakers. But maybe my expectations were too high to begin with? Plus my room is really big.

19 of 35 people found this useful

I bough one a year ago - it was so good I bough another one this year. Using Airplay from iPhone, iPad or Mac anywhere in the house to listed to music. Terrific bass too.

4 of 6 people found this useful

B&W has made the perfect combination : airplay , nice design and really good sound!!!

3 of 4 people found this useful

Ive had my Zeppelin Air for over a week now and its driving me nuts!! First of all when Airplay works it sounds amazing and if it worked id be giving 5 stars!!
I have a O2 wireless router, it worked fine first time then the Airplay symbol vanished from my iphone. So i went and bought a Devolo wireless extender so this is in the kitchen with the ZA. worked a treat and the Airplay symbol came up. but the problem is when you put the ZA in standby or turn the power off all together. When you turn it back on and try to sync your phone...Nothing! the only way to solve it in my case is remove the power cord and replace turn on, and there she is the symbol again.
Ive read lots of people are having the same trouble i hope an update etc will sorted.

just annoying how much the ZA costs and you have to mess around with it so much!!

11 of 20 people found this useful

Like most people reading the reviews I'd been looking for a decent speaker ideally with Airplay. I spent a bit of time researching everything from Bose (best audio but Bluetooth only...no Airplay), Libratone (most expensive, question over audio performance to due shape), iHome iW1 (portable but average audio) so decided on the Zeppelin Air.

First impressions looks slick, heavier than expected and great audio (position important...not too near a wall). Setup pretty straightforward but read the setup guide and follow the steps to avoid making mistakes or you'll be resetting it.

Airplay was one of the main reasons for purchasing the Zeppelin but was problematic until: 1) A firmware update (needs USB cable..not provided) and 2) Router setup changes as other wireless devices can mess up the airplay connection to your device. Playing around with your Router is the only way to sort it out so be prepared to turn off DHCP on the Zeppelin and assign a fixed IP address.

Really enjoying it now and works great with all my Apple devices.

3 of 5 people found this useful

My equipment failed.. flashing red light only... it seems the cable is not right
Quite sad really ;-)

Not sure what to do. REALLY dissapointed

14 of 28 people found this useful