Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

I plugged in the Ethernet, my router assigned an IP, and I did zero config. Works great.

AirPlay is working flawlessly. I streamed audio from Real Race HD, sounded like I was at Indy.

Listened to The Beatles, Led Zepplin, MIchael Jackson, Sting and the Police... Simply amazing reproduction.

I ran optical audio out from my TV to the 3.5mm optical aux in on the ZA, watching the Flyers and can hear every hit, crashing into the boards, AND the puck when it hits the pipes. Beautiful sound.

I bought this not knowing if I would like it. But once I installed it, it was the best thing ever. I can play my songs using my iphone, ipad and ipod over wifi and control the volume on it too! The sound is great! I would surely recommend this!

The sound is astonishingly good. This is a relatively small product that feels like a huge sound system. The design is gorgeous, sleek but solid (the black back looks so much better than the previous chrome one.) However, the wireless setup was working fine until I updated the firmware. After that it became extremely frustrating to open the setup webpage, many times it would just not open for more than 30 minutes. And even after setting it up all correctly with my home network, the Zeppelin often doesn't show up on my iTunes. I really hope they can fix this issues with a firmware update because this product has the potential to be my ideal sound system.

I have had it for a couple of days. Initially when I set it up, I was quite disappointed with the quality of the sound. I started playing with positioning of the speaker; I tried elevating it, turning it, putting it a little distance from a wall, then back...and yes I found the sweet spot. As with any speaker, positioning of one makes a big difference.

I have been waiting for the "air" to come out for a couple of reasons; one - new set of speakers, each supported by an individual amp (which makes a huge difference when you crank it up, creating almost no distortion), two - capability of listening to my music from an iPhone without docking - which is very handy when you change stations that run off of apps, otherwise you would have to get up to do so.

Overall, this is an excellent speaker set. I am considering getting another one for a my bedroom after I test it for a few weeks.

It took me more than two hours to finally succeed to turn the device light into purple so that I could setup the airplay feature. The sound is truly extraordinary but I just hope not to have to reset the wireless connection all over again...

I have had my Zeppelin for 6 months. I truly believe that there are now many great sound systems in the Zeppelin category. However, this system is just a step ahead. No one can argue with the sound of any B&W speaker. True audiophile sound and absolutely beautiful design. Check it out, well worth it!

This is by far the best iPod speaker on the market. We picked up ours at a local Magnolia HiFi store and ended up using it as a sound bar for the tv as well as a wireless speaker system from our iMac. It's pricey but nothing else like it even comes close to the amazing sound this thing produces.

Had it delivered yesterday. By the end of the day yesterday wanted to throw it out of the window. Followed set up advice to the letter and got nowhere. Had to do complete restore this morning and tried again. No luck. Factory restor again - the finally decided to use iPhone iOS route to set up. Worked first time and now listening to the satisfying deep, crisp boom of my tunes. Worth the trouble I think.
Go for it!

I cannot do an "update " or further review from same account but I wrote the " Useless and Being Returned " review below on Dec 23. I feel obliged to update review, as I have now been able to get the Zeppelin working. The set up as per the instructions did not work ( nor the alternatives from the B & W website ) and I had given up when I wrote the review , but finally I was able, almost by accident, to get a " work around " using "the Network and Sharing Center" function in Windows 7 without the Zeppelin set up page ( via provided IP address) ever appearing. No matter how many times I tried, the IP address was not recognised by any PC or Mac I used. Also, it will still not work with my iPod classic ( 4th generation) docked, as the iPod will not recognise the Zeppelin. They need to do something about this because as advertised it is meant to work with an iPod classic . However, with an iPod Touch 4thGen, connecting through AirPlay and also streaming direct, from iTunes on my PC , again via AirPlay, it is a great device. The wireless operation is fantastic, assuming you can get it working. As for sound quality, I also own a Bose SoundDock in the UK and the Zeppelin is at least as good as the Bose ( although I have not tried the new SoundDock 10 wireless via Bluetooth for true comparison of Bluetooth wireless v AirPlay wireless). I would say the sound quality is therefore good but I would not go beyond that because it is expensive for what it is, sound wise, and as others have said there is some distortion at high volume I see that some have disliked the shape and look. I actually like it and it looks particularly good in any room, with furniture tailored to a modern, minimalist look.

I have owned an old pair of B&W DM14 speakers and this is just as good