Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air

The sound overall is VERY impressive, and at times with the right recordings & apple lossless format are AMAZING! The D/A Converter and separate amps for each driver may account in part for the superior over the original Zeppelin.

The Sub creates to much bass of which can become muddy at times.
It may be the cross-over placing too much music on 50 Watt Sub (away from the mids) or a DSP Bass issue.
The 'Sub' takes on more of the music then it can playback cleanly.
With certain musical passages this 'thudsy' like sound is not at all apparent.
(certain electronic space music or certain rock songs with vocals)

Reading that people are lowering the bass eq or raising the treble on their ipod is a mistake cause NO Eq should be used with the Zeppelin Air! (needs to be off)
(this according to B&W, due to its own complex internal DSP)

Listening to the Rolling Stones "lady Jane" on the Zeppelin Air was s t u n n i n g.

The 'lower end' sounds over the top sound that often overwhelms the mids!!
Rating it 3 stars, based on my unit with major glitch and with the low end sound being less then high end like.

12 of 16 people found this useful

I picked it up at the Apple store yesterday they have limited units on stock!
Install was easy - thanks to "JS" for the advice to first update the FW it was realy helpfull without any problems. Sound and Bass is better than the most Hometheatres specialy in this price range.
I´m so happy that i spent this amount of money for the Zeppelin Air. After you have it running at home you feel its worth every penny!

4 of 4 people found this useful

Extremely difficult to connect it to the wifi network. Actually, I haven't been able to properly connect it yet. It connects for 4-5 minutes afterward disconnects. I've expected way more from a company like b&w. A pair of speakers hooked to an airport might be a better option.

12 of 29 people found this useful

First off, the apple retail stores, now have this item in stock for sale. I ran down to replace my original zeppelin....When I got home ..I immediately hooked my iphone directly to the unit...the sound was about on par with the original...the bass was definitely a little overpowering...so I went to equilizer and turned treble boost on...and I liked the sound better.....but the verdict was still a hold out for me...so I went..the setup requires you to connect the ethernet cable directly to your computer, mac or windows....I did and went thru the set up process..important you follow the setup to the tee....wait for the blinking lights to stop and turn solid purple ect.....I also recommend you download remote app from app store...it free and will see your whole library.....of songs...ok now, I dont know if its my imagine...but the sound from airplay actually sounds better and fuller than the direct connection....amazing quality from these speakers....you can even control the volume from your iphone ipad or ipod touch....the sound is incredible..that with airplay working wirelessly...Bowers and Wilkins have a home run product on their hands..highly recommended..im so glad I sold my old unit to upgrade to this.

4 of 7 people found this useful

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.

6 of 6 people found this useful

Sound quality for such a small loud speaker system is really great. A set of two I think would be even better. The Bass on one unit however does not really perform all that well at high volume ranges, though it does not crack at high volumes, a noticeable decrease in bass sound quality is most definitely noted. So if you have a playlist like I do that has music with some bounce, you might be a bit disappointed when cranking it up. As a side note I would like to see B&W provide the option for an external Sub Woofer that will pair with my Zeppelin Air to add an increased dimension, and reach my desired musical listing satisfaction. Good Purchase

9 of 11 people found this useful

Packaging is beautiful. And the hardware design is stunning. Very solid and it looks great in any room. Obviously, it is very easy to get going. Plug it in the wall, hook up an iPod, and you’re off.

HOWEVER, getting it on the network was a problem. Followed the instructions to a T. I kept ending up with a red flashing light. I reset, reset, reset to no avail. I started getting quite frustrated. Finally, I just began turning it on and off and it eventually showed up in iTunes. No idea how or why and I can’t recall the steps so it can be reproduced. Just glad I got it going. Works fine now from my iPhone and MacBook Pro.

Initial feeling is that the sound is great but needs some breaking in to get to max enjoyment.

303 of 380 people found this useful