Reviews for Bowers & Wilkins A7 AirPlay Wireless Music System

I bought this item to replace my bose soundlink to play music throughout the house. This unit fills the house with highs & lows. Very well balanced and clear sound, I don't think its even possible to distort the sound even at the highest volume. Set up was extremely easy using the set up app available for ipad or iphone. I was however expecting the range using airplay to be significantly greater than I experienced with my bluetooth bose but that has not been the case. It cuts out if I walk outside or move behind 2 closed doors. That said airplay does offer other advantages over bluetooth. This unit connects to any device easy once you are logged onto the same network. I would buy this speaker alone just for the sound it produces (and I will for a second one in the bedroom).

I just got this system about two weeks ago from my girlfriend. I own a small 500sft flat in HK, so I need to optimize every inch. Most of the premium hi-fi solutions out there require at least two tower speakers which eat up at least 2 ft x 5 ft floor space. A7 takes up 1.18 x 0.52 ft, a fraction and many cables replaced by the power & optical audio from TV. Simple and sexy. Sound is PHENOMENALLY BETTER than 99% of tower speaker systems out there. Avoiding audiophile lingo here, but key points:

• Vocals: crystal clear.
• Bass: deep, resilient without muffle. No drowning.
• Mids: rich and bountiful, timber heaven. (ex. Michael Buble)
• Trebles sparkle,never wince (ex Sarah McLachlan’s live version of “good enough” or “Fear”) .
• All true at EVERY volume level.
• All are NOT mutually exclusive – T,M,B evenly balanced at every level.
• You will WANT to pick up a new hobby in Jazz music.
• Modern music and vocals sound better than classical music, because of narrow sound stage. Still sounds brilliant, but not as impressive as modern music. Not a deficiency, a plus for modern and a neutral for classical.
• You will NEVER listen to these speakers past the 60% volume level, because they are just THAT powerful.
• No dock (like the zeppelin) is NOT a deficiency, because docks are obsolete with Airplay. OBSOLETE! This is completely wireless.
• Better than Bluetooth, because: 1) no signal degradation. 2) confusion about the different BT standards. Period.
• Airplay does NOT require turning on Bluetooth on your iphone. This is huge. It’s not just one step you’re saving. Airplay is always on. Period.
• Airplay can control multiple speakers from your computer; BOTH the A7 and on my computer speakers. Flexibility is a simple and powerful solution.
• The 3.5 headphone jack = optical toslink receptor. Huge. Can connect it to the TV and use it for big movies in a small space.
• A7 are expensive but worth every penny, and considering the quality of sound they represent comparatively to a larger system plus the smaller foot print, they are actually very good value for money.

The A7 sounds bigger and more palpable than the Zeppelin Air. I purchased an A7 Yesterday and from the first song I played there was a noticeable difference in sound.
I find that the A7 has a slightly wider soundstage with a little more depth into the music. During my comparison with the Zeppelin Air, I played several unplugged jazz songs. The Zeppelin Air managed to hold it's own in terms of dynamics and the delicate handling of vocals and upper mid range, but the A7 just seemed to do all of the above more accurately. It's surprising how B&W managed to take the same components and amplification of the Zeppelin Air and make it sound more lifelike. It bogles my mind how such big sound can come out of such a small box.

I would say that the extra $200.00 is worth it.

I was on my way to the local electronics store to buy a wireless shelf speaker for my new condo. I did the research, and decided on a Bose SoundLink Air. But while in the store the salesman pointed to two empty spots awaiting their shipment of the A5 and A7. So I waited and waited, and they weren't coming for another month or two. I decided to purchase the A7 on the Apple online store, my first time doing so, and couldn't have been happier. The item shipped in 4 business days, and the speaker itself is fantastic. Feels like a quality piece of technology. Setup was easy, and the sound is great. Overall, I am happy with the ease and convenience of the online purchase, and the A7. The Bose was nice, but the A7 has the class and quality I was really looking for.

If you like your music and want the best Airplay speaker available...this is it!!! I have always liked the sound of Bowers and Wilkins speakers and actually have the 704's hooked up to my separates which sound unbelievable! I wanted something for my bedroom and auditioned several speaker docks. The A7 was by far the best sounding speaker I heard. I find Bose WAY overhyped and very tinny. The A7 won't replace floor standing speakers with a separate receiver but it does sound excellent for what it is and looks very elegant as well. It is a very balanced, neutral sounding speaker that can play any genre of music well...and LOUD! It's not cheap but in life...you do get what you pay for.

Spoke to Tech Support. They were great. Showed me how to trouble shoot App. Speaker is excellent. App needs some work and is getting poor reviews. Just link speaker first to your network after you plug in. Then follow app instructions. Also at the end even though App stays in a making connection loop speaker is connected when purple light is solid. Go to airplay and play.

B&W is known for their balanced sound and they have managed to retain their signature sound in a small bookshelf speaker with the A7.

Before deciding on B&W I was interested in small footprint wireless speaker system with great sound. I looked at both bluetooth and wifi speakers, including Sonos. Bluetooth just does not have the sound due to bandwidth and speaker sizes on the market, and Sonos whilst offering a great solution sounds muffled. Bang of Olufsen has some interesting speakers on offer, however they are far more expensive and do not sound as balanced as B&W. I ended up comparing the A7 and McIntosh McAire. I did like the McAire but at 4x the price of the A7 it did not sound 4x much better, and it looked like a typical stereo where the A7 has a unobtrusive style.

Some people complain of the A7 only supporting 802.11g rather than n, I ended up running it via ethernet using powerline ethernet.

Apart from what appears to be some networking issues with TP-Link powerline gear (not related to B&W) and some minor bugs for Apple to sort out in Airplay the A7 provides a truly amazing sound for such a small footprint speaker.

I love this speaker. Clear sound and no distortions when played loudly. Additionally, perfect for my small apartment - warm sound, typical of B&W offerings.

Easy to set up.

Highly Recommended!

My first generation Zeppelin died a loud and unpleasant death. Having been on for several days and getting a lot of play, I heard - grrrrrr, BANG! My Zeppelin self destructed. For a moment I thought it just didn't want to play any more Bob Dylan - that can't be true. It was five years old and had provided many hours of enjoyment. I loved it's deep, rich, full sound.

Now it came time to select a replacement. Having had a previous occurrence with my Zeppelin of a bad power supply requiring me to send it to the service depot for repair, I was reluctant to buy another B&W product. I had a Sonos Connect allowing the Zeppelin to be part of my home listening system. So, I was looking for powered desktop/book shelf speakers to connect to the Sonos. I also have several Sonos powered speakers scattered around in various rooms, but I never thought the sound was any better than passable. I listened to several other offerings. None of them had the richness of my Zeppelin. I did not need a iPhone/iPod/iPad dock. I just needed a good powered speaker for my office. I had no way to listen to the A7 prior to purchase, but I was taken by B&W's claim that the A7 had their highest quality amps for best playback on their renowned speakers. Digital optical input to the amps should be ideal. So, I bought it.

I thought that my Zeppelin was the hottest thing on the market for my purposes. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the A7 out performed the Zeppelin - to my ears. The sound is rich and dynamic. I generally don't like heavily accented bass. But the A7 has very clearly distinguished bass while not being overdone. The channel separation is as good as one can expect from a single desktop speaker. I like to use Bob Dylan's "Man in the long black coat" as a measure of my sound systems. The opening provides very clear channel separation and instrument isolation. The A7 is not my Mark Levinson/Thiel CS2.7 combination, but it's pretty darn good.

Several reviewers have been disappointed with the WiFi, and I am too. It's the only reason I rated the A7 as four stars rather than a perfect five. Luckily, my Sonos Connect has an ethernet output that connects directly to the A7. This way when I want to use the A7 independently from the Sonos music system, the A7 can access the internet via the B&W app. WiFi problem solved.