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By Eric Shelton —

Manufacturer: Bowers and Wilkins

MSRP: $ 599

Digital Amplifier

Drive Units:

2x25mm (1.0 in) double dome tweeter (see below for more)

2x90mm (3.5 in) Fixed Suspension Transducers” midrange

1x150mm (6 in) subwoofer

Auxiliary - analog (3.5mm jack)

Excellent aesthetics

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Requires proper placement for optimum sound quality

Build Quality

The internals from the Zeppelin Wireless have been completely redesigned. According to B&W they've got reengineered the enclosure using a thicker reinforced housing created using 30 percent glass fiber reinforced ABS in reducing vibrations. The enclosure has two 25mm double dome tweeters, their particular internal 800 series Diamond 90mm mid range drivers plus a 150mm long throw subwoofer. That's a great deal of impressive hardware for the lifestyle product.

The decoupled double dome tweeter is often a technology borrowed from the B&W CM line and is also now found in many of their speakers across multiple lines. The double dome starts with an aluminum dome mounted to an alternative dome which includes had it's center removed and is more like a diamond ring. Bowers and Wilkins promises that this design reduces audible distortion. To further isolate vibrations in the cabinet the complete tweeter assembly is decoupled or separated through the cabinet with a ring of gel all around the tweeter assembly.

Each driver is powered by the dedicated Class D amplifier with 25 watts for your tweeters and midrange and 50 watts towards the sub.

B&W highlights their new digital signal processor (DSP) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC), that they claim upsamples all audio to 24-bit and 192kHz sampling. I was capable of send Apple Lossless format and standard AAC, MP3, as well as some streaming formats towards the Zeppelin Wireless. I heard some notable differences when I switched between different streams, so however the speaker offers upsampling, the precise audio format did apparently make a difference inside quality regardless in the processing. Remember garbage in garbage out so be sure you feed this speaker good audio recordings and you'll be rewarded with great sound.

Setup

I did try to repeat the setup process using other methods. The manual boasts that setup can be completed through a browser with a Windows computer which it should also be capable to be create using the browser of the Android device. I had mixed success. At the time of the writing there was clearly no Android app, and although I was able to set up the Zeppelin Wireless on my network using the Edge browser along with the Chrome browser in Windows 10, it turned out by far an even more difficult and time-consuming task. But this won't surprise me, these devices is an AirPlay enabled speaker which is definitely devoted to using AirPlay to play music over Wi-Fi. Score one for Apple.

At once, the device is also Bluetooth-enabled and the Bluetooth antenna is very robust. I was in a position to connect to it quickly and seamlessly with every device I could get my hands on. This meant that I could play sound through it a Bluetooth speaker for just about any connected device. This rendered my Wi-Fi problem with my Android tablet null and void. Any stream that I could give my device could be routed to the Zeppelin Wireless.

Listening Tests

I was capable of listen to YouTube videos, SoundCloud albums, Pandora playlists, as well as as another speaker to tablet games I tinkered with my children. The device was very flexible along with the internal Bluetooth antenna was excellent, rendering sound without having to break up from just about any room during my home. If I was streaming music over Bluetooth and went upstairs, the Zeppelin Wireless seldom broke up and lost the stream.

However, Wi-Fi is where the product shines. With the new Apple Music and also the awesome library of Spotify the Zeppelin Wireless can be an excellent all-in-one, room-filling speaker.

First, the Zeppelin Wireless supports Spotify Connect. This is a technology for

Spotify Connect paid subscribers. Once established, a music stream goes directly on the Zeppelin Wireless plus your phone now acts as being a remote control for the speaker. You can change tracks and control volume, but you are no longer streaming directly from your device. So if you play a video on your phone after starting Spotify Connect, the audio from your video can play over the phone or tablets speakers without interrupting the songs stream being played by the Zeppelin Wireless. This was an excellent feature with the number of times I was listing to music from Apple Music just to interrupt it when playing videos that put their hands up on social media marketing.

On the Spotify front, you don't need to control with the streaming quality when utilizing Spotify Connect. However, you'll be able to still stream from your device towards the Zeppelin Wireless either with all the Zeppelin Wireless as an AirPlay connected speaker or through Bluetooth that you do have control with the streaming quality. However, for the most part, I was only capable of hear a little difference in quality when I switched to Bluetooth and find the lowest quality stream. Both the Spotify Connect and also the higher quality streams were indistinguishable to my ears.

If you might be unfamiliar with AirPlay, it is really a

n Apple brand for their Wi-Fi streaming technology and it works around their products. If you might be part of the Apple ecosystem then you'll be able to stream to your AirPlay-enabled device from iTunes, iPhones, iPads, and now 4th generation Apple TV's. Although I generally don't use Apple's lossless format, I did are interested in if the Zeppelin Wireless could play this along with other formats over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Zeppelin Wireless was in a position to play everything I could throw its way and although there did apparently be more definition to the lossless format at high volumes, I couldn't really distinguish between most formats I played.

Switching audio sources over AirPlay would have been a snap. One of our computers is known as our media center housing our movies and music. Using the iPhone remote app to send music to the Zeppelin Wireless was seamless and easy. This meant I could control the songs from any computer or iPhone in the house and never have to stream from my phone or tablet. Further, I also used my TV monitor's headphone jack as an auxiliary input to the Zeppelin Wireless to be able to use it as being an external speaker for my television and to hear music from my AppleTV, cable network radio, and Roku.

The Zeppelin Wireless's sound is exceptional providing surprisingly deep bass response with very accurate and bright mids and highs. Jazz sparkles around the speaker, while hearing rock and country is very entertaining and fun. Set over a table with a few distance away in the nearest wall, the B&W plays the most effective, filling the area with sound and providing enough stereo separation to be believable. Granted, the shape in the Zeppelin Wireless is clearly to deliver enough speaker separation to secure a stereo sound stage, the fact the tweeters are not any more than a meter apart does limit the stereo response. B&W claims that proper room placement and their own DSP help reestablish the soundstage despite the limited separation from the speakers.

Trombone Shorty's Hurricane Season squeeze Zeppelin through its paces. The deep bass track was meticulously reproduced and loud. The kick drum never overdrove the bass driver along with the sound was rich. The trombone sounded bright loud and handle. It's as if Shorty is right inside room with us. The cymbal crashes were crisp and clear, but moreover the sound wasn't distorted or clipped. Herbie Hancock and Dave Brubeck sounded equally good.

Switching over to rock, Peter Gabriel's Steam was breathtaking. Closing my eyes I forgot how small the speaker was. The bass line from steam was loud and relentless since the guitar and vocals come through clear. Subtle nuance in the music was amazing and the instruments were very distinct. The sound was always pleasing rather than overblown or distorted. The DSW did a great job keeping the songs balanced and accurate. The speaker has amazing presence inside midrange and vocal tracks are dynamic and natural. The crossover handily kept the bass out from the midrange speakers and provided virtually no bleed in the vocal track.

Music with more an even more synthetic production did suffer some. With the 44Hz roll off inside lower end, R&B tracks from Beyonce and Rhianna were smooth inside the vocal range, but the synthetic bass tracks had some losses. I was however, happily surprised at how well the Zeppelin continued to supply a rich even sound since the bass tracks rolled off in the bottom end.

The Zeppelin even provided an excellent upgrade to a television monitors built-in speakers. With the 35mm input or have real profit receive multiple streams, the Zeppelin became an almost seamless replacement for the built in speaker on my small television. The sound from movies jumped from your screen and filled the bedroom adding range and sounds that simply weren't being reproduced. The vocal range was punched up and bass rumble from explosions and vehicles could possibly be felt around the room.

Placement Considerations

I can't argue. The sound was phenomenal having a clearly separated audio experience as long as the Zeppelin Wireless was placed correctly. However, there was noticeable differences in quality of sound and volume determined by placement. On a table within a few feet from the provided the top audio. Also on the top of a stereo cabinet with your monitor mounted above will provide excellent audio. However, my monitor rests along with my stereo cabinet. The Zeppelin Wireless did fit perfectly inside my stereo cabinet but once inside the bookshelf like compartment, the speaker was definitely subdued with reduced bass response as well as a distinct lack of punch. Take care in placement with the Zeppelin and try out a number of locations to determine which sounds best while still being great looking.

Conclusion

While placement would be a bit finicky with this particular speaker, the Zeppelin Air sounded phenomenal. However, the consumer can encounter some issues when switching between sources around the Zeppelin. Switching between Bluetooth devices produces a recurring problem: In order for one device to stop playing and another to consider over I often had to not only stop playing in the first device, but sometimes disconnect it from Bluetooth and reestablish an association with the other device. More than once I was required to make the very first device ignore the Zeppelin. Although that procedure is inconvenient and annoying, no less than the Zeppelin does connect quickly. This also required pressing the Bluetooth button the unit itself to be able to initiate the paring.

Next switching from Bluetooth to airplay was actually easy and usually seamless, but there were disturbing and abrupt changes in volume that I still feel a separate DSP should be capable to smooth out. Switching relating to the Zeppelin along with other AirPlay speakers was simple as well as the Zeppelin could be played in a multiple speaker arrangement with AirPlay speakers, but switching in the AirPlay for the auxiliary jack required a lot of negotiating and didn't always work exactly the same each time. The Zeppelin didn't prioritize the auxiliary input and there is not a way to select it directly in the Zeppelin itself. Once I remarked that you had to push the play button the top to choose the auxiliary input, I was in a position to switch easily. Further complicating this became the monitors' own volume output was often at odds while using Zeppelin, requiring both being adjusted to locate a pleasing range.

All of those problems are really minor considering how good the Zeppelin Air sounds. The Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin Wireless doesn't come cheap with an MSRP of $599 but the tech it packs can be a cut above most in the competition. This is really a crowded field of speakers and also to distinguish yourself you will need to bring something different The Zeppelin is unquestionably eye catching, even better, its flexibility and setup belies a deep rich listening experience.

lovinthehd posts on May 26, 2016 23:22

The only speaker with this type I've heard so far was obviously a friend's HK Onyx (unclear which model tho) which surprised me a bit about how good it sounded. Wonder how they'd compare….

BoredSysAdmin posts on May 26, 2016 11:04

For clarity sake:

is a bit less than 6" driver.

gene posts on May 25, 2016 23:36

The B&W Zeppelin Wireless line has evolved, losing the iPod dock and only a mostly all-wireless design. Although the form factor has always been largely unchanged, this football-shaped amplified speaker packs huge sound in a very relatively small package.

The Zeppelin Wireless’s flexible setup with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity makes this forward-looking speaker a delight despite its hefty price.

Read: Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin Wireless Speaker Review