Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Wireless

Aloreth

Aloreth

Aloreth

Associate
Joined
16 Aug 2005
Posts
1,372
Hello all,

So I would like to buy a nice wireless speaker. I was originally thinking of going with with a Sonos Play 5 but having done a bit of reading, it sounds as though the B&W Zeppelin is also rather good. I much prefer the look of the Zeppelin however my concern would be that I am paying more for a B&W badge than for actual music fidelity.

I think that overall, a lot of people on this forum are a big fan of Sonos so feel free to talk me into getting that instead :)

Thanks,
Mike
 
They're both good solutions but aimed at different primary markets.

If what you need is a standalone music player and there's no requirement to go multi-room in the future then the Zeppelin is a compelling choice. Quality isn't cheap, and cheap isn't quality. There's a lot of high-end technology filtered down in to the Zeppelin from B&W's premium speakers so you're not paying a premium for the name so much as the engineering excellence that lies behind the product.

As a single speaker sound solution it's hard to think of much that would compete with the sound quality of the Zeppelin Air below £500. A single Sonos Play 5 would sound good but isn't quite in the same sonic league as the Zep' Air. A couple of Sonos Play 3 working together as a stereo pair would give a better stereo spread and have the edge in terms of range of music services and the control interface. I doubt they'd have the bass weight though and they would cost marginally more after adding the wireless bridge if you're already a heavy user of wireless streaming in your home and you would benefit from Sonos running on its own network. If not then all you need is a pair of Play 3's.
 
Are you looking to upgrade from old 5 to new, or is this an add-on or a first time purchase?
 
The new one goes louder and yet keeps the bass under control. There are more drivers inside; three tweeters compared to one, and the three bass drivers are now beefier. That's partly where the extra 2kg in weight comes from in the newer model. The result is a wider sound dispersion at the treble range and deeper tighter bass.

Both are good products, and at background listening volumes the room they're in and where they're placed would make a bigger contribution to the perception of a difference. The bass response of the new Play 5 though is less influenced by proximity effect than the older ported design.
 
I bought one of the first Zeppelins, I mean on the day it was released I bought the demo system. It has since broken 3 times and currently sits broken. B&W have both times fixed it effortlessly within 48 hours, but frankly I haven't tried a 3rd time. When it works it's lovely. Looks good, sounds good and is a arty bit of hi-fi, but mine has been temperamental.

I also have a Zeppelin mini in my bedroom which I use as my alarm and to listen to audiobooks when I snooze. That has been faultless but that was again a first off the shelf job so both mine need converters to run modern iPhones, which works fine, but looks a bit crappy. The big Zeppelin is much better sounding than the small one, but both sound good for what they are.

The Muso kills both however, but it should it's twice the price of a Zeppelin but I have not heard the new mini Muso, which I suspect will also sound lovely. Im not a Sonos fan but all these mini dock type solutions have limitations and the multiroom stuff is well handled. My 2p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom