B&W Zeppelin Air

Back in 2007 Bowers & Wilkins entered the consumer audio market with the MM-1 desktop speakers and quickly followed it up with the original Zeppelin. The Zeppelin was an unknown quantity when it was initially released because of its now trademark airship-like shape. With the Zeppelin B&W, did no harm to their reputation as the dock sounded like a million dollars and was relatively affordable considering the other products in the company portfolio. The Zeppelin Air pushes the envelope further as it adds Apple Airplay support and includes updated mid-range drivers and tweeters, along side a beefier sub-woofer. So is it worth the hype?


DESIGN

When we saw the Zeppelin initially, inventive was the word that came to mind. The simplest way to describe the product would be to compare it to an abnormally elongated egg. The same holds true for the Zeppelin Air as, looks-wise, nothing much has changed except the fact that the original chrome finish at the rear has been replaced by a more classy glossy black plastic finish.

All ports are housed in the rear. We get the standard auxiliary port, component ports and USB along side the new ethernet port for AirPlay and power port. As always, the dock connector is in the front. Keeping up-to-date with changes in mobile computing technology, the dock connector can support an iPad. Most probably, B&W reinforced the base of the dock connector making it more sturdy for iPad compatibility.

In keeping with the design of the dock, B&W also provides an egg-shaped remote control which, frankly, looks adorable. One gripe one may have with it is that the battery compartment of the remote is covered with rubber which can be quite a pain to attach.

Build quality is exemplary even by B&W standards, with the Zeppelin being constructed of a mesh like fabric and having a rock sold plastic covering in the rear. When paying in excess of Rs 40000 for an iPod dock, quality is what is expected and that is exactly what we get. In comparison to the slightly cheaper Bose and JBL offerings, the build quality is light years ahead and we are guessing that is a tradeoff most will be willing to swallow considering the amount of money being invested.