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The best new tech heading your way
1 B&W ZEPPELIN PRO EDITION
£699, bowers-wilkins.com
B&W’s Zeppelin legacy began life as an iPod dock, back when iPods were a thing, and was resurrected a couple of years ago as perhaps the most iconic one-unit speaker on the market – one which impressed us not only with its imposing looks but also with its sound, which borrowed tech from high end gear and brought it down to a commodity price point. News, then, of this Pro Edition has us all aquiver, and it certainly seems like Bowers and Wilkins hasn’t forgotten to make it amazing.
The company has pulled the same tech-duping tricks as before, pulling down the proprietary Titanium Dome tweeters used in its high-end 600-series speakers, for example, and offering the midrange drivers the same Fixed Suspension Transducer system which steadies its premium floorstanding loudspeakers.
All these changes are designed to tease a cleaner and more agile sound from the already brilliant Zeppelin form, so good on B&W for attempting the impossible. Better multiroom and hi-res connectivity is another bonus – and unlike Marantz’s debut speaker, which you’ll find later on in these pages, this is affordable enough even in Pro form that you might just be able to take advantage of it throughout the house.
Yes, things have changed since 2022. The original Zeppelin has shrunk somewhat against bombastic challengers. But this is no Hindenburg. We can’t help but feel that B&W’s efforts will reflate the one-time sector leader, and we can’t wait to have one sitting on our shelf.
COLOUR US SURPRISED
Its predecessor was the ‘any colour you like, as long as it’s black’ of blimp-shaped speakers, but this comes in Apple-baiting ‘Space Grey’ and a brownish Solar Gold variety. Underneath, you get customisable downlighting, in your choice of 15 hues.