Mind you, it’s important to explain that everything the Zeppelin does beautifully, it does entirely on its own terms. There’s some minor EQ adjustment available in the app - Bowers & Wilkins has demonstrably spent a lot of time and effort in getting the Zeppelin to sound the way it sounds, and the company isn’t about to let you fundamentally skew all that hard work. And there’s no gesture towards spatial audio or any other current audio faddishness. With Zeppelin, you pretty much get what you’re given.

Compared to the first generation of HomePod, there's better clarity around the upper mids, which really benefits classical and acoustic music, and the Dolby Atmos performance is incredible if you have two in a stereo pair. However the second generation HomePods are not as loud as the first gen, and the bass is a bit lighter too. They're still a huge step up from the HomePods mini, though, and the sound quality you get for the money is excellent. The app will search for the speaker and when found, prompt you to name the space within which the Zeppelin resides. Next, you’ll have to confirm your choice by pressing the multifunction button and then connect to your Wi-Fi network of choice. After you’ve received a confirmatory audio prompt, you’re good to go. The new Zeppelin has been brought up to date with Alexa built-in, so you can ask the voice assistant to play a song of your choice, or to control your smart home devices - though there are physical buttons on the top of the speaker's enclosure if you prefer.For starters, as you might expect, we wanted to ensure they have reliable AirPlay integration that works well and provides a reliable connection. First, however, the audio has to be dealt with by the Zeppelin’s DAC. A 24bit / 192kHz hi-res device, it’s currently – and inexplicably – limited to a ‘not quite so hi-res’ 24bit / 96kHz maximum file size; however, that’s likely to change for the better sooner rather than later. At the moment, the only hi-res tier accessible through the Music app is that of Qobuz, but Apple AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth 5.0 are both capable of dealing with hi-res audio from your preferred streaming service while Bowers & Wilkins sorts things out. As with previous models, a cloth grille covers the front of the speaker. Behind the grille, the new Zeppelin houses dual 1-inch, double-dome 40-watt tweeters; dual 3.5-inch, FST 40-watt midrange drivers; and a single 6-inch, 80-watt subwoofer. A 240-watt amplifier powers those components, which together deliver a frequency range of 35Hz to 24kHz. The Zeppelin is compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 and supports the AAC, AptX Adaptive, and SBC codecs. The speaker supports up to 24-bit/96kHz audio from various streaming services including Deezer, Qobuz, Tidal, and others, assuming you pay for a subscription that lets you stream at that quality. The Zeppelin also works with Apple AirPlay 2 and Spotify Connect. Zeppelin App Controls and Smart Features

As a stereo speaker, the Zeppelin successfully delivers a wider, more expansive soundstage than your average single mono unit. However, if you’re expecting the kind of stereo imaging you’d get with a pair of speakers handling left and right channels separately, you’ll need to temper your expectations. Stereo separation, while reasonable, isn’t as tangible as it would be were there two units working in tandem. It depends on your needs. In terms of pure audio fidelity, Chromecast wins; it supports 24-bit / 96Hz streaming, whereas AirPlay 2 is limited to 16-bit / 44.1Hz streaming. So, if you're looking for hi-res audio support, Chromecast is your best bet.

It comes will a full suite of connectivity options including aptX Bluetooth, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2, which means it's easy to play to it in high quality, no matter what device you're using – and that's before we get to its wired options. Given the amount of power it can call on, it’s hardly surprising to find the Zeppelin well capable of dealing with big dynamic variations in a recording. But it’s equally adept when it comes to the more nuanced harmonic discrepancies in, say, a solo piano or a steel guitar string, which makes it one of the more revealing and insightful wireless speakers you can buy for less than four figures. The B&W, for example, has a 24bit/96kHz DAC to deal with digital files, and then a total of 240 watts of Class D power to make them audible. This is divided between a pair of decoupled double-dome aluminium tweeters (lifted from the company’s pricey 600 series loudspeakers), which get 40 watts each; a couple of FST drivers also get 40 watts each with which to handle the midrange; a single, central bass driver takes the other 80 watts. But it mainly comes down to what devices you use – Android phones can't stream to AirPlay speakers by default (there are third-party options to enable this, but anything unofficial is always risky). And there tend to be more AirPlay 2 speaker options overall, especially from the more premium brands. How we test the best AirPlay speakers