The double-dome tweeters produced wonderfully crisp trebles that retained a clean, natural quality no matter what volume I was listening at. At no point in time did trebles become overly harsh and they were always balanced supremely well with the other elements of the Zeppelin’s presentation. It's a very flexible speaker and by far the best if you want to setup a Sonos surround system. You can also access the Sonos app to support AirPlay 2, Bluetooth 5.0, line-in, Hi-Res and (of course) Dolby Atmos. So, if you're after a high-quality wireless speaker then look no further. The same recording allows the Zeppelin to show off its dynamic prowess, both in giving the spaces in the song their due, and in putting authentic distance between the quietest and loudest moments. And it’s equally attentive to the smaller dynamic variances in the harmonics of individual instruments. By the prevailing standards of wireless speakers (or, at least, those wireless speakers that don’t cost well into four figures), it’s an insightful and revealing device. Convincingly organised and with a precise ear for rhythms, the B&W stays coherent and coordinated even in the dense orchestral climax. It’s pricier rivals show it up in absolute timing, but it’s agile enough for its level.

Sonos was generous enough to launch two new wireless speakers to its range in 2023. And out of the two, the Era 300 is the more premium version – we went as far to say in our review that it is on a whole new level when it comes to dispersing sound. Naim Audio is a company that produces some of the most stylish connected speakers in the business, and we think the Mu-So Qb 2nd Generation is the best it's put out yet.With Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreakplaying via Tidal, the Naim controls the strangely chilly low frequencies well. Once on board and DAC’d, the audio information is served up by a five-strong driver array powered by a total of 240 watts of Class D amplification. At each pointy end of the enclosure there’s a 25mm double-dome tweeter of the type Bowers & Wilkins debuted on its award-winning 600 Series range of loudspeakers.Voice control: Alexa, Google | Hi-res audio: No | Spotify Connect: Yes | Apple AirPlay: 2 | Wi-Fi: Yes | Ethernet: Yes | Dimensions: 161 x 120 x 120mm 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. It sports a tactile lacquered wooden surface that lights up as you interact with it. We’ve seen for ourselves how these speakers are made, and we can tell you that plenty of care goes into selecting the wood and sanding it down by hand.

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. What you’re not getting is Chromecast or DLNA support – although B&W tells us an upgrade to add compatibility for the latter is in the pipeline. B&W has gone for Alexa and AirPlay 2 here, rather than Google Assistant and Chromecast – and if you’ve never used the last two before, you won’t miss them now. But if these features are important to you, it’s important to note that they’re unavailable here. One of the rare downsides to the device is that the treble can be a bit dull, and overpowered by the bass. This can have in impact on the intelligibility of voices, which could have an impact on its value as part of a movie-viewing experience. The spatial performance was solid, though we expected more wideness considering the physical shape of the Zeppelin, which allows significant separation of speakers.It’s giving away both power and drivers to the other two here, but nevertheless it gives a widescreen and punchy account of itself. And the integrated phono stage, which is such a rarity in products like this, proves to be more than adequate – all of that warmth and harmonic subtlety vinyl-fanciers fetishise is delivered by the Ruark. In fact, the overall balance is probably on the ‘warm’ side of neutral regardless of the source of music. Don’t let the primary colours fool you: for the money, the Ultimate Ears is a remarkably accomplished-sounding little device. It does manful low-frequency work without getting carried away, and it’s as detailed and balanced through the rest of the frequency range as anyone dare hope. Want to keep costs down without completely compromising performance? This is where your money should go. During our testing, we decided it sounds better than ever, too. If your priority is finely balanced and full-range sound that has the kind of natural sound and attention to detail of hi-fi speakers, Bowers and Wilkins has you covered. And while it isn’t a substitute for an actual pair ofstereo speakers, the Zeppelin serves up a wide, well-defined and endlessly engaging sound, no matter the genre of music – though the Sonos Era 300 maybe has is slightly beaten on the stereo effect. It's not exactly cheap, but in this case the price seems absolutely justified. Either side of that you’ll find a 90mm mid-range driver, using the same Fixed Suspension Transducer technology deployed by the company’s flagship – and super-expensive – 800-series speakers. This lineup is driven by a total of 240 watts of Class-D power.