B&W FORMATION DUO WIRELESS LOUDSPEAKERS

In this magazine’s previous coverage of Bowers & Wilkins, we have focused on the highest echelons of the company’s loudspeakers — the 800 Series Diamond, as famously installed in Abbey Road Studios and widely considered one of the world’s great designs.

But of course B&W’s loudspeaker ranges extend to more affordable offerings, most recently the 600 Series, which trickle that high-end technology down to speakers more easily accommodated and purchased by those perhaps less affluent, yet still of discerning taste.

Now something new — although long-expected and awaited, ever since B&W was taken over in 2016 by Silicon Valley start-up EVA Automation. Finally now, here it is — the B&W Formation Suite, a collection of five new products that communicate via a proprietary mesh wireless network able to stream up to high-resolution 24-bit/96kHz audio. Each Formation product has connectivity options including traditional home networking via Ethernet and Wi-Fi, plus Apple’s AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, Roon readiness, and Bluetooth aptX HD streaming.

MAKING A BETTER PRODUCT

So this is a wireless multiroom platform, capable of playing and streaming music in each room individually, or the same music to all connected rooms. Is this, like HEOS, Bluesound, MusicCast and others, an attempt to take on the Sonos space?

“Well I think that’s fair,” replied B&W Australia’s John Martin when we put this to him. “They’re the reference everyone uses, so when we say we have twice the resolution of the market-leading product, that’s who we’re talking about. And what we’re trying to do is exactly what they set out to do — to make the music more available and more accessible for typical everyday consumers, not a niche hobby for audiophiles.”

In which case it’s hard not to suggest that B&W has taken its time getting here. Yet notably, like