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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Bowers & Wilkins today unveiled a new Formation Suite of high-end home audio products with support for Apple's wireless streaming protocol AirPlay 2.

bowers-wilkins-formation-series-airplay-800x446.jpg

The new line includes five wireless products at launch, including the three-channel Formation Bar, carbon-domed Formation Duo speakers, elliptical-shaped Formation Wedge speaker, Formation Bass subwoofer with a Class D amplifier, and the Formation Audio that brings wireless audio streaming to any passive audio system.

AirPlay 2 enables multi-room audio playback between the Formation products and other AirPlay 2 devices, such as the HomePod, Apple TV, and Sonos speakers. AirPlay 2 speakers also appear in the Home app across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch and work with Siri for controlling music playback.

The high-fidelity, high-resolution Formation Series products are also high-priced, of course, with prices ranging between $699 and $3,999.

Article Link: Bowers & Wilkins Unveils New 'Formation' Series of High-End Home Audio Products With AirPlay 2 Support
 

chrisdazzo

macrumors 65816
Apr 11, 2006
1,124
1,354
Mountains
At least they're not pretending the soundbar is anything beyond 2.1-channel stereo, dissimilar to other popular manufacturers. Looks pretty slick, too, despite the fact you can get a lot more punch for the (assumed) $700 starting price, elsewhere.

On the other hand, it's still baffling to me that anyone believes a soundbar can get close to accurately recreating an Atmos or even 5.1 experience. :rolleyes: /soapbox
 

Monty Pavement

macrumors regular
Feb 8, 2006
137
53
Scotland
Interesting. And good news in a way, in that I feared they'd ditched the computer accessories market when they were taken over. There's currently no mention of the MM-1s (I've got two sets, they're that good), and the Zeppelin (once their wow-factor product for the computer market) is only there in recertified form.

The T7 is there, but the only change the seem to have made to it since I got one several years ago, is to produce one in gold!

Hopefully this is a sign they will soon be addressing the lower end of the computer audio market, as if these are meant as replacements for the MM-1s, T7, Zeppelins, they are on average over twice the price.
 

Apple Knowledge Navigator

macrumors 68040
Mar 28, 2010
3,518
11,567
Apple doing what they should have done in the first place; getting companies on board with AirPlay before trying to release a not-so-smart speaker...
 

sunapple

macrumors 68030
Jul 16, 2013
2,715
5,005
The Netherlands
Interesting. And good news in a way, in that I feared they'd ditched the computer accessories market when they were taken over. There's currently no mention of the MM-1s (I've got two sets, they're that good), and the Zeppelin (once their wow-factor product for the computer market) is only there in recertified form.

The T7 is there, but the only change the seem to have made to it since I got one several years ago, is to produce one in gold!

Hopefully this is a sign they will soon be addressing the lower end of the computer audio market, as if these are meant as replacements for the MM-1s, T7, Zeppelins, they are on average over twice the price.

Is wireless multi room considered to be a computer accessory? I think this is a different category from T7 or MM-1. Multi room is the future, I could see them ditching the older speakers you mentioned. The Wedge is the new Zeppelin, MM-1s don’t fit the strategy I think.
[doublepost=1555943197][/doublepost]
Apple doing what they should have done in the first place; getting companies on board with AirPlay before trying to release a not-so-smart speaker...

You’re saying there were no AirPlay speakers before HomePod? They have been available for many years!
 
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AppleMad98004

macrumors 6502a
Aug 23, 2011
616
828
Cylde Hill, WA
At least they're not pretending the soundbar is anything beyond 2.1-channel stereo, dissimilar to other popular manufacturers. Looks pretty slick, too, despite the fact you can get a lot more punch for the (assumed) $700 starting price, elsewhere.

On the other hand, it's still baffling to me that anyone believes a soundbar can get close to accurately recreating an Atmos or even 5.1 experience. :rolleyes: /soapbox

Sound bar (Formation Bar) is $1,200 and if you want to add the bass woofer (Formation Bass) $1,000 more for the 2.1 channel set up.
 

CarpalMac

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2012
1,617
3,984
UK
I have always loved B&W kit. Been using it for years and it looks as good as it sounds to me.
 

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,039
7,282
While these products seem pretty nice, with great frequency response and all that, I wish it would go further.

None of the products have features I expect in 2019 products, such as HDMI ARC (ideally eARC). I would've loved to connect Formation Bar directly to TV to pass surround signal, and have it wirelessly send appropriate channel to its siblings.
 

mashinhead

macrumors 68030
Oct 7, 2003
2,952
808
I love B&W, but I'm confused about how this works. Are these just individual products that work together out of the box? Do you need an app or specific hardware to make this work? Is it easy to turn on and off specific speakers or pair them to make 'room'?
 
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