Bowers & Wilkins – Formation Duo 6-1/2″ Powered Wireless 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) – Black

Customer Reviews (18)

1. 

   vznba – August 5, 2019

   Rated 4 out of 5

   I think for $4000 I could have fine tuned the whole stack and gone with a much better sounding system, but I saw the simplicity of the Formation series and decided to give it a try.

   The setup was dead simple; downloaded the app and setup the speakers in under 5 minutes. The only problem I ran into was the mounting the stands, since both the speakers and the stands are very heavy and I was scared to drop the speakers, I ended up mounting them on my sofa lying both down. It was by no means a bad experience, just me being paranoid to not damage the $4000! speakers.

   The sound was fantastic to my ears. Spacious sound with great imaging, sound stage with width and depth, put on some live recording and it sounds like the band was playing in front of me, and the crowd was around me.

   Since this is my first high-end pair of loudspeakers, passive or active, I really don’t have anything to analytically compare it to, I felt the speakers output enough bass to not be too lean to my taste, especially since I listen at lower volume most the time. I added to the system the Formation Bass (Great looking unit btw) to provide more low end. The result was phenomenal. Listening to drum heavy tracks with high dynamic range, when the bass kicks in, I feel the bass impact, but not the boominess. Powerful, clean, tight bass.

   Mid-range sounds sweet, I don’t have any complaints; treble could sound a bit more exciting, but I haven’t played with the Treble setting in the Formation app to see if anything could be improved. Overall I’m quite happy with the sound as is.

   I use Roon + Tidal for most of my streaming. It’s unfortunate all my DSD files get converted to match the Formation Duo, so I could be missing out on sound quality here. Flac and Tidal streaming for the most part are bit-to-bit. My wife streams over content using AirPlay 2 which is very convenient.

   Overall, these speakers do cost a ton, 5K w/ the Bass. So far I’m loving the sound, and the all-in-one design, robust wireless playback, and Roon Readiness are the major selling point for me.

2. 

   Sangbro – February 2, 2020

   Rated 5 out of 5

   I’ve been using traditional audio system for decades, then I decide to switch to this. It’s simple, way more convenient, and decent. All the maintenance used to be fun, but with the current technology this B&W speaker is the way to go. My previous speaker is B&W 800 series, and switching to this doesn’t feel like downgrade, and this means a lot. I think B&W nails it with DAC unit optimization. If you’re a fan of clear and crisp B&W sound, you’d love it. Also it works perfect with my apple eco system.

3. 

   DanielfromSanJose – March 5, 2020

   Rated 1 out of 5

   Chronic Problems with the duos:
   1). Sudden stop while playing.
   2) skipping to the next song without being prompted to do so.
   3). ‘Cannot connect to airplay’
   The B&W application often cannot see the duos. Or it may take more than 5 minutes to see the duos. Sometimes I’d just give up and walk away.

   4). Airplay appears to be connected but no sound comes out as if a blank tape is being played. The same downloaded material played fine previously.

   I’ve used restart, factory reset, unplugging electrical cords, pressing the button located in front of the duos,….And I’m tired of doing so.
   My duos have been a huge disappointment.
   Either I have bought a Lemmon or the duos are not ready for the market, yet. More research and testing need to be done!
   I would not recommend the formation duos.

4. 

   WayneMI – April 20, 2020

   Rated 1 out of 5

   I bought Formation Duo + Bass on April 13th, 2020 from Best Buy. They were delivered on April 16th. At the time of writing this review on April 20, I have listened to them for 4 days. I have to say that the product is totally UNUSABLE for a “wireless” speaker.

   Please be noted that I have altogether 6 different Airplay and Bluetooth speakers (including one B&W Zeppelin) at home before I purchased Formation series. All my 6 current wireless speakers work perfectly and smoothly with Airplay and Bluetooth. None of my current 6 wireless/Bluetooth speakers have ever demonstrated any problems that were found on Formation Duo.

   I use the same Tidal App on the same iPhone via the same router at home for Airplay/Bluetooth on all wireless speakers. So, the comparison of Formation Duo with other speakers should be a fair comparison in terms of connectivity issues.

   The problems with Formation Duo are (based on the usage of 4 days with about 4 hours listening everyday):
   1. Airplay is completely unusable. This problem demonstrates itself in several aspects.
   a. iPhone 11 Pro cannot connect to Formation Duo. iPhone is always showing the “connecting” window when selecting Formation Duo from the “SPEAKERS&Tvs” list. Have to reset Formation Duo for this issue.
   b. When connected to Airplay, music mutes on Formation Duo for no reason. By “mute”, I mean music on Tidal still plays but Formation Duo just does not make any sound. I don’t mean “mute occasionally like once within several hours”. Music mutes for 3-5 seconds at every 15-20 seconds interval. I cannot listen to music via Airplay at all.
   Such a problem never appears on any of my other wireless speakers (including the old Zeppelin) when using Airplay streaming from Tidal on the same iPhone 11 Pro via the same home network router.
   c. Each time after music resumes on Formation Duo after the unexpected mute, the Formation bass will get disconnected, i.e., music only plays on Formation duo, not simultaneously on Formation Bass anymore. In other words, the mesh network now only has the Formation duo instead of Formation Duo + Bass. The only way to connect Formation Bass again is to wait for the Formation Duo to go to sleep then play music again.

   2. Bluetooth problems
   a. During the 4 days of listening, music mutes on Bluetooth three times for about 3-5 seconds. It is usable as a wireless speaker when using Bluetooth. However, this is extremely disappointing given that my other speakers have never had any Bluetooth connectivity issues albeit they have much older generations of Bluetooth technology.
   Again, I am using the same Tidal App playing the same playlist (downloaded into my phone) from the same iPhone on all my wireless speakers.
   b. After the unexpected mute when using Bluetooth, Formation Duo will automatically continue to make sound again. However, Formation Bass will also get disconnected. The only way to get Formation Bass back to the mesh network is to disconnect Formation Duo in iPhone Bluetooth menu and reconnect again.

5. 

   SPEEDBUMP – May 1, 2020

   Rated 1 out of 5

   It’s possible the speaker would sound great, if only you could get anything to play through them. Airplay dosnt work 99 % of the time, the app alternates between saying there are no speakers and there are. There’s an update avaible, and then well no, they’re already updated. No way to control the volume or adjust the sound once they were set up. Can’t get them to play through Roon. I have the Formation audio and connected the tv through the optical, and just sounds like a hug amount of reverb has been added, so sounds horrible, but at least I could get sound to come out. Read about airplay complaints from the initial unveiling of the product, you’d think they’d have that fixed by now, and apparently how bad it is varies by person. This was meant for people who wanted easy to set up and use, they’ve missed the mark. Too bad I will have to be returning these. Useless as speakers until they fix all the connection and software problems.

6. 

   Andrew – May 12, 2020

   Rated 5 out of 5

   I’ve had my eye on these speakers for months and decided to pull the trigger on them when Best Buy ran a sale for 20% off. These are probably the best sounding speakers I’ve ever heard to date, especially when paired with a HiFi streaming service such as Tidal or Roon. Simply incredible.

   I’ve demoed the Bowers & Wilkins 700 series tower speakers in the magnolia room at Best Buy, and these blow them out of the water with three less speakers per side!

   They’re also THE EASIEST set of speakers I’ve ever set up. Why waste your time running running, cutting & hiding speaker wire, when you can have as good or a better experience with these!? You download the app, update each speaker to the latest version, and you’re off to the races. Spotify integration works flawlessly, and Tidal works just as well, but SOUNDS immensely better. (Note: the Tidal app is slightly clunkier than Spotify but makes up for it with the benefit of HiFi & maser files).

   I do want to note I only use these for music purposes, and have not used them for TV / Movies, nor do I ever plan to. I also purchased the Formation Bass for a complete 2.1 setup. The Formation Bass definitely gives them that extra punch, for a better overall experience, but it’s not entirely necessary. These Duo’s put out a significant amount of base on their own, so you can get away without having the Formation Bass depending on what your music style is. The mid’s are crisp & everything that you would expect out of a speaker of this caliber, and the highs are tight & clean.

   All of the other reviews you see on BB complaining about connectivity issues are likely due to user error. I have Verizon Fios 1GB internet with the new router, and I haven’t run into any connectivity issues while listening to them. My primary setup for listening is through an iPhone or my MacBook Pro to stream music to them. Both have had zero issues, and total set up time took 5 minutes.

   My experience with these speakers have been nothing short of superb. If you’re looking for a quality set of loud speakers don’t want the headache of running speaker wire, I can’t recommend them enough. Based on the performance of these speakers, I’m all in on wireless technology for speakers. Absolutely floored about this purchase.

7. 

   HiFiGeek – May 13, 2020

   Rated 5 out of 5

   I have owned these for quite a while and wanted to do a review on these a while back but hadn’t gotten around to it. I have recently seen some of the reviews on the product lately as I have been interested in ordering another pair of these in white! I felt it important to set the record straight. I can agree with some of the points people make on here about the app not being up to or but it is only needs to setup the formation products, after that you use Roon or Airplay. If you are an audiophile or a person who appreciates sitting down and listening to music you probably already use Roon. These are by far the best sounding stereo speakers on the market for the price and simplicity. All I have are the speakers with one power cord connected for each speaker. The Formation audio allows for me to connect my McIntosh CD player and Denon Turntable. Most of the music I listen to comes from Roon via Tidal or Qobuz but if I want to listen to analog sources the Fromation Audio is needed. If you someone who appreciates style as much as you appreciate HiFi you will appreciate these speakers. I love had friends who are musicians over to my home and we have played these speakers and every one of them has been amazed by their sound and detail. These speakers are like hybrid of the 805 and 705 passive speakers that B&W makes but also include the correct bi-amplification. If I were to build a similar system with regular HiFi components and passive speakers I would probably only save a little bit of money but have to deal with having a lot of wires! If you want to have these connected to tv audio just grab yourself an Apple TV and airplay the sound. It sounds a works without delay. This is a great system and I highly recommend them.

8. 

   AndoverMA – October 3, 2020

   Rated 5 out of 5

   These speaker are incredible. Deep, rich bass and sparkling highs. They support AirPlay2 and are home kit compatible.

9. 

   absolutic – October 12, 2020

   Rated 5 out of 5

   It is my birthday month so Bestbuy had 10% off for me. I got the speakers and the matching stands. Ive watched and read all the reviews for these, and most professional reviews conclude these sounds like speakers costing multiple times more, including Wilsons. I went to my local Bestbuy and listened to these first, hoping I guess I would not be wowed by them. But I was floored.

   Once I got the speakers I placed them on the matching stands. Once I downloaded the app, setup took 30 seconds. It was that fast and easy. I started to stream from my iphone and then did it from my macbook pro (to get higher bit rate, as iphone streams at CD quality only via bluetooth). Macbook pro streams at 24/48. Sound is absolutely incredible. You can hear instruments you did not know were there. You really don’t need a subwoofer for these, as they do down to 25 Hz. The Soundstage is awesome, it is like you are there. These are likely going to be my last speakers for music, as I can’t see anything I don’t like about them. The stands are a must, I first plugged them in placing them on the shelf just to see if they were working, and the sound was great, but once I placed them on stands on my ear level, it was just amazing. Of course my wife thinks they look ugly, but I don’t care.

10. 

    Frank – February 2, 2021

    Rated 1 out of 5

    Unusable!
    I regret I didn’t read the reviews here before I ordered.
    I tried the formation duo speakers on 4 different WIFI networks and it never worked stable. The first one was the best, the second worked not at all, on all others the system is totally unstable.
    My 5G signal from my current router can’t even be detected!
    A so called B&W service expert came and tried for 3 hours, nothing better.
    The Audio box he could never set up to stream even a single bit of music to the speakers.
    The next trial is to use another router.
    If this also doesn’t work I’ll ask them to take everything back.
    The App is incredible poor, how can anyone be satisfied with this crap?
    Theoretically the sound is good, practically the products are unusable.

11. 

    Charlie – May 9, 2021

    Rated 5 out of 5

    My Formation Duo speakers arrived four days ago. For the first two days, my experience matched those of the reviewers that rated the speakers as one star—multiple dropouts and episodes of unresponsiveness. I was completely unable to use Roon with them, although the B&W Music app worked most of the time.

    I tried an ethernet cable right away. I restarted and factory reset the speakers several times. That seemed to improve things a little, but the dropouts continued to an intolerable degree for such an expensive piece of equipment.

    Roon gave me a hint. Roon provides info on its music files—I soon figured out that hi-res audio files were always dropped but lower-res compressed files would play. The Roon Help documentation emphasizes the importance of a well-tuned and correctly configured wireless system to allow maximum data transfer. Otherwise, dropouts would occur. I decided to put some time into investigating my network performance since I had already tried everything I knew to do with the speakers.

    My entire system had been set up by the guys from Magnolia. I had rarely experienced problems, but my AV equipment and computers are hard-wired, so the wireless may not have been challenged by web surfing over an iPhone or iPad. Magnolia had installed a fancy Luxul router and two wireless access points; the Luxul connected to the Internet through an Arris cable modem/router supplied by Spectrum.

    While investigating my network, I found the following (in a system that I previously thought was functioning well):
    • The Arris cable modem/router had a 2.4 GHz wireless network itself that was transmitting on the same channel as the Luxul access points, possibly producing interference or using bandwidth that could otherwise be used by the Duos. I turned the cable modem wireless off.
    • The access points needed firmware updates. I took care of that.
    • I found a faulty ethernet connection elsewhere in my network and replaced it.

    I also worried about another potential problem. Tidal limits the number of active connections to one. I used to get a warning on my iPhone when I used Tidal while I also accessed Tidal on Roon. (This was before the B&W Duos.) It’s easy to forget to close the iPhone app… so I wondered if the B&W would just not play Tidal streams if I had Tidal open on other devices. I don’t know the answer, but during the investigating period, I just signed out of Tidal and Qobuz on everything.

    Finally, I reset Roon and then powered off every device, switch, router, cable modem and speaker for a couple of minutes and then restarted.

    Something did the trick! I have had no dropouts or unresponsiveness for almost 24 hours. Roon plays like a champ. Songs that previously wouldn’t play now play beautifully. FLAC 24/192 and DSD256 are converted to 96 or 88.2kHz for transmission to the Duos, where they sound spectacular! I believe they are even better than the B&W 803s floorstanders that have produced great sound in our living room for many years…

    So sound quality is unsurpassed. Ease of use would also be fine if your network is configured for maximum data transfer. I hope this helps others to avoid the two days of heartburn that I experienced.

12. 

    PJfromCA – July 3, 2021

    Rated 1 out of 5

    Horrible, spending 5K on a piece of xxx. every time that I need to use the spackers need to (restart) unplug and plug back the speakers so I can use them, my network sees it but it just doesn’t play.

13. 

    Cdporterfield – July 4, 2021

    Rated 5 out of 5

    I have owned lots of expensive audio equipment and got tired of all the wires and different components. I replaced a Mark Levinson/Linn system with small QBs from Naim. The Qbs are great for what they are, but they lack really low bass and will not play in stereo pairs. In spite of many compliments on their sound from visitors, I wanted better. So, I have been following all the new active, streaming speakers coming out. I was looking for best bang for the buck and that could double for music and movies. I tried a KEF system that kept losing WiFi and Bluetooth signal. The sound was Ok, but not great. The Naims are better, even in mono.

    When I returned the KEFs, I listened to these Duos in the BB store, where they were NOT set up in an appropriate location (dumb). I decided to give them a home-try.

    Man, what difference the environment made. The speakers sound as good as $100,000 systems I have heard. I expected crystal clear mids and treble, and they definitely deliver, but what surprised me was how much bass they put out. I don’t need a sub as I had thought I might.

    These are worth far more than what seems initially an expensive price. Keep in mind you don’t need separates — you already get a streamer, DAC, amps (4), preamp as well as extraordinarily good speakers. Note that a mid-fi amp and a set of passive 700 series B&W bookshelves would exceed the price of these. I am sure you could find a less expensive, less usable system, but it will be nowhere as good as these. And if you were to build a comparable system, with all the same features, you’d spend far more than $4,000 (assuming you buy total crap equipment) and it would like still not be nowhere as good.

    As for the older reviews regarding drop-out and the app — B&W has replaced the app, and the new one is quite good. If others suffered connectivity issues, that definitely is not indicative of all Duos, and I suspect is a rare problem, where you could get a replacement pair under warranty in any event.

    Give these a try— you WILL want to keep them once you figure out what value they offer.

14. 

    Heresy – August 12, 2021

    Rated 4 out of 5

    Just got my hands on these and lament having to return them. Lets first go with the good. Sonically they are AMAZING it didn’t matter what genre I played always leaving me in awe. For a medium to small room you won’t need a sub for music playback (which really surprised me). Music streaming was perfect. No lost connections, consistent all the time.
    Now the bad (and the deal breaker for me) I understand what B&W was trying to accomplish with the Formation line. Great audio tailored exclusively to the streaming era. First of all I see nothing wrong with that if anything I truly hope speakers like these are the future. The issue I have with the duo is its lack of input/outputs which end up making them less versatile. In my case I wanted to use them also with my TV as the main speakers but the connection isn’t seamless, connection drops, the volume isn’t consistent with the music streaming volume. I also wish it had a sub woofer input for added flexibility. Because honestly I would prefer to spend sub money on a SVS vs the only option that this system gives you. For the money something as simple as inputs should have been a given and I would have been super happy and kept them.
    I would highly recommend these if you buy them for the sole purpose that they were built for. Streaming audio. If you don’t own equipment (which I do) or you do and are willing to sell all your gear then these are a great buy. I will be spending this money on a pair of Klipsch Heresy IV for my endgame. And for those who take the plunge you’re in for a sonic treat!! Enjoy!!

15. 

    CapturedDreams – February 4, 2022

    Rated 5 out of 5

    I was impressed by the sound in the store, but I typically take that with a grain of salt as the store is so big and the sound goes everywhere. When I got these things home, WOW! Totally blew me away! I almost missed work the next day because I wanted to hear everything!!! I have Tidal’s upgraded account and EVERYTHING sounds amazing!!! The price tag hurt, but the sound quality healed all of that!!! I will definitely be getting a second pair for my office! (Don’t tell my wife!)

16. 

    albert – April 10, 2022

    Rated 4 out of 5

    It’s a good sounding speaker, but definitely not audiophile grade.

17. 

    SharpEdges – January 30, 2023

    Rated 3 out of 5

    I have just bought a pair of Formation Duo speakers, and they sound really good. HOWEVER they will not connect reliably to my new LG OLED TV (although it would be Bluetooth, they would still sound way better than the TV speakers). Left or Right channels would occasional switch off of for a few seconds, and both would regularly drop out for half a second or so. The TV links very well to my headphones via Bluetooth, so it seemed as though the issue might be with the speakers. They will link to my phone OK and I can play music from it via Bluetooth.
    So I bought a TROND BT transmitter with a TosLink optical input and it has exactly the same issue with the speakers. I think it might be due to their lack of support for Low Latency aptX (at least I can’t find that in the speakers specifications). So, although the sound is great, it seems ridiculous that BT speakers at this price have a flaky BT interface, rendering them unusable with my TV. B&W do not provide any support other than boilerplate questions, and their help line remains unanswered. Not impressed.
    Steve

18. 

    Ruuster13 – April 4, 2023

    Rated 5 out of 5

    Owned the Duo’s for over 2 years now. The sound stage is superb. They deliver powerful sound gracefully. The bass is suprisingly adequate for bookshelf size speaker’s. Very dynamic. Can connect directly to Roon, Tidal, qobuz, deezer etc…. thru B&W app. In life you may not always get what you pay for but with the Duo’s you get ALL your monies worth. Excellent and I’d buy them again tomorrow.