Three years on from B&W's acquisition by Silicon Valley company EVA Automation we have the first indication of how one of the UK's most successful and revered hi-fi brands will be developed. Central theme of the new five-product Formation Suite is high-quality wireless interconnection capable of 96kHz/24-bit resolution. The suite comprises a wireless audio hub called the Formation Audio (£600), and a one-box, five-driver wireless music system called the Formation Wedge (£900). This includes five channels of internal amplification, housed in a distinctive 'curved elliptical' enclosure with faceted grille. The Formation Bass (£900) is an opposed-driver subwoofer with integral 250W Class D amplifier and DSP-applied dynamic EQ (building on the legacy of B&W's spherical PV1) while the Formation Bar (£1000) is a nine-driver soundbar with a true centre channel housing three tweeters, six bass-mid drivers and six 40W power amplifiers. The Formation Duo (£3500) is a two-way standmount loudspeaker combining a Continuum bass-mid driver with the carbon dome tweeter from the 700 Series - it looks similar to an 805 D3 but with a wireless interface. Optional stands for the Duo cost £700. In addition to the 96kHz/24-bit wireless resolution, B&W highlights two other technical innovations: synchronisation of each speaker to within 1 us (1 microsecond) and a proprietary mesh network 'developed to cover your whole home without impacting on your home network quality'.
展开▼
