Bowers & Wilkins Formation Wedge
Bold looks for a wide soundstage
The Wedge snaps along, generating real momentum when the music demands it
£899.99 FROM Bowers & Wilkins, bowerswilkins.com FeatuRes 240W, Spotify, AirPlay 2, aptX HD Bluetooth, Roon
B
ack in the day, the B&W Zeppelin was an iconic wireless speaker.
Skip forward and the company has recently developed a new range of wireless audio products called Formation, with (what it claims to be) class-leading multiroom ability.
If you think the Zeppelin’s shape was unusual, the Wedge changes things again. Bowers & Wilkins says the pronounced elliptical shape of the back panel (it travels through 120°) and the curve of the front allows it to position the speaker’s drivers in a way that gives a wide spread of sound. The pronounced geometric shape of the grille frame is visible through the acoustic covering, giving the Wedge a multi-faceted appearance.
Aside from mains power and a USB socket for servicing and updates, the only physical connection here is an Ethernet socket. Wireless options are only slightly more numerous with aptX HD Bluetooth, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2, and the Wedge is Roon ready too.
The 240W of Class D amplification is divided between a five-driver array: two double-dome tweeters get 40W each, and a couple of FST (Fixed Suspension Transducer) midrange drivers enjoy the same power. A central woofer takes the remaining 80W.
Control of the Wedge is minimal. There’s a touch panel on top, awoken by a proximity sensor, covering play/pause and volume. There’s an equally brief control app for initial setup, fiddling with bass and treble EQs, and organising multiroom groups. Every other eventuality must be handled by the app of the streaming service you’re running.
Bowers & Wilkins has gone to great lengths to make the Formation range an impeccable multiroom proposition. All Formation products sit on a bespoke wireless mesh (rather than your wider home network) which allows B&W to quote a sync-time between rooms of one microsecond.
Wedge of sound
The Wedge’s sound spreads far and wide, and there’s enough power to fill large rooms. There’s a much less pronounced sweet spot than some less capable wireless speakers generate – and so the Wedge is an enjoyable listen no matter where you are in the room.
There’s great sympathy between the drivers – from the top of the frequency range to the bottom. Difficult tempos and complicated arrangements are handled deftly too. The description ‘musical’ might seem redundant in the context of a wireless speaker, but the Wedge is ‘musical’ in a natural, instinctive way. The speaker snaps along, generating real momentum when the music demands it.
It’s only where outright dynamism and, to a lesser extent, musical excitement is concerned that the Wedge doesn’t fully shine. It’s not the most viscerally exciting wireless speaker. And it has a bit of difficulty putting genuine distance between ‘very quiet’ and ‘very loud’ on ‘quiet/loud/quiet’ type tracks.
If you’re a fan of the speaker’s unique aesthetics and looking for room-filling stereo sound, the Wedge could be the start of a Bowers & Wilkins Formation multiroom investment. siMOn Lucas