Bowers & Wilkins: new Panorama, new ownership
Bowers & Wilkins has always delivered something special with its soundbars — the original Panorama in 2009 and the upgraded Panorama 2 in 2013. Now comes a complete redesign in the significantly cheaper $1599 Panorama 3, a 121cm-wide bar which again requires no supporting subwoofer. And for the first time Bowers & Wilkins has included Atmos height speakers among the 13-strong driver collection in the new bar.
The new design eschews the curves and chrome of the original for a more understated (and dark-room-friendly) black bar with bulging angles and a central strip across the centre for indicators and control; these are capacitive-touch ‘hidden until lit’ buttons.
The number of connections has dropped drastically from three HDMI inputs and one output on the previous version to just a single HDMI out socket on the new Panorama 3, recognising the relative simplicity of HDMI eARC in letting your TV be the connection hub, then providing full-quality soundtracks down the HDMI connection to the bar.
There’s an optical digital audio fallback connection for anyone without an HDMI ARC or eARC-equipped TV; if connected this way, the Panorama 3 can usefully learn control commands from your TV remote. If connected via HDMI ARC/eARC, TV commands will be passed to the bar anyway.
The Panorama 3 also has Alexa built in, allowing voice commands and other Alexa smart operations without the need for an external Alexa device. The Alexa mike can be turned off for those with privacy concerns.
As noted the new model continues the company’s preference for having no separate subwoofer, leaving the bar itself to make all the noise using a grand total of 13 drivers. These include three sets of drivers firing forward for left, centre and right channels (see image below right), each channel given identical twin 50mm midrange drivers partnered by decoupled 19mm titaniumdome tweeters. The top surface (below left) hosts the two 50mm drivers angled up and forward to deliver the height information of Atmos, and finally there are twin 100mm bass drivers apparently firing downwards, and allowed much of the bar’s internal volume to promise “deep, extended bass with no need for an external subwoofer”. So this combination allows the bar to deliver native 3.1.2-channel audio. The bar’s decoder and processor handle Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD audio streams where present; but there’s no compatibility with DTS. Sound United in Australia explains that “DTS is not used by any of the streaming service companies and therefore is limited to people watching DVD/Blu-ray connected to the TV with the audio passed through the ARC/eARC. However the vast majority of TV companies do not support this on the ARC/eARC.”
That seems a realistic approach to us, and an interest pointer to the decline of DTS.
Note there’s no analogue input here for TVs without optical out, or for additional music sources. But AirPlay 2 and aptX Bluetooth cater to both iOS and Android users; there’s also Spotify Connect and support for the new B&W Music App, thereby accessing other streaming services including Qobuz and Tidal (in stereo only). We gather the Panorama 3 will also soon gain multi-room capability along with the new Zeppelin and the company’s existing Formation products.
The Panorama 3 continues an active launch schedule from Bowers & Wilkins which would seem to indicate no ill effects from an ongoing series of owners — with quasi-Californian EVA Automation in 2016, then Sound United in 2020, and most recently with Sound United’s announcement that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Masimo Corporation for just over a billion US dollars in what seems new territory for a “global medical technology company” headquartered in California; Masimo has no apparent previous connection to audio equipment. For more Panorama 3 info, visit www.bowerswilkins.com/en-au