Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo Wireless Speaker System

I have spent over 50 years listening to audiophile speakers played through audiophile, super-expensive components. They all had monster cables, bi-amplification, top-of-the line pre-amplifiers and state-of-the art analog to digital converters. The Formation Duo speakers have the best sound stage imaging that I have every heard. They are not cheap but when comparing price-to-performance, in my opinion, you cannot buy a better speaker/amplifier. I recommend paying for appropriately high quality streaming material through Roon and Qobuz or Tidal. Finally, the extremely clean lines presented by lack of other components of the proprietary wireless MESH system, provide an unmatched aesthetic that makes the Duo’s visually stunning. Yes, I am extremely pleased.

I bought Formation Duo + Bass on April 13th, 2020. 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 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.

They look better than the pictures and sound is amazing, hard to believe given the small size of the speaker. Neat and tidy solution, no separate amplifier, speaker cables. Highly recommended.