The Bowers & Wilkins guide to the very best listening (and viewing) experience

Whether you are relaxing with a festive family film or enjoying the rush of a World Cup Quarter Final, sound has a vital role to play. Of course, we understand that the size and quality of the picture is key, but sound is equally important. In this guide, we run through your basic options for great immersive viewing and offer some advice on the products that would best suit your requirements.

Best bar none

Possibly the simplest way to enhance your movie and match day viewing experience is with the addition of a sound bar. These elegant acoustic enhancements can be added to your existing system with the minimum of fuss, often by simply placing them below your current screen.

At Bowers & Wilkins we applaud simplicity, but always with an eye on quality. That’s why we offer a choice of two excellent soundbars. We will talk about the Formation Bar more below in our Wireless Theatre section, so here we can focus on the incredible Panorama 3.

Panorama 3 is a Dolby Atmos-enabled, Amazon Alexa-compatible, home theatre powerhouse in a single, elegant component. Thirteen individual, painstakingly positioned drivers, including twin subwoofers, are powered by a total of 400 watts of amplification. Plus, thanks to its upward-firing drive units, Panorama 3 projects tightly focused sound upwards onto your ceiling to deliver the truest, most immersive Dolby Atmos spatial audio effect.

This is what allows Panorama 3 to deliver the most convincing spatial audio ever heard from a sound bar. So whether you are enjoying Brazil vs Cameroon in the group stages or settling down to watch The Grinch (which does offer Dolby Atmos), Panorama 3 delivers an exceptionally engaging experience.

Mini Theatre, maximum sound

The next rung on the performance ladder is a dedicated surround sound system. Possibly the best place to start is our MT-50 Mini Theatre system: five highly capable yet compact M-1 loudspeakers partnered with one of our impressive subwoofers, the diminutive but powerful ASW608. The result is exceptional surround sound that draws you into whatever action you are enjoying, but which remains discreet and doesn’t take over your living space.

Look, no wires

If that sounds appealing, but you don’t fancy wires, then we also have a solution for that. Our Formation series allows you to mix and match a variety of high-performance models into the ideal wire-free surround sound system for you. It even features the Formation Bar which you can use on its own or partner it with the Formation Bass subwoofer, so you can enjoy exceptional movie and sport sound with just two loudspeakers.

Serious about sound

If you want to experience pristine sound then you’ll be thrilled to learn that all of Bowers & Wilkins’ dedicated Hi-Fi loudspeaker ranges can be used to create exceptional surround sound systems. Whether your budget stretches to the pinnacle of the 800 Series Diamond or a home theatre created from 600 Series loudspeakers you will enjoy an exceptional performance for your investment.

The new 700 Series is also something of a home theatre star, with two centre channels including one – the HTM71 S3– which features tweeter-on-top technology that helps it deliver fantastically believable dialogue. Plus our range of dedicated subwoofers can be deployed singly or in pairs to create the kind of bass response required for the finale of Die Hard or the rumble and roar of a World Cup Final.

Heard, but not seen

If this sounds like a good idea, but you are worried about the space required considering you have invited family and friends over and need all the space you can get, then worry not, because these speaker systems can be complemented with models from our architectural range of in-wall and in-ceiling loudspeakers.

The configuration options are almost endless. Tight for space at the back of your room? Why not have left, centre and right freestanding models at the front and then in-wall models at the rear. You can even have in-ceiling speakers just for Dolby Atmos for an incredible immersive audio experience.

You could also opt to go completely hidden, with a complete surround sound system created using in-wall and in-ceiling models. We even produce a range of in-wall subwoofers, so you don’t have to miss out on that satisfying bass performance.

The last word

A Bowers & Wilkins Custom Theatre system isn’t just for Christmas, it’s for life. That’s because this completely installed home theatre offers the last word in performance. Forget your local multiplex, a system built from these building blocks will keep you entertained for many years to come.

A dedicated room to watch the final and to escape the family during the Holiday season, but which also offers breathtakingly realistic audio no matter what you choose to watch. What could be better!

Screen Dream

Finally, if you have read all our advice and still have your heart set on a new TV, we have a great option for you there as well. Bowers & Wilkins has engineered a range of beautiful, discreet integrated speaker solutions for the most high-performance models in the Philips TV range. Every Bowers & Wilkins speaker system on a Philips TV is specifically designed to function beautifully with its partnering screen to deliver full-scale, absorbing and utterly convincing sound. Depending on the television, the system may even include key Bowers & Wilkins technologies including the iconic Tweeter-on-Top design. Because both Bowers & Wilkins and Philips TV understand that uncompromised engineering results in uncompromised performance.

There are options to suit everyone here, and if this makes you want to learn more about creating the ultimate home theatre experience, then you can read our comprehensive guide here.