An obstacle for many mutiroom-capable systems is the delay between the units, the so-called latency time. This results in loudspeakers of different zones being heard with a slight time delay and a slight echo. B&W has set a new record here with a delay of just 0.1 seconds. Setup and operation are quick and easy once you have downloaded the Formation app. We have done our listening tests with Qobuz as well as with the analog and digital output of a CD player and finally Bluetooth via mobile phone and Youtube.
Not to beat about the bush: what the British have put together here would have impressed us already, if it had been done under the motto "first try" – but it is so much more than that. From a standing start, the developers have created a future-proof, expandable, easy-to-use multi-room system that is also convincing in terms of sound. Even the lowest tones are easily handled by the Duo. To create a sound that is completely effortless even at high levels and with large orchestras such as Rimsky-Korsakow or bass thunderstorms such as "Walking on the Moon", is one thing, but also to conjure up a tonal balance and an amazingly precise spatial reproduction in various listening rooms is another.