The high-ranking sound bar game is getting super competitive. Being stuck indoors for a couple of years at a time is a great way to win over the crowd that a loud, metallic soundtrack might be fine for Tiger King but just won’t cut it for The Mandalorian or Loki . Consequently, spending a significant amount of money on a huge speaker for your TV has become almost essential for many. It’s an investment, right The latest entry to the market is Bowers & Wilkins’ massive, the Panorama 3. Like last year’s sumptuous Zeppelin revival and the PI7 wireless headphones that came before it, this sound bar really doesn’t mess around when it comes to offering a countless sound for a lot of your hard earned money. It’s made to go together with the market-leading Sonos Arc, so it’s all for the purpose of delivering the best audio quality. As much as it’s not accessible with the life value crisis, this Netflix-coincident boombox talks (loudly) on its own.
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3 Specifications
Prize: $999
Colors: Black
Ports: HDMI; digital optics; ethernet; USB-C (service only)
Speakers: 3 3/4″ tweeters; 6 x 2-inch midrange; 2 4-inch subwoofers; 2x 2-inch Atmos
Audio channels: 3.1.2
Audio formats: Dolby Atmos; Dolby True HD; Dolby Digital
Output Power: 400W
Wireless: Air Set 2; Bluetooth aptX adaptive; Sign in to Spotify
Smart Assistant: Alexa
Subwoofer: Integrated
Dimensions: 2.6 x 47.6 x 5.5 inches
Weight: 14.3 Books
Wall mounting: Yes All about Dolby Atmos
As with several flagship soundbar releases over the last year, the big update on the banner with the Panorama 3 is the addition of Dolby Atmos. Still unfamiliar with what has quickly become the much higher watermark of surround sound audio? Essentially, it means that a ton of speakers have been included in this creation so that it can fire audio up, forward, and almost everywhere in its vicinity to deliver a cinematic caliber of height and width. to your television screen. It’s one of those things that feels a bit like a gimmick, and it can be on lesser-skilled models like the latest Sonos Beam, but it really does offer a rich, textured oomph to methods when it gets in the right hands. Hint: You probably shouldn’t pair this thing up with a clunky old JVC.
Bowers & Wilkins Panorama 3
Compared to any setup without a soundbar you might get your hands on in advance, plugging in the Panorama 3 is an instant hallelujah shot, like putting on some prescription info for the first time. Its effect is a bit like a wall of sound, with drive entities projecting sound up and directly at you. The crash feels better, from a cinematic standard, with the volume cranked up to around 75 percent of its capacity. We found action movies get the full effect: jets shudder to life on top gun Denzel performing popping a guy with a bomb in his butt Man on Fire –that kind of thing. If you want to use the thing as a living room speaker of sorts, it’ll happily oblige as well. The warbling synths of Billie Eilish’s “Therefore I Am” took on a completely otherworldly quality the moment we’ve given you some Dolby Atmos-enabled Apple Music.
seems to kill
In the audio game, looks aren’t everything, but they certainly matter: everything is going according to plan, this thing is going to be under your TV for years to come. Naturally, Bowers & Wilkins has quite the item design pedigree in its locker, dating back to the speakers used to outfit Abbey Road Studios, so this thing is a real beauty. A precisely huge 1.2m wide one, but a beauty nonetheless. In fact, we think its very sleek, angular scope is a bit more sleeker than the alternative option made by Sonos. Just don’t put it near a TV smaller than 55 inches, it’s going to look a bit silly. The Panorama 3 can be connected to most newer smart TVs via HDMI (there’s only one port) or much older TVs via an optical cable. With the former, the experience should be quite dynamic, your TV remote does the volume work, but with the latter, it’s a little tricky: you’ll need to turn the TV volume down to zero and use the Bowers & Wilkins app to monitor the sound bar. volume. For music and everything else, the app lets you link up with a host of streaming services, and you can stream everything else via Airplay or Bluetooth.
Panorama 3 Verdict
Look, that’s probably a decent section of your rent for your month (if not the whole damn thing), but Bowers & Wilkins’ Panorama 3 has the power to transform even the most tame house ticket system into an absolute beast. Its physical heft coupled with some serious Dolby Atmos capabilities means that even the weakest streaming highlights soar into aural nirvana, even if the onscreen content doesn’t quite match. Whether you want to properly witness the roar of a Victors League crowd or bask in the bullet-proof glory of John Wick, there are few much finer soundbars for the job.
