BOWERS AND WILKINS PANORAMA 3 SOUNDBAR REVIEW

BOWERS AND WILKINS PANORAMA 3 SOUNDBAR REVIEW

BOWERS AND WILKINS PANORAMA 3 SOUNDBAR REVIEW

DOLBY ATMOS SOUNDBAR REVIEW - BOWERS AND WILKINS PANORAMA 3

Pick your jaws up off the floor, Bowers and Wilkins sent us another product. Let’s take a look at the brand new Panorama 3 sound bar.

PANORMA 3 SOUNDBAR SPECS

The Panorama 3 is a complete 3.1.2 Dolby Atmos system contained within a single soundbar –as in no separate subwoofer or satellite speakers required, or even offered (at least not at this time). The Panorama 3 features thirteen total drivers including three titanium dome tweeters, six woven midrange drivers, two bass drivers and two upward firing Atmos drivers. The entire bar is powered by a 400 Watt internal amplifier, which along with the speaker’s driver complement give it a reported frequency response of 43Hz to 48kHz. 

PANORAMA 3 CONNECTIVITY

The Panorama 3 is designed to be rather plug-n-play, and as a result you’re not going to find a ton of inputs. The bar has a single HDMI input featuring eARC supporting discrete Dolby Atmos signals as well as Dolby TrueHD. There is an optical audio input and Ethernet port. You’ll also find a USB-C input but it is for service only. While there aren’t many physical inputs, you can connect to the bar wirelessly using Bluetooth, which is Bluetooth 5 Class 2 spec. There’s also AirPlay 2 and Alexa support. Fans of music services like Spotify will be happy to see the inclusion of Spotify Connect. 

MUSIC STREAMING WITH BOWERS & WILKINS SOUNDBAR

You can stream music directly to the bar with services like TIDAL, Deezer and Qobuz natively from the Bowers & Wilkins Music App. Inside the app you can make some adjustments to the Panorama 3’s sound, as it has treble and bass tone controls. Sadly there are no adjustments for things like individual channel level or dialog enhancements; nor does the Panorama 3 support features like auto room correction at this time. 

Getting up and running using the App is pretty straightforward, especially for Apple device users like me. Connecting the Panorama 3 to our wifi network was about as stress-free as I think I’ve experienced from a modern component, so props to Bowers & Wilkins there! On the whole, the app is functional, but incredibly simple and it cannot be ignored that the Panorama is lacking some functionality customers have reasonably come to expect from soundbars at this price point. 

NEW BOWERS AND WILKINS SOUNDBAR

DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY

In terms of design and build quality the Panorama 3 is stunning. This is hands down my favorite looking soundbar on the market right now, surpassing even the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage. While the Panorama is only available in a black finish, the use of texture and materials, not to mention its relatively lower profile, give it a tailored look that goes a long way in dressing it up and making it visually more appealing than most all-black soundbars on the market. It looked right at home in our main room below our 85 inch Sony X95J TV being fed a signal from our Apple TV 4K. It comes with a wall mounting solution for those who prefer to have a soundbar sit directly beneath your tv.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?

But enough about how it looks, what you really want to know is, how does it sound? The Panorama 3 CAN sound utterly fantastic –like no all-in-one soundbar solution I’ve heard at this price point –OR it can sound utterly underwhelming…it all comes down to your choice in source material. So let’s get into it. 

PANORAMA 3 FOR STEREO LISTENING

Bowers & Wilkins is known for their music acumen, so as you might expect, I was eager to see how the Panorama 3 performed when listening to some of my favorite two channel tracks, because more and more people are turning to soundbar solutions for both music AND movies. As a straight two channel speaker, listening to true stereo mixes, I’m afraid to say I was not impressed. Not that the Panorama 3 sounded bad, but it was decidedly monaural and lacking in any real sense of space. Sadly, because the bar cannot be adjusted, for example you cannot convert a stereo mix into say Dolby Surround to coax some of that spaciousness into existence, stereo tracks like Metallica’s Enter Sandman or Drifting by Two Lanes sounded far too constrained. So while I heard every note, the Panorama 3 failed to live up to its name. Sadly, there was nothing resembling a three dimensional soundstage.

DOLBY ATMOS MUSIC

But then I selected a Dolby Atmos playlist on Apple Music and whoa. First, let me just say, I typically HATE music mixed in Dolby Atmos. Most tracks sound more gimmicky than musical but the Panorama 3 just might get me to change my tune when it comes to Dolby Atmos music. Listening to Norah Jones’ album, Come Away With Me in Atmos was bite the back of your hand, good. Nope, scratch that, it was fucking great! 

First of all, the bar’s sound completely transformed our room. The front wall of our main room sounded as if my left and right main speakers, center channel and overhead in ceiling Atmos channels had suddenly been activated! To say the Panorama 3 can pull off a convincing 3.1.2 channel performance would be an understatement.  I haven’t heard lateral and vertical spaciousness like this from a single bar since my first time hearing the Sennheiser Ambeo. When fed an Atmos signal, the Panorama 3 absolutely sounds like a quality, two-channel setup. I hands down preferred it to Bowers & Wilkins own 600 Anniversary Series speakers when compared head to head in our main room. 

There is an effortless quality to the Panorama’s sound when listening to Dolby Atmos mixed music. There was no trace of forwardness in the vocal range, something you know I’ve been critical of lately when it comes to Bowers & Wilkins. Not to say the Panorama is laid back, it’s not. It’s detailed and nuanced without being forceful or peaky. It does have a mildly leaner tone throughout the midrange but that may be the result of its smaller woofers just not fleshing out the bottom octaves the same way a larger driver can, but that’s really my only note as it relates to the midrange. Honestly, when listening to Norah Jones or Elton John’s Rocket Man, the Panorama gave me more old-school Bowers & Wilkins vibes than I was prepared for. This is the sound that made me fall in love with the brand all those years ago! Highs were airy and extended without coming across as too sharp or worse, fatiguing. I lost track of time and  actually forgot I was listening to a soundbar at all. 

PANORAMA 3 BASS

For an all-in-one solution, the Panorama 3 is respectable in the bass department.  But if I had one critique, it would be that the dual bass drivers didn’t quite deliver ALL of the visceral impact or dynamic snap a good, well-recorded kick drum or some synthesized beats can possess. Bass was good, surprising even for an all-inclusive soundbar, but with respect to bass, you will get more low-end weight and presence from the likes of the Samsung Q950A and its separate powered sub.

NON-ATMOS CONTENT

Switching gears to television and movies, the experience was very similar to its two channel music performance. When watching non-Atmos content, the Panorama 3 could sound a little too directional for my tastes. Make no mistake, the sound quality was always clear and intelligible, but it just sounded, well, small and relegated to the bar itself, barely extending beyond its physical boundaries. I am hopeful that this could be addressed in a firmware update, or at a minimum, I think if Bowers & Wilkins were to give users the ability to choose a faux surround mode through the App, the spatial quality of non-Atmos mixes would improve. 

WATCHING MOVIES IN ATMOS WITH THE PANORAMA 3

But cue up Atmos-mixed films like Spider-man, No Way Home and once again the Panorama 3 delivers the goods! Spatially the Panorama 3 is beyond impressive, even in our larger room, it had ZERO problem filling our space with sound. At higher volumes I could detect the presence of a limiter in some spots, meaning the bar, specifically the bass, would roll-off so as not to distort or damage the subs, but at volumes hovering around 80dB or lower, this slight easing or bass and dynamics wasn’t noticeable. What I was left with was a wholly convincing surround sound experience, one that extended CLEAR overhead and came dangerously close to even surrounding me in a true 360-degree bubble with NEAR discrete speaker accuracy. 

PANORAMA 3 DIALOGUE PERFORMANCE

Dialog was clear, present and supremely intelligible. More than that, it sounded appropriate with respect to its scale, matching the grandeur of the scene unfolding on screen. Now, some dialog clarity and/or presence could come across as more forward or beamy, but it really does seem mix or mastering specific. For example, the Netflix reality show, Selling Sunset, sounded very harsh and the characters’ voices were incredibly piercing but when watching the same show on the Q950A from Samsung, I experienced much the same character, so as with anything in sound, it starts with the mix. But can the Panorama be revealing of lesser mixes? Yes, absolutely. But when watching quality content, specifically Hollywood feature films or hour-long dramas like The Walking Dead, the Panorama 3 is brilliant. Lastly, highs have terrific sparkle, great extension without being harsh or aggressive –something I noted when listening to music. 

PANORAMA 3 DOWNSIDES

Honestly, the only major concern I have, aside from the bar really needing to be fed a true Dolby Surround or Atmos signal for best results, is the fact that when switching from Atmos to say stereo or stereo back into Atmos (or even Dolby Digital) the bar would sometimes fail to acquire the signal resulting in NO sound or stranger still - the dialogue stem of a mix not coming through while being able to hear the rest of the mix. In other words - its as if the center channel isn’t connected. Power cycling the bar would eventually remedy this but it did happen and it happened on two different TVs. Not sure if a firmware update could fix this, or if this is just one of those weird HDMI handshake issues, nevertheless, it’s something to keep in mind.  

COMPARING THE B&W PANORAMA 3 TO OTHER SOUNDBARS

At just under a grand, the Panorama 3 has some stiff competition. While the Q950A (or its replacement) is a little more costly, the Samsung is the better overall bar and potentially the greater value in that it sounds good with damn near any signal it’s fed, not to mention has a bit more oomph down low thanks to possessing a separate, dedicated subwoofer. The Samsung also has more features and adjustability than the Panorama. That said, with respect to ease of use and simplicity –not to mention design –the B&W has it over the Samsung –in my opinion anyway. 

SONOS BEAM SOUNDBAR

B&W VS SONOS

In a lot of ways the Panorama 3 reminded me of our Sonos Beam Gen 2, at least in terms of simplicity and ease of use. Obviously the Beam Gen 2 is about half the price, and sounds surprisingly good –comparable to even the Panorama 3 reviewed here. The Beam is expandable whereas the B&W is not –at least not right now. Where I believe the Panorama 3 bests the Beam is in larger spaces. The 3 is more convincing and confident than the Sonos in our large living room. So if you have a larger space or are looking to achieve a more cinematic experience with a tad less strain, the Panorama 3 should be on your list. As for the Arc, I still haven’t heard it, so I have no idea. Suffice to say, the Sonos App and ecosystem is presently more mature compared to what Bowers & Wilkins currently offers. 

B&W VS BANG & OLUFSEN

One other notable all-in-one worth cross shopping is Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound Stage, which is notably more expensive but does a better job, like the Sonos, when listening to non-Atmos content. But in terms of Atmos content, be it music OR movies, the less expensive Panorama 3 is equal to, if not a little better spatially. That said, you have way more flexibility and customization with the Stage, so if you’re one who likes to tweak, spending more for the Bang & Olufsen may be money well spent. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Panorama 3 is nothing if not an incredible all-in-one Dolby Atmos solution for those who may not want to deal with or dive head first into the complexities of building out a home theater system. While its simplicity will be seen as a plus for many, true enthusiasts will no doubt hold it against Bowers & Wilkins –especially at its more premium price point. While not without competition –or shortcomings –I have to say, the Panorama 3 is impressive when fed Atmos or Dolby Surround content, so much so that I think it ranks among the best all-in-one soundbars on the market right now.