Bowers and Wilkins Panorama impressions

Well I just received my B&W Panorama. I got a pretty good deal on Ebay for one in like new condition. The guy even included the original receipt even though B&W doesn't honor that warranty (original purchaser only I believe but I might try to register it and see). I might get the square trade warranty offered for one year though. I was never able to get best buy or modia to come down on the Panorama by much (maybe $100 bucks) so I was shocked when I saw his receipt. He either had a hook up or maybe they were just trying to move him. He got it for $400 off the msrp plus tax. It made me wish I would have offered him $100 less than I did, lol. I still saved over $700 off of retail so I can deal with it.

The Panorama is beautiful and without a doubt very well made. The previous owner took care of it because I only found a few swirl marks on the remote and nothing obvious on the speaker itself. I kind of got worried because I noticed what looked like indentations in certain parts of the metal on top where it is curved in the back (you could only see them at an angle with light directly on it). I noticed the same thing at best buy though and assume this is a because of how the metal is shaped in the factory. It has to be hard to shape metal perfectly.

Anyway enough about my boring buying experience . I am very impressed with the sound. I was looking for a solution that would allow me to free up everything in my room. I didn't want to buy a separate subwoofer either even though I know I have that option. First off I have two little kids so I never watch movies at thundering levels of sound. I was shocked when I put Tron Legacy in and hit the surround mode. The bass coming out of this things is crazy. No it's not the earthing shattering, hit you in the gut bass. It is however very impressive and you honestly think you have a little subwoofer somewhere in your room. I have been through a ton of soundbars over the years and this simply destroys anything else I have ever owned sound wise.

My room is not ideal for the Panorama either. I only have one wall to bounce off of and that one isn't even close enough. The surround mode is still very good though and very impressive. I have a 3.1 setup in my other room and have been a dedicated separates person for a few years now. I gave up on soundbars awhile back because they were never good with stereo music and just average on home theater (with a mediocre sub or muffled dialogue/sound). I can tell you that this soundbar comes very close to just having a couple of bookshelfs and sub with a receiver.

Now you might be saying that this isn't a big accomplishment. It really is though because again a soundbar has always been a huge compromise in the past. This is the first soundbar that in my opinion finally delivers with little compromise. It's not perfect but wow does it sound good. When watching movies, I definitely will not need a sub. The bass is plenty for me.

Music is also great but because the sound comes out of the far left and right speakers (where as the surround comes out of the middle for the center and uses the left and right speakers for sound effects), the sound is different. I need to experiment more. I noticed pulling the bar closer to the edge of the table helped a lot with regards to reflections (stereo sounded way better). Stereo sounds good but music on the surround mode is fuller with more bass. Stereo has a more subdued (not in a bad way) feel with less bass. Changing the bass or treble hasn't really helped much on that regard but I need to experiment. There isn't anything wrong with this as I do like the laid back feel in stereo without there being so much bass. I am used to listening to 2.1 music though so I am trying to adjust. An external sub might help in stereo mode but I don't really want to go that route. I will continue to tinker with it because the bass level in the surround mode is amazing and in no way would I ever add a sub for that.

Anyway, if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Also I know a few others in this forum have the Panorama so maybe they can chime in on what I have experienced. All in all, if you can get it cheaper than retail ($1200-$1500 range), it is a no brainer. I payed a bit more than the range I mentioned but I wanted one in close to new condition. It's still expensive even used but wow does it sound good. HDMI would have been nice but I don't even missi it. It's a small price to pay for something that blows away pretty much any other soundbar out there.

For reference I have a newly purchased Boston VS 260 setup with a SVS sub and yamaha aventage receiver. It is a great setup. Even after owning it, I am still impressed with the Panorama which to me says a lot.

Thanks! It has been awhile. I think the surround sound would be better if I had two actual walls on either side. My living room is small but my left side opens up to my kitchen and the ride side is a huge window. You can adjust the Panorama to compensate for this (hard, medium, soft for wall) and you can change the distance, etc. to help.

Honestly I have had a 3.1 setup forever so the lack of surround doesn't bother me. I have heard the Panorama in an ideal room and the surround sound was very impressive. I guess I am still floored by it because again my room is not ideal and the Panorama still sounds great. I am still shocked how full the sound is on surround when watching a blu ray. The bass is insane for it being contained to one single sound bar. I can see why it is expensive to be honest because B&W definitely took the time to design it correctly. It's still over priced but after having it for a few days, I honestly don't think by much. It depends on how bad you want to free up your area. I needed to do this for the kids so for me it was a no brainer. There are sacrifices with sound bar's but the Panorama is the only one I have ever owned that comes very close to owning separate speakers.

The Panorama is probably a little below ear level for me because it's on a medial table. The table is 26" high so the speakers are probably hitting at about 30" (34" is ideal for my setup). It does come with two sizes of feet though (one is about an a half an inch longer). I currently have uverse, apple tv, and a ps3 connected to it. It also comes with a wall mount but I would be a little worried putting something this heavy on a wall. I am sure it would help sound wise though. There is a setting in the menu where you actually select if you have the Panorama on a table or wall.

I was concerned (and almost didn't purchase it) because of the lack of hdmi. I worked it out though. I am running optical to the ps3 and apple tv. I am just using the left/right audio outputs for uverse (most everything is just in stereo on uverse anyway). I still have a spare coax connection for another device. I have a sealed xbox 360 but I am probably going to sell it. If I was keeping it, I would just get a converter for that last coax input (since I am out of optical ones now) so I could still run optical. Overall I haven't had issues. Yes I would have liked hdmi switching because I am used to that and it is fewer cables. It looks like B&W is marketing the Panorama as just a sound solution and it doesn't seem like they have any plans of adding hdmi down the road. If you can make it work, it's worth the minor inconvenience for the sound quality alone.

I have noticed improvements in music by bringing the Panorama closer to the edge of the medial table (I assume because of reflections). Music still doesn't have the bass of the surround mode but I honestly think it's designed like that. There is bass in the stereo mode but it isn't the home theater style bass if that makes any sense. Also, surround sounds fuller/clearer mainly because the dialogue or music is coming from the front center speakers, not the side left and right speakers. It's hard to explain but because the Panorama is curved the left and right speakers (which are your main speakers for stereo) are in the end of the cabinet pointing to the left and right, not fully towards you in front. It doesn't sound bad at all but it's a different than the surround mode. Don't let that be a deciding factor though. I am a 2 channel listener with my other system and I really like the Panorama in stereo. It has a very natural, almost laid back sound.

Sorry for the long post but I hope this helps. Any other questions, let me know.

I haven't need a subwoofer yet. I actually can't listen to movies super loud because of the kids so the bass I have heard has been great. I tested out Tron legacy and it sounded amazing. I still can't believe how much bass it puts out without an external subwoofer.

I tried the wide setting last night for music and it is an improvement. I noticed depending on the song/group, the singing/voice sometimes comes out of the center speaker and other times just out of the left and right ones (with the center playing the music of the song).

I think the reason why I view the stereo/wide mode as "different" with regards to sound is because the bass it not aggressive or over done. Surround mode definitely gives you that thump if you like that in music. Overall though, the bass shouldn't be overpowering in music. That is something I am getting used to because I have always used an external subwoofer in the past turned up about midway even with music. The bass on the stereo mode is subdued but still there. That might be why I view it is different or not as full as the surround mode. I honestly don't want to buy an external subwoofer just for music listening. The bass is plenty for me with movies.

Do you listen to music with just the speaker and no subwoofer? If you use the subwoofer with music, what kind of difference did it make? I would rather save $500 (and more clutter) and not purchase an external sub but I thought I would ask since you have the HSU. I definitely don't regret the purchase. It's not perfect but comes pretty close.

I finally got to try out the Panorama with a few blu rays at louder volumes. With little kids, most of my blu rays are Pixar/Disney movies. I tried out TinTin, Megamind, and Kung Fu Panda 2. I was floored by the bass WITHOUT a subwoofer. So much so, that I had to actually turn down the volume. It confirmed to me that I am definitely not a bass head as it was plenty low for me and I definitely don't need an external sub. I could see where a sub would help if you play it really loud and want that super low end though.

I did try Tron Legacy yesterday which is very demanding bass wise. Again I had not issues or felt like it lacked in any way without a sub. Having kids doesn't give me the luxury of ever turning it up very loud so my limits are probably different from others. Again though, after really letting it open up this past weekend, I have to say I am even more impressed.

Side note, I didn't even realize the Panorama had a fan in it, lol. I had everything on mute last night for about 20 minutes while I was doing something for work and I heard a very quiet swooshing sound (kind of worried me when I heard it. I thought it was my uverse box but I isolated it to a fan that I guess is under the panorama built inside. It would come on for a few minutes and then go off. I guess it's just keeping it cool. I could only hear it in a completely quiet room so no biggie.