Just got my hands on these and lament having to return them. Lets first go with the good. Sonically they are AMAZING it didn’t matter what genre I played always leaving me in awe. For a medium to small room you won’t need a sub for music playback (which really surprised me). Music streaming was perfect. No lost connections, consistent all the time.
Now the bad (and the deal breaker for me) I understand what B&W was trying to accomplish with the Formation line. Great audio tailored exclusively to the streaming era. First of all I see nothing wrong with that if anything I truly hope speakers like these are the future. The issue I have with the duo is its lack of input/outputs which end up making them less versatile. In my case I wanted to use them also with my TV as the main speakers but the connection isn’t seamless, connection drops, the volume isn’t consistent with the music streaming volume. I also wish it had a sub woofer input for added flexibility. Because honestly I would prefer to spend sub money on a SVS vs the only option that this system gives you. For the money something as simple as inputs should have been a given and I would have been super happy and kept them.
I would highly recommend these if you buy them for the sole purpose that they were built for. Streaming audio. If you don’t own equipment (which I do) or you do and are willing to sell all your gear then these are a great buy. I will be spending this money on a pair of Klipsch Heresy IV for my endgame. And for those who take the plunge you’re in for a sonic treat!! Enjoy!!

I have a seriously love-hate relationship with these speakers after owning them + Formation Bass + Formation Audio for 2 years. On the one hand they are fantastic, sound amazing (especially with Roon), and are hands-down the best speakers I’ve ever owned. On the other hand they were super finicky and my partner can’t use them because there’s no volume button/remote and she doesn’t want to use the app. We actually use it for both music and movies and it works wonderfully when it does work. It’s not designed for movie watching so it’s hard to knock it on that but generally when the file sizes/song quality increases, the speakers start to struggle and get less reliable. I believe this is partly due to being 2.4 GHz only and also due to the fact that they’re likely just bad at staying connected to one another. They often get out of sync or have a brief pausing when catching up etc. It also strangely has gotten worse over time – that one I can’t figure out. I beefed up my WiFi with a ton of extenders etc and it never got better. No other device on my network has issues. Then I plugged them into Ethernet and life was so much better, until literally 2 years and 1 month into ownership one of them just started crackling and appears to be busted. Of course the warranty is only 2 years for such an expensive and “high end” product. I feel that Bowers is not selling a product here that they stand behind or want to keep up to date but I’m also very torn because I’m not sure what speakers would have been better for my application (not wanting a receiver, not wanting a ton of wires, but wanting high end sound). Sigh – cannot recommend.

I got this speakers as open box for 1K and I can say this are the best speakers I’ve had better than the 805 d3 not d4 tho but for that price you get the sound quality of a 800 series not bad at all.
Finish is good but not 800 series good I believe the design is good but I still prefer the 800 diamond finishes and design
Now if you get this I strongly recommend you get the formation audio it will make your life easier and you will be able to use this speaker with anything that is the downside of this system is only wireless but the formation audio fixes that in my opinion
Just keep in mind this is a great deal on clearance (2k at the moment of this review) not only you get a great pair of speaker but also the amps 2x125w each speakers bi wire if you get the 805 d3 (what this compares to) and a decent amp you may be looking at 6k+ i paid for my whole system and a formation wedge 2k for all not disappointed at all.

I have owned lots of expensive audio equipment and got tired of all the wires and different components. I replaced a Mark Levinson/Linn system with small QBs from Naim. The Qbs are great for what they are, but they lack really low bass and will not play in stereo pairs. In spite of many compliments on their sound from visitors, I wanted better. So, I have been following all the new active, streaming speakers coming out. I was looking for best bang for the buck and that could double for music and movies. I tried a KEF system that kept losing WiFi and Bluetooth signal. The sound was Ok, but not great. The Naims are better, even in mono.
When I returned the KEFs, I listened to these Duos in the BB store, where they were NOT set up in an appropriate location (dumb). I decided to give them a home-try.
Man, what difference the environment made. The speakers sound as good as $100,000 systems I have heard. I expected crystal clear mids and treble, and they definitely deliver, but what surprised me was how much bass they put out. I don’t need a sub as I had thought I might.
These are worth far more than what seems initially an expensive price. Keep in mind you don’t need separates — you already get a streamer, DAC, amps (4), preamp as well as extraordinarily good speakers. Note that a mid-fi amp and a set of passive 700 series B&W bookshelves would exceed the price of these. I am sure you could find a less expensive, less usable system, but it will be nowhere as good as these. And if you were to build a comparable system, with all the same features, you’d spend far more than $4,000 (assuming you buy total crap equipment) and it would like still not be nowhere as good.
As for the older reviews regarding drop-out and the app — B&W has replaced the app, and the new one is quite good. If others suffered connectivity issues, that definitely is not indicative of all Duos, and I suspect is a rare problem, where you could get a replacement pair under warranty in any event.
Give these a try— you WILL want to keep them once you figure out what value they offer.