Bowers & Wilkins Formation Bass User manual

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www.bowerswilkins.com
Welcome to Bowers & Wilkins and Formation Duo.
Thank you for choosing Formation. When John Bowers rst established Bowers
& Wilkins he did so in the belief that imaginative design, innovative engineering
and advanced technology were keys that could unlock the enjoyment of audio
in the home. That belief continues to inspire every product we design and in
Formation has found its most advanced expression yet.
Formation Duo is a network connected, wireless stereo active network speaker
system that provides extremely high performance reproduction of Formation
audio streams. Formation Duo are primarily intended to be congured and
controlled using the Bowers & Wilkins Home app. The app is available for both
iOS and Android devices. Some commonly used control functions are also
available via touch buttons on the Formation Duo front panels. It is only possible
to install and congure Formation Duo using the Bowers & Wilkins Home app.
Formation Duo will enable you to:
• Listen to audio from streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Roon.
• Listen to network stored audio les.
• Listen to audio over Bluetooth from appropriately enabled Bluetooth source
devices.
• Listen to audio from devices such as turntables (via a phono preamp) and CD
players that are connected to a Bowers & Wilkins Formation Audio.
• Listen to audio, such as Internet Radio, from Airplay or Bluetooth compatible
services and apps.
• Listen to audio playing anywhere in your home on any Formation device
connected to your home network.
The Bowers & Wilkins Home app is required to connect your Formation Duo
to your home network and also to establish connection with other Formation
products in your home. The Bowers & Wilkins Home app also provides some
control and conguration functions during use. Before you begin your Formation
Duo installation please download and install the Bowers & Wilkins Home app on
your iOS or Android device. The Bowers & Wilkins Home app requires iOS V11.4
or later, or Android V8.1 or later. Bluetooth, and WiFi services must be enabled
on your iOS or Android device. You will also need to know your WiFi network
password.
Note: Location Services must be enabled on Android devices during the
Formation setup process. This is because Formation products use a low power
form of Bluetooth (BT-LE) for service communication which on Android devices is
only switched on when Location Services are enabled. Bowers & Wilkins do not
use any location services data for marketing purposes.
Software version - V1.4
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Contents
ENGLISH 2
1. Formation Duo Carton Contents
3
2. Installing Your Formation Duo
3
3. Using Your Formation Duo 5
4. The Bowers & Wilkins Home App
6
5. Formation Music Streams and
Sources 6
6. Cleaning 6
7. Support 6

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1. Formation Duo Carton Contents
2x Formation Duo
Mains power cable set appropriate for your territory
Document pack
2. Installing Your Formation Duo
Your Formation Duo speakers each require a mains
power supply to operate so must be located within
reach of mains sockets. You may wish to install
suitable mains sockets once you have decided on
the locations of your Formation Duo in your listening
room. If your Formation Duo are to use a wired
connection to your network router one of them will
need to be located within reach of an appropriate
network cable.
Formation Duo are primarily intended to be used on
Formation FS Duo stands but can also be placed on
shelves, wall brackets or furniture units. Formation
FS Duo stands will however provide both the best
performance and enable the greatest exibility
in positioning. The stands will also place your
Formation Duo at the correct height – approximately
head height when listening.
Note: If your Formation Duo are to be mounted
on Formation FS Duo stands, please assemble
the stands and secure the speakers to them
before you set up the speakers. Remember that
the Formation Duo mains cables and network
cable (if required) should run through the legs
of the speaker stands. The Formation FS Duo
stands are supplied with rubber and spike foot
options. The spike foot option should be used
when the stands are to be placed on a carpeted
oor. The spikes pierce the carpet to rest on the
surface underneath. Adjust the spike to ensure
that the stands are vertical and don’t rock. Use
the rubber foot option the stands are to be
placed on tiled or wooden oors.
If you still however prefer to install your Formation
Duo on shelves, brackets or furniture units please
ensure that:
• both speakers are located at approximately the
same height.
• the shelves, brackets and furniture are easily able
to support the weight of the speakers and are rigid
and non-resonant.
Stud-work and plasterboard walls are unlikely to
provide adequate strength or rigidity to support
Formation Duo. If you are unsure of the suitability
of a wall, or of your ability to install shelf or bracket
hardware, you should seek professional help.
In the majority of listening rooms your Formation Duo
should be between 2.0m and 4.0m (6.5ft and 13ft)
apart and a similar distance from the listening area.
If the speakers are positioned too close together, the
stereo reproduction may lack scale; if they are too
far apart, the stereo focus may be weak. There is no
need to angle your Formation Duo inwards towards
the listening area however doing so may tighten the
stereo focus. Diagram 1 illustrates basic speaker
positioning.
Like all speakers, Formation Duo radiates sound
energy not only forward but also to the side and,
particularly at bass frequencies, to the rear. As
a result, if they are positioned too close to room
boundaries their performance will be affected. Try to
keep your Formation Duo at least 0.5m (1.6ft) away
from any room boundary.
Even with your Formation Duo placed away from
room boundaries, the material and acoustic
character of the boundaries will still have an
effect on the sound. Try to ensure that immediate
surroundings of each speaker have similar acoustic
qualities. Different acoustic qualities would be heavy
curtains and bare walls, for example.
Diagram 1
Positioning
Diagram 2
Formation Duo rear panel
Connections
In addition to mains power sockets , Formation
Duo carry an Ethernet socket for connection to a
network router if a wired network connection is to be
used in preference to a wireless (WiFi) connection.
Only one speaker of a Formation Duo pair requires a
router connection.
Note: The USB socket located on the Formation
Duo rear panel is intended for service and
diagnostic use only. It cannot be used for any
other purpose.
Note: The Formation Duo connection panel is not
easily accessible once the speakers are attached
to Formation FS Duo stands.
2 metres

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Switch On and Off
With all connections made, and the Bowers &
Wilkins Home app installed on your mobile device,
your Formation Duo are ready to be set up.
Formation Duo have no mains power switch and,
following a short start-up routine, will be operational
as soon as they are connected to mains power. They
will play an audio prompt when their startup routine
is complete.
When Formation Duo, that have not been previously
used, are rst switched on they will automatically
enter setup mode to enable their connection to your
home network and to any other available Formation
devices. Setup mode is indicated by a slow amber
pulse illumination of the speaker’s Form buttons
. Formation Duo will also appear in the Bowers
& Wilkins Home app as available for setup, either
on the initial app page, or after selecting ‘Add
Formation product’ from the app Settings page.
Your Formation Duo manage their operational state
and power consumption entirely automatically and
will switch to a power saving mode after twenty
minutes of inactivity. There is no need ever to switch
off your Formation Duo, however should you wish to
do so, simply disconnected them from mains power.
Your Formation Duo will retain their settings without
mains power.
You can restart each Formation Duo by a short
press and release of the reset buttons located on
their rear panels Pressing the button will switch the
Formation Duo off and on again. All settings will be
retained when your Formation Duo restart. You can
also restart your Formation Duo via the Bowers &
Wilkins Home app Settings page. The reset button is
illustrated in Diagram 3.
If you wish to reset your Formation Duo to their
default settings, press and hold each reset button
for ve seconds. On restart, your Formation Duo will
enter setup mode. All settings will be deleted when
your Formation Duo reset. You can also reset your
Formation Duo via the Bowers & Wilkins Home app
Settings menu.
Network Setup
• With your Formation Duo in setup mode, with their
Form button illumination pulsing slowly amber,
launch the Bowers & Wilkins Home app on your
iOS or Android device. The app will guide you with
prompts though the setup process.
Note: Formation Duo employ a Bluetooth
connection to the device running the Bowers
& Wilkins Home app during the setup process.
Bluetooth signals have a relatively short range
and can be interrupted by room boundaries, so
we recommend that your Formation Duo and
Bowers & Wilkins Home app device remain in
close proximity during the setup process.
• The Bowers & Wilkins Home app will rst search
for Formation products in setup mode and display
a screen inviting the selection of one. Tap to select
your Formation Duo. If you have already set up a
Formation product and are adding an additional
one, select ‘Add Formation product’ from the app
Settings menu.
Diagram 3
Reset button
• The Bowers & Wilkins Home app will next invite
you to name the “space” in which your Formation
Duo are to be used. A list of default space names
is provided but you can also create your own.
When you have selected, or created, a space
name, the app will ask you to touch the Form
button on the front of one Formation Duo to
conrm the selection.
• If a wireless network connection for your
Formation Duo is to be used, the next setup stage
will connect your Formation Duo to your home
WiFi network. The app will ask you to conrm
the correct WiFi network and ask you to input its
password. Alternatively, if your Formation Duo
are connected to your network router using an
Ethernet cable, this stage of the setup process will
be bypassed.
Note: If you already have other Formation
products connected to your WiFi network,
Formation Duo setup will not require you to
input the WiFi password.
• With WiFi network conguration, and space
selection complete, your Formation Duo are ready
for use. Your Formation Duo will play an audio
prompt to conrm successful setup.
Bluetooth Setup
You can connect your Formation Duo to a Bluetooth
enabled audio source device, such as a smartphone,
to play audio over Bluetooth. Your Formation Duo
must rst be “paired” with the Bluetooth audio
source device.
Once you have completed the Formation Duo
network setup, open the Bowers & Wilkins Home
app Settings page, and select the Formation Space
that you wish to pair a Bluetooth device with. Next
select ‘+ Pair a new device’ from the Bluetooth
menu and follow the app instructions to complete
pairing. Your Formation Duo will play an audio
prompt when pairing is complete and their Space will
become available to the paired Bluetooth device for
audio playback.
Note: Up to eight Bluetooth devices can be
simultaneously paired with each Formation
space, however devices will not connect and
play to paired spaces automatically.

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3. Using Your Formation Duo
The Basics
You can use your Formation Duo to play audio from
streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music,
and Tidal, from the Roon music library service and
from internet radio via an appropriate iRadio app.
If you have further Formation devices connected
to your network, a Formation Audio for example,
conventional audio sources connected to it will also
be available through your Formation Duo.
Spaces
Spaces are a core concept of the Formation product
family. A Formation “Space” is a room or a specic
area in your home in which you listen to music.
Each space can include different combinations of
Formation products. The possible congurations are
displayed in Diagram 4.
Playing Audio
The Bowers & Wilkins Home app enables you to
select and play any available audio source or stream.
However, in much the same way that conventional
audio source playback requires initiation through
a play command, Formation streams must be rst
initiated through their own gateway app: the Spotify
app for example, or a music library app such as
Roon. Each gateway or library app will list your
Formation Duo space as an available playback
device using Airplay, Bluetooth or in the case of
Spotify, Spotify Connect.
Once streams are playing on the Formation network
they can be selected via the Bowers & Wilkins Home
app or via a Formation Duo front panel Form touch
button . Touching a Form button will cycle though
the available streams and sources.
Formation Duo Front Panel Controls
and Illumination
Your Formation Duo have buttons on their front
panels that provide play/pause control, volume
adjustment and source/stream selection.
• Touching the Play/Pause will alternately stop
and restart audio playback.
Note: Play/pause will only operate if the stream
source has play and pause functions that can
be accessed through Bluetooth or network
connections.
• Touching volume up or down will adjust
the local volume of any network stream or local
source. Pressing and holding the and
buttons will continuously increase or decrease
volume.
• Touching the Form button will cycle through
and play the active streams and sources available
to the Formation Duo.
Form Button Illumination
The Formation Duo Form button illumination
changes to indicate a variety of operational states.
The illuminations are displayed in Diagram 5.
Diagram 4
Space congurations
TV Space congurations
Music Space congurations