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Let’s be honest: Nothing can replace an eight-speaker 7.1 system blasting sound at you from all sides. But for a wall-mounted bar not much thicker than your HDTV, the B&W Panorama comes surprisingly close.

...while most soundbars can be best described as cheap and cheerful, it's clear that B&W has taken the challenge much more seriously, creating a single-box solution that delivers a truly dynamic and satisfying listening experience.

Let's face it, $2,200 is rich for most people's blood, especially when talking about soundbars, which can be had all day long for less than half that price. But you won't get the sort of detail, dynamic range and uncanny surround sound the Panorama provides.

It's good looking, great sounding and effortlessly cool. In all, it's a solid first-effort from this speaker manufacturer.

Of the soundbar speakers I’ve reviewed in the past year, the B&W Panorama is by far the handsomest and the most solidly built, and it has the most powerful built-in bass.

The Panorama isn't perfect, but remains an excellent demonstration of Bowers & Wilkins' audio know-how. All it needs now is a little multimedia tweaking.

We’ve never heard a soundbar that musters this much bass, which means you don’t need to add a sub, plus the rest of the sound is polished and engaging.

Despite the paucity of features (did I mention there's no radio tuner or iPod dock, or HD audio support?) Bowers & Wilkins' Panorama is a formidable soundbar debutante. I suspect it'll sell by the truckload.

It's more that B&W is charging a premium price for what appears to be a premium product, but is in fact no way to make the best of a Blu-ray player's audio abilities.