Bowers & Wilkins Sound System to play Festival of Sound

Bowers & Wilkins is bringing its famed Sound System to the Festival of Sound, in September. The turbo-charged PA system was first heard at the European Primavera Sound festival in 2014. Since then, it has appeared at multiple summer festivals, including WOMAD, Oya, and Festival No. 6. DJs that have played on it include John Talabot, Floating Points and Jackmaster.

Designed by the same sound engineers that have worked on Bowers & Wilkins award-winning luxury audio products, Sound System combines the clarity of high-end hi-fi with the power to address thousands. Four stacks of four-way active loudspeakers, each over 3.2 metres tall, deliver 120dB.

The system has never been commercially produced, and is one of a kind.

“We wanted to make a statement,” says Festival of Sound organiser Vernon Hamblin.

The three-day event, which combines exhibitions of premium audio, live music and seminars, will feature performances from Chris Difford, the founding member of Squeeze; twice Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman; UNKLE’s James Lavelle and Philip Sheppard, and synth pop group and Grammy Award winners JJ Jeczalik and Gary Langan, co-founders of Art of Noise.
The Festival of Sound runs September 28-30, at the Novotel London West.