Plasma-Optimized FPM Series Gets Compact New Member
N. Reading, MA–January, 2004–Introduced last year, the Flat Panel Monitor Series from Bowers & Wilkins, the British firm known around the world for its standard-setting loudspeakers for music and home-theater systems, quickly achieved its own benchmark status. The FPM family is widely considered to be one of the few high-end solutions available where ultra-low-profile speakers are required, such as to complement flat-panel plasma TVs and monitors. Now, the B&W Series grows with the FPM 2, an impressively compact yet high performance two-way model.
Of course, the FPM Series is not exclusively for plasma-based systems. Like its siblings, the new FPM 2 is ideal wherever a musically transparent, discreetly elegant loudspeaker is required. As such, the FPM 2 is an outstanding choice in multiroom systems where architectural in-wall speakers are not practicable or desirable. And of course, the FPM 2 is an ideal surround-channel speaker for plasma or other flat-panel or projection systems, or wherever a sonically excellent, compact, unobtrusive speaker is needed.
Like the other FPM Series models the FPM 2 is just 4 inches deep. Yet its compact vented enclosure and ultra-long-throw four-inch woofer combine to produce useful output down to 65 Hz–ample extension to blend correctly with main- and subwoofer-channel mates, or to provide musically satisfying reproduction when used alone in a remote-room installation. The FPM 2, like all FPM models, employs an ultra-wideband tweeter derived form B&W’s reference-standard Nautilus designs, employing that technology’s unique, tapered-tube tweeter “enclosure” to absorb unwanted rearward output for unequalled clarity and freedom from coloration, to a remarkable 40 kHz. The FPM 2’s stable 8? nominal impedance makes it a comfortable, sonics-optimizing load for amplifiers of virtually any power: The FPM 2will produce musically dynamic sound from as little as 25 watts per channel, but is capable of high performance with top-quality amps or receivers in the 100 watts-per-channel class.
Elegantly matching its siblings, the B&W FPM 2 is available in silver, black, or anthracite frames with matching cloth grilles, and is supplied with simple but secure on-wall mounting hardware. The FPM 2 will be available February 2004, at a manufacturer’s suggested price of $400 each.
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) is Britain’s leading exporter of loudspeakers, and is also the number-one imported brand in North America. Since 1966, B&W’s “Quest for Perfection” has resulted in a succession of technical loudspeaker innovations that have satisfied the world’s most demanding listeners. B&W’s rave reviews and universal acceptance as the monitor for classical music recordings have helped B&W become the dominant premium loudspeaker company throughout the world.
####
