Bowers & Wilkins has revealed its upgraded 800 Series Diamond featuring an all-new industrial design and a range of new technologies to set even higher standards for sound quality.
Featuring seven models, the 800 Series Diamond range starts with the two-way 805 D4 standmount speakers, followed by a series of three-way floorstanding models, including the 804 D4, 803 D4 and 802 D4. Reintroducing an iconic name to its portfolio, the 801 D4 will be the new flagship to replace the existing 800 D3. For home theatre use, the HTM81 D4 and HTM82 D4 provide a pair of high-performance centre channel speakers to complete the range.
All models in the range feature a vast number of improvements in detail and new technologies to ensure the new generation of products are the best the company has produced.
802 D4 in White
Design
With multiple design changes, the first change is the addition of a fourth finish to the range: a Satin Walnut finish, joining the established selection of Gloss Black, White and Satin Rosenut.
The cabinet designs have also been upgraded with a new rigid, cast aluminium top section, replacing the previous wooden version, to offer even greater stiffness and improve cabinet quietness. For a more luxurious look, the profile of the new aluminium top is finished in ‘Leather by Connolly’. This is black for dark cabinets (Black and Satin Rosenut) and light grey for lighter finishes (White and Satin Walnut).
The iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing has also been revised on all new models with a new, elongated tube-loading system to produce an even more open sound for high frequencies. A new two-point decoupling system isolates the solid body tweeter from the rest of the loudspeaker, preventing unwanted resonance and improving the acoustics. The Solid Body Tweeter has an anodised finish either dark or light to match the cabinet colour.
The range also introduces three new cabinet forms. The 805 D4 and 804 D4 stereo models adopt the reverse-wrap cabinet design first introduced in 2015 for the larger speakers in the series. This new form reduces the profile of each cabinet’s front baffle while increasing the overall rigidity of the complete system.
A downward-firing port with an integral aluminium plinth has been added to the 804 D4. Like the 805 D4 and 804 D4, the HTM82 D4 centre speakers also takes advantage of the reverse-wrap cabinet form for superior acoustic and mechanical performance.
803 D4 in Satin Walnut
Technologies
A new composite Biomimetic Suspension replaces the conventional fabric spider with a minimalist composite suspension system that revolutionises midrange cone performance by greatly reducing unwanted air pressure (sound) that a conventional fabric spider can generate, removing its unpredictable, non-linear effects. Combined with the twin benefits of Continuum Cone and Fixed Suspension Transducer (FST) midrange technology, the result is unprecedented midrange transparency and realism.
The performance-enhancing benefits of its Continuum Cone, FST midrange technology and Biometric Suspension is combined with careful isolation of the complete midrange assembly from the rest of the surrounding cabinet. In all three-way models, midrange drive units include a highly stiff all-aluminium chassis with Tuned Mass Dampers (TMD) to quieten any resonance. These complete drive units and motor systems are then isolated on sprung-mounted decoupling mounts, further restricting the flow of vibration into the assembly.
The 803 D4, 802 D4, and 801 D4 all include the stiff all-aluminium Turbine Head enclosure for their midrange drive units, providing better isolation, as the head assembly is itself further decoupled from the bass enclosure below.
804 D4 in Satin Rosenut
Introducing a similar but new concept, the HTM81 D4 and HTM82 D4 features an internal aluminium enclosure that provides a stiff, well-isolated housing for the midrange drive unit and its decoupling mechanism.
Matrix has been used within Bowers & Wilkins speakers for over 30 years and has been continually developed over that time. The technology is an internal structure of interlocking panels that brace the loudspeaker internally in all direction, helping to make the speaker cabinets rigid, inert and quiet.
The 805 D4 and 804 D4 now has a still aluminium plate on the inside face of its cabinet, bracing its baffle against resonance. Inside, both models also feature updates to their Matrix bracing, with thicker panels made from solid plywood rather than MDF which it was previously, reinforced by aluminium bracing sections.
The 804 D4 now has a downwards-firing Flowport bass port to match the other floorstanding models in the 800 Series Diamond range. It offers a new, stiffer solid aluminium plinth complete with a constrained layer steel damping sheet designed to offer a rock-solid foundation and to control unwanted resonance. The 804 D4 also has upgraded spikes and feet, with huge M12 spikes that are both more stable and stiffer than the outgoing M6 designs.
805 D4 in Gloss Black
The 803 D4, 802 D4, and 801 D4 all use the same arrangement of downwards-firing Flowport, solid aluminium plinth and constrained layer steel damping but retain the wheel-plus-spike configuration introduced in 2015, making each model easier to move to the perfect listening position.
The 800 Series Diamond range features the Aerofoil Cone, a composite bass cone with a varying thickness designed to offer maximum stiffness where it is most needed while preserving a low mass thanks to its carbon fibre skin and light syntactic foam core.
Together with revised and optimised motor systems, each floorstanding speaker in the range now combines Aerofoil Cones with a new foam Anti-Resonance Plug, which gently braces the voice coil and lowers distortion as the cone moves through its operating range, ensuring even cleaner bass.
HTM81 D4 White
Prices & availability
The 800 Series Diamond range are available globally from 1 September 2021.
HTM82 D4 in Gloss Black
The flagship 801 D4 will be priced at £30,000 / €35,000 / $35,000. The 802 D4 will be available for £22,500 / €26,000 / $26,000. The 803 D4 will be £16,000 / €20,000 / $20,000. The 804 D4 will be available for £9,500 / €12,500 / $12,500. The 805 D4 will be priced at £6,250 / €8,000 / $8,000. The HTM81 D4 will be £6,500 / €7,500 / $7,500. The HTM82 D4 will be priced at £4,750 / €5,500 / $5,500. The FS-805 D4 will be available at £1,100 / €1,200 / $1,200. And finally, the FS-HTM D4 will be £700 / €800 / $800.
Main image: 801 D4 flagship model in Gloss Black