Bowers & Wilkins has announced its all-new flagship 800 Series Diamond range. Representing the fifth generation of 800 Series to use the Diamond Dome tweeter, the new D5 range introduces a host of new technologies and design refinements.
60 years in the making, the new 800 Series Diamond range is born of decades of engineering experimentation and refinement. The manufacturer is hailing the latest evolution as the most advanced loudspeaker range it has ever made, representing the embodiment of John Bowers’ True Sound philosophy.
The new D5 range will appeal equally to discerning hi-fi enthusiasts and to dedicated music industry professionals looking for the most realistic sound reproduction possible.
The new 800 Series Diamond range features seven models, beginning with the two-way 805 D5 stand-mount speaker. That’s joined by a series of three-way floorstanding models, including the 804 D5, 803 D5, 802 D5 and the 801 D5. For home theatre use, the HTM81 D5 and HTM82 D5 provide a pair of high-performance centre channel speakers to complete the range.
Across the range, 800 Series Diamond adopts an incredibly luxurious and lustrous aesthetic. Its optimised design detailing – from a new top plate, spine and plinth to revised drive unit pods, tweeter body, trim rings and grilles – is complemented by all-new finishes, made more striking by upgraded, more durable paint.
All of the finishes in the new range have been revised from the outgoing D4 line up. An all-new Dark Walnut finish, inspired by the limited production 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition, replaces the Satin Rosenut in the D5 portfolio.
Also joining the line-up is a Stealth Black finish, complemented by dark metal detailing. In addition, Warm White joins the range, evolved from the previous generation of white loudspeaker with warmer and more modern tones imbued with champagne-coloured detailing.
The portfolio is completed with the new Light Walnut finish, which also adopts the champagne-coloured metal detailing combined with a complementary painted Turbine Head assembly. Black and White finish DB Series subwoofers adopt the new Stealth Black and Warm White finishes to better match their loudspeaker siblings.
In addition to the new finishes, the new D5 range benefits from even tighter production tolerances designed to improve on an already exalted level of perceived quality. Visible transitions between surfaces have been minimised, while fixings have been hidden and panel gaps have been greatly reduced, creating a more seamless and premium finish.
Even the paint quality and process have been improved, delivering a richer and more lustrous finish, especially on the new Stealth Black cabinets.
Complementing the significant design and finish upgrades are an extensive number of acoustic, mechanical and electrical improvements.
Wherever possible, critical performance-enhancing componentry from the 800 Series Signature loudspeakers has been cascaded to the new D5 range, reportedly resulting in more openness, lower distortion, heightened resolution and superior dynamics.
In addition, extensive measurement and simulation work by the research team at the Southwater Research Establishment (SRE) has uncovered an opportunity to deliver cabinet-based enhancements that further reduce the acoustic impact of the loudspeaker enclosure.
Thanks to its extensive use of aluminium components, including all-new Space Frame Bracing to the rear of the cabinet, the new D5 generation of 800 Series Diamond features the best performing and most mechanically ‘quiet’ enclosure that Bowers & Wilkins has ever created.
Featuring parallel aluminium bracing rails that are periodically reinforced longitudinally and transversely, the Space Frame Bracing system bolts directly to the rear of the Matrix inside each D5 cabinet. It performs a similar function to the aluminium bracing to the front of the loudspeaker, by stiffening the inside of the enclosure and thereby further reducing the unwanted impact of vibration and cabinet-borne resonance.
All floor-standing models in the new D5 range include a substantially revised aluminium plinth that has been carefully re-profiled to match the form of each corresponding loudspeaker cabinet.
In a further nod to improved aesthetics, the supporting legs underneath the loudspeaker gain a new high quality metal trim while the lower edge of the plinth has been extended downwards to help conceal the wheels and spikes below the loudspeaker.
To improve performance, each plinth is designed to resist unwanted vibration using a combination of constrained-layer and tuned-mass damping. The new tuned masses are individually specified to suit the unique properties of each plinth and further help minimise unwanted output of the loudspeaker. All four plinths have been further refined with the addition of stabilising outriggers engineered to sit inside the plinth itself.
Greatly benefitting from the modelling and simulation work that was carried out on the 801 D4 Signature, the new D5 design introduces a substantially revised aluminium plate that braces the top section of each cabinet.
With thicker aluminium ribbing sections for greater stiffness, more mechanical location points to optimise coupling to the top of the enclosure and revised decoupling mounts to support the Turbine Head or Solid-Body-Tweeter assembly, the outcome is improved mechanical behaviour at the top of each cabinet.
Each aluminium top plate is further refined with an upgraded collar trimmed in Leather by Connolly and critically damped with material derived from the 800 Series D4 Signature loudspeakers, further reducing unwanted output from the aluminium plate it physically connects to.
Building on the stiff Matrix Bracing system found in the 800 Series Diamond range, the new Enhanced Matrix adds greatly increased stiffness to the critical area at the front of the cabinet around each individual drive unit. Using thick sections of aluminium that have been carefully profiled to brace around each drive unit aperture and further stiffened with ribbed sections to the rear, the Enhanced Matrix joins the newly introduced Space Frame Bracing and all-new aluminium top plate in providing increases in cabinet stiffness and commensurate reductions in unwanted noise.
Marking one of the most significant new technology introductions in the range, the new 804 D5 has been substantially revised to include an internal aluminium enclosure for its Continuum Cone FST assembly.
Derived from the stiff Turbine Head structure used on all larger floorstanding models in the 800 Series Diamond range, the aluminium enclosure both isolates the midrange assembly and provides a consistent mechanical decoupling point for the drive unit itself.
The result is a more free and open sound from the Continuum Cone midrange that more effectively emulates the spatial presentation of a true headed model, such as the 803 D5. At the same time, the 804 D5 retains the more conventional aesthetic that marks it out as the most discreet choice of floorstanding model in the range.
All new 800 Series Diamond D5 models benefit from the latest generation of tweeter grille mesh for their Diamond Dome tweeters, first developed for the 801 D4 Signature. The new design retains the same dome-protecting stiffness but is more acoustically transparent. As a result, resolution is said to be greatly increased while off-axis performance is notably improved.
In addition, every midrange, bass/midrange and bass drive unit in the new range has been significantly improved with the introduction of lower distortion motor systems based on Signature-specification components. This ensures a cleaner, more accurate sounding presentation with better resolution, transient response and dynamics.
Every product in the D5 range has been enhanced with the addition of improved crossover components, derived from the Signature specification loudspeakers, plus an all-new wiring harness with higher-quality cabling and terminal post links.
In all new stereo models in the range, the crossover assembly is housed on an all-aluminium plate construction that is rigidly coupled into both the cabinet and the Space Frame Bracing on the back of the cabinet using substantial M8 and M4 fixings.
This further increases the overall stiffness of the 800 Series Diamond cabinet. In an additional nod to design elegance, the new fixings have been carefully concealed behind brand and model identifier plates.
Revealed to the world on 4th June at HIGH END Vienna and available to buy from 9th September, the new 800 Series Diamond has been engineered for audio connoisseurs who demand the very best in performance, quality and design and for studio professionals.
Pricing
802 D5 | $45,000
803 D5 | $35,000
804 D5 | $25,000
805 D5 | $15,000
HTM81 D5 | $15,000 each
HTM82 D5 | $12,000 each
FS-805 D5 | $2,000
FS-HTM D5 | $1,500 each