The new 800 Series Diamond range is a like-for-like replacement of the outgoing series, featuring seven new  models, beginning with the two-way 805 D4 stand-mount speaker. That’s joined by a series of three-way floorstanding models, including the 804 D4, 803 D4 and 802 D4. For the flagship model in the range, Bowers &  Wilkins is pleased to reintroduce an iconic name to its portfolio, with the launch of 801 D4 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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every new model in the range combines hundreds of detail improvements plus several entirely new  technologies to create the most transparent, detailed and natural-sounding series of loudspeakers Bowers &  Wilkins has ever produced. 

 

 

Refined Design 

Refined, elegant cabinet proportions plus luxurious, premium detailing combine to make this the most  premium 800 Series Diamond range yet.  

The first and most obvious change is the addition of a fourth finish to the line-up. The new range now includes a  Satin Walnut finish, joining the established selection of Gloss Black, White and Satin Rosenut.  

Every stereo model in the range also enjoys a significantly upgraded cabinet design with an all-new rigid, cast  aluminium top section – replacing the previous wooden version – to offer even greater stiffness and thus  improve cabinet quietness still further. In a luxurious touch, the profile of the new aluminium top is finished in  ‘Leather by Connolly’ – in black for dark cabinets (Black, Satin Rosenut) and light grey for lighter finishes  (White, Satin Walnut). 

Every model in the range adopts a revised version of the iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing, with a  new, elongated tube-loading system to produce an even more open sound for high frequencies. This  supremely stiff enclosure deftly resists unwanted resonance and is an exceptional acoustic form – especially  when combined with a new two-point decoupling system that isolates it from the rest of the loudspeaker more  effectively than ever. As before, the Solid Body Tweeter is milled from a single solid block of aluminium and  now, it uses an anodised finish, either dark or light depending on the cabinet colour, to celebrate that fact. 

Finally, the range introduces three entirely 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 dramatically increasing the overall  rigidity of the complete system. It also allows crossovers to now be mounted in dedicated spaces on the  rear of each speaker, housed behind the rigid aluminium spines. 

The 804 D4 builds on the potential of its new configuration by adding a downward-firing port with an  integral aluminium plinth – again, much like the form used by the larger floorstanding speakers in the  range. Alongside the 805 D4 and 804 D4, the all-new HTM82 D4 centre speaker adopts the reverse wrap cabinet form of its siblings, for superior acoustic and mechanical performance.

New technologies

Continuum Cone™, FST™ & Biomimetic Suspension

The result of an eight-year research programme, the composite Continuum Cone – used for both  midrange and mid/bass applications – is already famed for its open, transparent, and neutral  performance. When used as a midrange drive unit in Bowers & Wilkins floorstanding speakers, it is  always combined with our Fixed Suspension Transducer (FSTTM) midrange technology, which carefully  avoids the coloration that traditional cone surrounds can introduce. 


Now, Bowers & Wilkins has combined the twin benefits of Continuum and FST with an all-new advance  that transforms the other key element of a drive unit’s normal operation: the fabric spider. Over decades  of continuous development to nearly all areas of speaker design, the fabric spider, a key element in the  suspension of every conventional loudspeaker drive unit, has remained largely unchanged – until now.  

The all-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 – aka sound – that a conventional fabric spider can generate, removing its  unpredictable, non-linear effects. The result is unprecedented midrange transparency and realism.
 




Decoupled Midrange & Turbine Head

Bowers & Wilkins combines all the performance-enhancing benefits of its Continuum Cone, FST  midrange technology and Biomimetic Suspension 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 featuring 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.  
Finally, 803 D4, 802 D4 and 801 D4 include the massively stiff all-aluminium Turbine Head enclosure  for their midrange drive units, providing not only an outstanding acoustic form but also even better  isolation – since the head assembly is itself further decoupled from the bass enclosure below. 
The HTM81 D4 and HTM82 D4 introduce a new and similar concept but inside their cabinets: each  centre-channel model now features an internal aluminium enclosure that provides a stiff, well-isolated  housing for the midrange drive unit and its decoupling mechanism. 



Solid Body Tweeter

To minimise the unwanted transfer of resonance into each model’s Diamond Dome tweeters, an  exceptionally stiff enclosure is required. The new 800 Series Diamond introduces a revised version of  the iconic Solid Body Tweeter housing; this continues to be machined from a solid piece of aluminium,  but now it features an elongated form (almost 30cm/12in long) with a longer internal tube-loading  system. 

The new Solid Body Tweeter assembly is now decoupled from the speaker body or Turbine Head  (depending on model) in two locations rather than one: this notably improves spaciousness and  openness. At the same time, the tweeter’s motor assembly has been re-engineered to allow the drive  unit to ‘breathe’ more effectively with no loss of performance. This combined with the longer tube results in a notable reduction in the resonant frequency behind the tweeter dome.
 



Reverse-Wrap Cabinet & Matrix™ 

Matrix has been a core Bowers & Wilkins technology for more than 30 years and has also been  continually developed throughout that time. An internal structure of interlocking panels that brace the  loudspeaker internally in all directions, Matrix helps to make speaker cabinets rigid, inert and quiet. 

The 805 D4 and 804 D4 now feature the reverse wrap speaker cabinet previously reserved for the  larger floor-standing 800 Series Diamond models. Each model now has a stiff aluminium plate on the  inside face of its cabinet, bracing its baffle to all but eliminate resonance. Inside, both models also  feature updates to their Matrix bracing, with thicker panels made from solid plywood rather than the  previous MDF, further reinforced by aluminium bracing sections. 
Every stereo model in the range also features the new cast aluminium top, replacing the previous  wooden design, dramatically increasing the rigidity of the speaker enclosure. As before, drive units are  housed in stiff aluminium pods mounted to the baffle of the speaker, while crossover units are fitted to  equally stiff aluminium spines running up the rear of the cabinet. Finally, 801D4 introduces a steel plate  in its base section around the port – again, all in the name of adding stiffness to the enclosure and  further quietening its operation. 
Aluminium Plinth 

The 804 D4 now joins the other floor-standing models in the 800 Series Diamond range by offering a  downwards-firing FlowportTM bass port, exiting on to 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 greatly upgraded spikes and feet, with large M12 spikes for greater  stability and stiffness than the outgoing M6 designs.  

803 D4, 802 D4 and 801 D4 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 far easier to manoeuvre to the perfect listening position than any rival design. 



Aerofoil Cone™

The result of advance computer modelling, the Aerofoil ConeTM is 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. 

Alongside revised and optimised motor systems, each floorstanding speaker in the 800 Series Diamond  range now fits its Aerofoil Cones with a new foam Anti-Resonance PlugTM , which serves to brace the  voice coil and lower distortion as the cone moves through its operating range, ensuring even cleaner  bass than before. 

Together, all these advances deliver levels of performance that clearly transcend that of their illustrious  predecessors. Available globally from September 1st, the new 800 Series Diamond is the finest range of loudspeakers Bowers & Wilkins has ever created.