Unlike the famous speaker designs of the Diamond series, or the infamous and iconic Nautilus, all of which continue to sell today, the new Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series is much more plain-vanilla in terms of design. But potential buyers will know that inside these loudspeakers are the same technologies found in the brand’s flagship range, the 800 Series Diamond.
"The new 700 Series brings studio sound home, with elegant, high-performance models that will suit every décor and preference," the Bowers & Wilkins announcement states appealing directly to the owners of rural homes in Essex or Connecticut. As the announcement underlines, the new 700 Series continues Bowers & Wilkins policy of deploying concepts and technologies cascaded from its flagship range. An exhaustive three-year development program has seen nearly every element of the new range transformed, from cabinet design, construction and finish through to key acoustic and mechanical improvements. For the new 700 Series, the brand essentially removed the design and glamour of the Diamond series and made it boring to match the homes where these speakers will sell to.
The new 700 Series also continues to be the brand's most comprehensive range, featuring eight models including three floor-standing speakers, three stand-mount speakers plus two dedicated center channels for home theater use. In a first for the 700 Series, the new range introduces slimmer cabinets featuring a curved front baffle and drive units mounted in external ‘pods’ that form a direct visual and technical link to the 800 Series Diamond range.
A design that Bowers & Wilkins says actually helps the sound quality. This revised form reduces the impact of the loudspeaker baffle on sound quality by minimizing diffraction, and as a result, the new range is better than ever at ‘disappearing’ acoustically, "so you can just concentrate on the music, rather than the sound of the loudspeaker cabinet." So, that explains the philosophy of the Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series loudspeaker design: not made to be seen but heard. (Those who actually care about design can still look for the Bowers & Wilkins 705 and 702 Signature models in stunning Midnight Blue Metallic finish launched in 2021, very likely at a discount now).
The new cabinet forms are not only more svelte than previous B&W speakers, they’re also offered in an all-new Mocha finish, a highly grained wood that makes the new 700 Series cabinets disappear in the wood furniture that the owners of those speakers will likely already have. And the natural wood joins the Gloss Black and Satin White finishes previously offered, to allow married couples some room for negotiation. A fourth Rosenut finish will also be offered exclusively in Asian and Pacific markets where rose-gold smartphones are the best selling color.
The Drivers
Ignoring the bland exterior design, these Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series speakers benefit from a significant step forward for acoustic performance. Bowers & Wilkins now offers its iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top technology in four models in the new 700 Series, representing half the range in total. Now, the 702 S3 and 703 S3 floorstanding loudspeakers, the 705 S3 standmount model and the HTM71 S3 center channel loudspeaker include Tweeter-on-Top. This means, for the first time in a 700 Series range, owners have the option of building a complete 700-Series home theater system featuring Tweeter-on-Top throughout.
The Tweeter-on-Top form itself has been comprehensively re-engineered in the new range. Machined as ever from a single, solid block of aluminum, the new 700 Series Tweeter-on-Top enclosure has been significantly lengthened, reducing distortion and ensuring an even cleaner presentation. This longer form is further enhanced by the introduction of improved two-point decoupling that better isolates the assembly from the loudspeaker cabinet, ensuring a more free and open soundstage.
Beyond these mechanical improvements, the Tweeter-on-Top diaphragm retains the Bowers & Wilkins Carbon Dome tweeter, with its 47kHz first break-up performance, coupled to improved, vented voice coils with new, upgraded magnets. Even models that feature tweeters mounted in the baffle – 707 S3, 706 S3, 704 S3 and HTM72 S3 – benefit from all these changes, alongside a significantly elongated tube-loading system that, as with the Tweeter-on-Top, works to reduce distortion and ensure a cleaner sound.
In all three-way loudspeakers in the new range, Bowers & Wilkins has introduced its Biomimetic Suspension – first revealed in 2021 in the new 800 Series Diamond range. Replacing the conventional fabric spider found in the suspension of almost all loudspeakers built over recent decades, the Biomimetic Suspension dramatically reduces unwanted noise from the output of the spider as the midrange cone operates.
Used alongside all of Bowers & Wilkins other proprietary midrange cone technologies – including decoupling for the entire midrange assembly, an aluminum drive unit chassis featuring tuned mass dampers for reduced resonance, FST surround-less suspension and of course the famous Continuum cone material – the result excels on midrange transparency. Models with mid/bass drive units – 707 S3, 706 S3, 705 S3 and HTM72 S3 – have been upgraded too, with new motor systems and improved chassis for cleaner output.
Bass, meanwhile, uses the latest generation of Bowers & Wilkins Aerofoil Profile bass cone technology, based around a composite ‘sandwich’ of materials with a carefully formed variable profile aimed at delivering cleaner, lower distortion bass.
The new 700 Series range also introduces upgraded, 800 Series Diamond-inspired speaker terminals that feature more substantial contact connections and are better laid out for use with spade-terminated speaker cable. These feed carefully upgraded crossovers that continue to use Mundorf capacitors as before, enhanced with multiple bypass capacitors and improved heatsinking for even cleaner performance.
All models in the range feature updated, larger diameter Flowports that offer a more substantial output, ensuring a bigger and more expansive sound. In the 702 S3 floorstander, that approach is taken one stage further – and even closer than ever to the configuration of 800 Series Diamond floorstanding loudspeakers – thanks to the re-orientation of its port to fire downwards on its integrated plinth. Finally, all floorstanding models feature significantly upgraded spikes to anchor them to the floor.
The new 700 Series range will be available from September 21st with prices starting at US $800 for a pair of FS-700 S3 Floor stands, to which one can add a pair of 707 S3 bookshelf speakers for just US $1,800. Those who really like to scare their home pets, can go straight to the 702 S3 floorstanding loudspeakers with tweeter-on-top for $7,000 a pair.
Bowers & Wilkins joined the Sound United LLC family of brands in 2020.
www.bowerswilkins.com
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