BRAND NEW 700 SERIES FROM BRITISH HIFI BRAND BOWERS & WILKINS

Bowers & Wilkins has launched a new eight-strong line-up of floorstanding, stand-mount and centre-channel loudspeakers.

The new Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series features many of the same technologies found in the brand’s flagship range, the 800 Series Diamond, as found in many famous recording studios. B&W says that the new 700 Series ‘brings studio sound home’.

B&W 702 S3

BOWERS & WILKINS 700 SERIES

A three-year development programme has seen nearly every element of the new range transformed, from cabinet design, construction and finish through to key acoustic and mechanical improvements.

Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series Loudspeakers Tweeter-on-Top

The new 700 Series continues to be Bowers & Wilkins most comprehensive range, featuring eight models including three floor-standing speakers, three stand-mount speakers plus two dedicated centre channels for home theatre use.

Home Theatre set up

BOWERS & WILKINS 700 SERIES CABINETS

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. B&W says that this revised form reduces the impact of the loudspeaker baffle on sound quality by minimising the ‘cabinet diffraction’ effect.

703 S3

MOCHA FINISH

The new cabinet forms are also available in an all-new Mocha finish, a highly grained wood. Mocha joins the Gloss Black and Satin White finishes previously offered to form a three-strong range of options for most markets globally. A fourth Rosenut finish will also be offered exclusively in Asian and Pacific markets.

Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series Loudspeakers finishes

TWEETER-ON-TOP TECHNOLOGY

Bowers & Wilkins now offers its distinctive 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 centre 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 theatre system featuring Tweeter- on-Top throughout.

Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series tweeter

The Tweeter-on-Top form itself has been comprehensively re-engineered in the new range. Machined as ever from a single, solid block of aluminium, the new 700 Series Tweeter-on-Top enclosure has been significantly lengthened. This longer form is further enhanced by the introduction of improved two-point decoupling that better isolates the assembly from the loudspeaker cabinet.

Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3

CARBON DOME TWEETER

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.

B&W 704 S3

BIOMIMETIC SUSPENSION

In all three-way loudspeakers in the new range, Bowers & Wilkins has introduced its Biomimetic Suspension, which was first revealed last year in the new 800 Series Diamond range. Replacing the conventional fabric spider found in the suspension of many loudspeakers built over recent decades, the Biomimetic Suspension reduces unwanted noise from the output of the spider as the midrange cone operates. This is used alongside all of Bowers & Wilkins other proprietary midrange cone technologies including decoupling for the entire midrange assembly, an aluminium drive unit chassis featuring tuned mass dampers for reduced resonance, FSTTM surround-less suspension and of course the ContinuumTM cone material. 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 a cleaner output.

706 S3

AEROFOILTM PROFILE BASS CONE

Bass, meanwhile, uses the latest generation of Bowers & Wilkins AerofoilTM Profile bass cone technology, based around a composite ‘sandwich’ of materials with a carefully formed variable profile aimed at delivering cleaner, lower distortion bass.

707 S3

BOWERS & WILKINS 700 SERIES PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION

The new 700 Series range 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.

All models in the range feature updated, larger diameter Flowports that offer a more substantial output. In the 702 S3 floorstander, that approach is taken one stage further and closer than ever to the configuration of 800 Series Diamond floorstanding loudspeakers, with the re-orientation of its port to fire downwards on its integrated plinth.

Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series Centre Loudspeakers

SPIKES

Finally, all floorstanding models feature significantly upgraded spikes to anchor them to the floor. On 704 S3 and 703 S3, stainless steel M6 spikes are included with their integrated plinths: on 702 S3, heavy-duty M10 spikes are provided. Even stand-mount models in the range benefit from similar mechanical upgrades, thanks to the FS-700 S3 floor-stand, which has been visually upgraded to match the slimmer, curved profile of the new cabinet design, while also offering acoustic improvements with the introduction of those stiffer M6 spikes.

B&W 707 S3

BOWERS & WILKINS 700 SERIES PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

The new 700 Series range will be available from September 21st.

702 S3 £5,500 / $7,000 / €6,500 Floorstanding loudspeaker with Tweeter-on-Top

703 S3 £4,200 / $6,000 / €5,000 Floorstanding loudspeaker with Tweeter-on-Top

704 S3 £3,000 / $4,000 / €3,500 Floorstanding loudspeaker

705 S3 £2,600 / $3,400 / €3,000 Standmount with Tweeter-on-Top

HTM71 S3 £1,700 / $2,500 / €2,000 Centre-channel loudspeaker with Tweeter-on-Top

706 S3 £1,650 / $2,200 / €2,000 Standmount loudspeaker

HTM72 S3 £1,000 / $1,500 / €1,200 Centre-channel loudspeaker

707 S3 £1,300 / $1,800 / €1,500 Bookshelf/standmount loudspeaker

FS-700 S3 £800 / $800 / €900 Floor stand

HiFi Pig Says: A fresh new look and plenty of upgrades for this new B&W series.