B&W

Bowers & Wilkins is one of Britain’s most celebrated loudspeaker makers, with roots reaching back to a small radio and electronics shop opened by John Bowers and Roy Wilkins in Worthing in 1946. From those beginnings grew a relentless engineering culture. When the 800 Series arrived in 1979, its 801 model was adopted by EMI as the reference monitor at Abbey Road Studios, cementing the brand’s place at the heart of the recording world. The sculptural Nautilus, first seen in 1993, introduced the tapering-tube thinking that still shapes the range, and the addition of a diamond tweeter dome in 2005 gave us the 800 Series Diamond, still built largely by hand in Worthing.

Why we carry Bowers & Wilkins

We have been specifying B&W for most of the twenty-five years Hidden Home Technology has been trading, and the reason is an unglamorous one: across four price tiers and a great many installations, they behave predictably. A room that will take a 705 S3 takes it well. A client who liked a 603 S3 in a demonstration still likes it a fortnight later in their own sitting room. In a trade where a good deal of equipment sounds like a different product once it leaves the demo stand, that consistency is worth more than any single specification — and it is why B&W is both the range we most often put in front of somebody buying their first serious pair of speakers and the range we return to when the budget has no ceiling.

The second reason is practical. B&W is one of the few high-end loudspeaker families that runs continuously from a few hundred pounds to ninety thousand without a change of character. That lets us build a system a client can grow into: 600 S3 in the snug, 700 S3 in the main room, 800 Series D4 when the dedicated listening room finally gets built — all voiced closely enough that the family recognises the sound as the same one.

The range, tier by tier

600 Series S3 — the entry, and a genuinely good one. The 607 S3 and 606 S3 are compact standmounts; the 603 S3 is a floorstander sized for a normal British sitting room. Roughly £600 to £2,000 a pair. This is the tier where most first systems start, and where a modest integrated amplifier is not a limitation.

700 Series S3 — the step where the reference engineering starts to come down the range: Continuum midrange cones and the carbon-dome tweeter, in cabinets an ordinary room can accommodate. The 707 S3, 706 S3 and 705 S3 are the standmounts; the 704 S3, 703 S3 and 702 S3 the floorstanders, with Signature editions of the 705 and 702 above them. Roughly £1,300 to £7,000 a pair. In our experience this is the sweet spot of the whole catalogue for a real house: enough resolution to reward good electronics, not so much cabinet that a 4 × 5 metre room cannot cope.

800 Series Diamond D4 — the reference. 805 D4, 804 D4, 803 D4, 802 D4 and the 801 D4, from roughly £8,750 to £36,000 a pair. These are not speakers to buy on a whim or install casually; they need amplification, room and setup time in proportion to their price.

Nautilus — the 1993 statement piece, still made, still £90,000, still the shape everything else in the catalogue descends from. It is an active design and a serious installation project. If you are considering one, talk to us before you buy anything else in the chain.

Getting them right in a real room

Three things go wrong with B&W more often than anything else, and none of them are the speaker’s fault.

Buying too large a model for the room. This is the commonest and the most expensive. A 702 S3 in a 3.5 × 4 metre room will overload it and sound thick and slow; a 705 S3 with a subwoofer in the same room will sound faster, deeper and better. Cabinet volume has to be proportional to room volume. We would rather sell you the smaller speaker and get it right.

Under-driving the bigger models. The 800 Series in particular rewards current delivery rather than paper watts. An amplifier that sounds effortless on a 606 S3 can sound strained on an 803 D4 at the same listening level. We match amplification to speaker before we quote, not after.

Placement. The ported models want breathing room from the rear wall — typically 30 to 50 centimetres, sometimes more — and toe-in aimed just outside the shoulders rather than straight at the head. Standmounts need rigid, mass-loaded stands with the tweeter at seated ear height; the FS-600 S3 stands exist for exactly this reason. Getting this right is free, and it is worth more than a cable upgrade.

What we pair them with

Every serious B&W installation we do is a matching exercise, not a shopping list. Have a look at our integrated amplifiers, power amplifiers and streamers — or read our five favourite integrated amplifiers for a sense of how we think about the amplifier end of the chain. For rooms where the speakers have to disappear entirely, our designer’s guide to invisible speakers covers the alternative approach. If the room itself is the limiting factor — and it usually is — start with room acoustics.

Hear them

Hidden Home Technology is an authorised Bowers & Wilkins dealer in the United Kingdom, supplying, installing and demonstrating the B&W range from our reference room in Bath, Somerset. We are a family-run, CEDIA Professional Member business with over twenty-five years in high-end audio and custom installation, working across Bath, Bristol, the Cotswolds, the wider South West, South Wales, London and the Home Counties.

Where can I buy Bowers & Wilkins speakers in the UK?
Through Hidden Home Technology, in Bath. We carry the 600 S3, 700 S3 and 800 Series Diamond D4 ranges and can arrange a demonstration here or in your own home. Get in touch to arrange a listening session.

Which Bowers & Wilkins series should I choose?
Room size first, budget second. Under about 20 square metres, 600 S3 or a 700 S3 standmount. A typical 20 to 35 square metre sitting room suits the 700 S3 floorstanders. The 800 Series D4 belongs in a large or dedicated room with amplification and setup to match. Tell us the dimensions and we will tell you honestly which tier to look at.

Do you install as well as supply?
Yes — that is most of what we do. Delivery, placement, amplifier matching, acoustic assessment and setup are part of the job, not an extra. See our projects for what that looks like in practice.