Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5 Floorstanding Speaker

Description

Overview

The 801 D5 is the flagship of the Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond D5, the newest generation of the range. Bowers & Wilkins calls it “the pinnacle of our performance”, and says the 800 Series has been the loudspeaker of choice in the world’s most revered recording studios for generations. It is a large three-way floorstander.

Design & build

The cabinet is formed from a single continuous curve, locked in place by a solid aluminium spine, with the solid-body Tweeter-on-Top and the Turbine Head above it and an upgraded plinth below. New for the D5 are aluminium Space Frame Bracing and an aluminium top section within the cabinet. It stands 1,221 mm tall and weighs 106.4 kg. Finishes are Stealth Black, Warm White, Light Walnut and Dark Walnut, each with matching Leather by Connolly trim.

Key features

A 25 mm Diamond dome tweeter, which Bowers & Wilkins says pushes its break-up frequency to 70 kHz, sits in the Tweeter-on-Top. Below it are a 150 mm Continuum cone FST midrange in the Turbine Head and two 250 mm Aerofoil bass units in a vented cabinet with Flowport. Bowers & Wilkins also lists Biomimetic Suspension, the Anti-Resonance plug and an upgraded Matrix bracing.

Specifications

Type: three-way vented-box floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: 25 mm Diamond dome tweeter; 150 mm Continuum cone FST midrange; 2 × 250 mm Aerofoil bass. Frequency range: 13 Hz to 35 kHz (-6 dB). Frequency response: 15 Hz to 28 kHz (±3 dB). Sensitivity: 90 dB. Harmonic distortion (2nd and 3rd harmonics, 90 dB, 1 m on axis): below 1% from 30 Hz to 20 kHz, below 0.3% from 100 Hz to 8 kHz. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 3.0 ohms). Recommended amplifier power: 50 to 1,000 W into 8 ohms on unclipped programme. Maximum recommended cable impedance: 0.1 ohm. Dimensions: height 1,221 mm including tweeter and plinth; width 372 mm cabinet only, 447 mm including plinth; depth 556 mm including grille and terminals, 597 mm including plinth. Weight: 106.4 kg each. Finishes: Stealth Black, Warm White, Light Walnut, Dark Walnut; grilles black (Stealth Black, Dark Walnut) or grey (Warm White, Light Walnut). Priced per pair.

Who it’s for

The 801 D5 is for a large, well-treated room and the listener who wants the reference loudspeaker of the range, for two-channel music or the front of a no-compromise cinema. We hear Bowers & Wilkins as insightful and transparent, and undeniably capable.

What we would pair it with

Bowers & Wilkins recommends 50 to 1,000 watts into 8 ohms. We would drive it with McIntosh MC611 monoblocs or a Gryphon Essence power amplifier, with a McIntosh C55 or Gryphon Essence preamplifier ahead of it.

Room and setup notes

Each speaker weighs 106.4 kg and stands 1,221 mm tall, so delivery, floor loading and access all need thinking about before the order. We survey the route in and set the speakers up in the room they will live in.

Also worth considering

The 802 D5 and 803 D5 carry the same Diamond dome tweeter and Turbine Head in smaller cabinets. Bowers & Wilkins still lists the 801 D4 beside the D5. See the full range on our Bowers & Wilkins page.

Why buy from Hidden Home Technology

The 801 D5 is available to order through us. We can advise on amplification and the room, and handle delivery, installation and set-up across the South. Speak to our team to talk it through.

The wider view: Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5 reviews in brief

The 801 D5 is the flagship of the new 800 Series Diamond, the speaker Bowers & Wilkins calls the pinnacle of its performance. The Diamond dome tweeter sits on top, and the D5 adds aluminium Space Frame Bracing, a new aluminium top section inside the cabinet and an upgraded plinth.

Two reviews have appeared so far, both in other languages. Jamie Biesemans of the Dutch site HIFI.nl spent two days comparing it with the 801 D4 Signature in September 2026 and gave it full marks. He heard the house strengths of fine integration and a carefully built stereo stage, and he found that the D5 adds better balance, more transparency and a real sense of three dimensions. To him it felt like the end of the journey that began with the D3. In the same month Daniel Březina of the Czech magazine Hi-Fi Voice heard it in a showroom with McIntosh’s C55 preamplifier and MC1.25KW monoblocs. He found the bass quicker and better defined and the stage a good fifth larger, and he concluded that it plays like a true reference monitor.

It is worth knowing that both say it asks for a room and a system of the same standard. Biesemans found it still very much a speaker for the sweet spot, with the treble prominent in the house manner, and Březina heard a little less weight in the bass than from the D4 Signature in exchange for more control.

So it belongs in a large room built around the listening seat, with amplification to match. Each speaker weighs over 100 kg, and we plan the delivery, the room and the electronics together.

What the reviewers say, in a nutshell

• HIFI.nl, Jamie Biesemans, September 2026. Full marks. Better balance, more transparency and a far bigger stage than the 801 D4 Signature, at its best in the sweet spot. The review is in Dutch.
• Hi-Fi Voice, Daniel Březina, September 2026. Plays like a true reference monitor, quicker and more open than the D4 Signature with a little less weight in the bass. The review is in Czech.