Bowers & Wilkins 803 D5 Floorstanding Speaker

Description

Overview

The 803 D5 is the most compact model in the Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond D5 to have the Turbine Head, the midrange housing of the larger models. Bowers & Wilkins designed it to suit a wide range of living and listening spaces.

Design & build

As well as the Diamond dome tweeter in a solid-body Tweeter-on-Top, the 803 D5 gains an enhanced Matrix with Space Frame Bracing and an aluminium top plate with a damping collar. The cabinet is formed from a single continuous curve, locked in place by a solid aluminium spine. It stands 1,165 mm tall and weighs 63.7 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, a 130 mm Continuum cone FST midrange in the Turbine Head and two 180 mm Aerofoil bass units in a vented cabinet with Flowport. Bowers & Wilkins also lists Biomimetic Suspension and the Anti-Resonance plug.

Specifications

Type: three-way vented-box floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive units: 25 mm Diamond dome tweeter; 130 mm Continuum cone FST midrange; 2 × 180 mm Aerofoil bass. Frequency range: 16 Hz to 35 kHz (-6 dB). Frequency response: 19 Hz to 28 kHz (±3 dB). Sensitivity: 90 dB. Harmonic distortion (2nd and 3rd harmonics, 90 dB, 1 m on axis): below 1% from 80 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 500 W into 8 ohms on unclipped programme. Maximum recommended cable impedance: 0.1 ohm. Dimensions: height 1,165 mm including tweeter and plinth; width 301 mm cabinet only, 359 mm including plinth; depth 473 mm including grille and terminals, 499 mm including plinth. Weight: 63.7 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 803 D5 suits a medium to large living room: the Turbine Head and the Diamond tweeter of the larger models, in a cabinet that most rooms can take. We hear Bowers & Wilkins as insightful and transparent, and undeniably capable.

What we would pair it with

Bowers & Wilkins recommends 50 to 500 watts into 8 ohms. We would look first at the McIntosh MA12000 or the Gryphon Diablo 333, or the Mola Mola Kula.

Room and setup notes

Each speaker weighs 63.7 kg, a two-person lift. We survey the route in and set the speakers up in the room they will live in.

Also worth considering

The 802 D5 above it has larger bass units; the 804 D5 below brings the Diamond tweeter to a slimmer, conventional cabinet. Bowers & Wilkins still lists the 803 D4 beside the D5. See the full range on our Bowers & Wilkins page.

Why buy from Hidden Home Technology

The 803 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 803 D5 reviews in brief

The 803 D5 is the most compact model in the 800 Series Diamond to carry the Turbine Head, the separate housing for its midrange cone that sits below the Diamond dome tweeter. Bowers & Wilkins made it to bring reference performance to a wider range of living and listening rooms. For the D5 it gains Space Frame Bracing and an aluminium top plate with a damping collar.

Massimiliano Memento reviewed a brand-new pair at home for the German site i-fidelity.net in September 2026 and rated its sound outstanding. From the start he was struck by its balance across every kind of music. The bass was dry and firm and the speakers all but disappeared, and it did not tie him to a narrow sweet spot. It showed the flaws of ordinary recordings without ever pushing them forward. He called it a coherent development of the already mature D4 series, modernised with care on the outside and refined in the details.

It is worth knowing that he would have liked a touch more brilliance across the whole sound, because its tuning is deliberately a little more reserved and relaxed than some rivals. He called that a matter of taste. He also found the adjustable spikes fiddly to set.

So it suits a medium to large living room that wants the Turbine Head without the size of the bigger floorstanders. We deliver it, set it up in your room and can match the amplifier with you.

What the reviewers say, in a nutshell

• i-fidelity.net, Massimiliano Memento, September 2026. Outstanding sound. Remarkably balanced with dry, firm bass and a generous sweet spot, tuned a touch reserved. The review is in German.