B&W Announces Two New ‘Signature’ Models in Its Vaunted 800 Series Line

Can your very best products get even better? Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), part of Masimo Consumer Audio (formerly Sound United), have shown consistently over the years that by applying technological refinements and special custom finishes, their models carrying the “Signature” designation deliver both performance upgrades and dramatically unique visual design. Signature models exist in a few B&W series, but it is especially noteworthy when the designation is applied to their vaunted 800 Series – as the company just announced today.

See more on new B&W 800 Series Signature models

Saying it is “the ultimate version of its acclaimed 800 Series Diamond loudspeaker range,” B&W announced two all-new “Signature Series” models – the 801 D4 Signature and the 805 D4 Signature Series loudspeakers. Sure to delight audiophiles everywhere, B&W’s 800 Diamond Series loudspeakers are their top line of reference-grade loudspeakers – famously used as monitor speakers in the iconic Abbey Road Studios. These new “Signature” versions take the performance to the next level with newly upgraded technologies.

First employed in 1991, the then Silver Signature loudspeaker was created as a posthumous tribute to the company’s founder, John Bowers. The company says they use the designation “sparingly” with just a few models slated to become “rare and radically upgraded” versions of select existing models.

The Secret to the Success of Signature

Part of the secret to the success of Signature is that the company focuses on building upon the foundation of a strategically selected superlative model to which it can apply the latest technological upgrades from its ever-ongoing research and development. Add to that better technology new, select custom finishes and design touches and you end up with a better sounding, better looking, version that is unique to a subset of B&W buyers.

Says B&W: “The new 801 D4 Signature and 805 D4 Signature represent the pinnacle of current Bowers & Wilkins thinking and design and as such should be viewed as the new flagships in the company’s loudspeaker portfolio.”

800 Series Signature represents the coming together of everyone across the Bowers & Wilkins brand, from our colleagues in manufacturing to our world-class engineering teams in R&D, to produce the very best loudspeakers that we have ever made. I’m incredibly proud of the collective effort that has gone into producing the new 800 Series Signature models and I can’t wait to hear what both reviewers and our customers make of them.

Dave Sheen, Brand President of Bowers & Wilkins

801 D4 Signature Series Floorstanding Loudspeaker

The famous 801 D4 is the B&W model famously used for critical monitoring at Abbey Road Studios in London, and is a well-known, critically praised, reference standard of the brand. A three-way design with double woofers, the 801 D4 features the company’s renowned Diamond Dome tweeter and Continuum™ Cone FST™ midrange driver.

In this new Signature version, the company has included dual 10″ Aerofoil Cone bass drivers with upgraded magnets in their motor systems as compared to the standard 801 D4 version. The company has also added a “radically enhanced” aluminum top plate beneath the turbine head midrange enclosure. Also new is an optimized skeletal structure with precisely positioned damping material that materially reduces resonance from the top of the enclosure. The company says that these upgrades result in a more transparent and open midrange as compared to the standard version.

Also new in this Signature version is a specially optimized cast aluminum port that B&W says offers a “stiffer and quieter structure” less prone to generating port noise. When you combined an improved port with the new Aerofoil Cone bass drivers, the company says the result is an “even cleaner, lower distortion and more accurate sounding bass.”

Other Signature upgrades include an improved crossover design with upgraded bypass capacitors (better transparency) and a new FEA-optimized (finite element analysis) design for the tweeter grille mesh for enhanced sonic transparency and better protective stiffness.

805 D4 Signature Standmount Loudspeaker

Many of the technology upgrades described above are also employed in this high-performance, smaller form factor 805 D4 Signature standmount model. For example, like its big brother, the 805 D4 Signature utilizes the newly designed tweeter grille mesh for greater transparency and openness. The same crossover improvement with upgraded bypass capacitors is employed here as well.

B&W has also created a new bass/midrange motor system elevating the performance of the 805 D4 Signature’s 6½” driver offering a cleaner midrange with extended bass the company says. The model also sports an upgraded aluminum top plate that features mechanical revisions to reduce vibration.

Special New Finishes Offered Exclusively on Signature Series

To help signify these exclusive new models, the company has created exclusive special finishes for both the 801 D4 Signature and the 805 D4 Signature models. These special finishes are Midnight Blue Metallic paint and California Burl Gloss wood veneer.

The Midnight Blue Metallic finish is drawn from the company’s iconic Nautilus loudspeaker and features no fewer than eleven coats of paint and lacquer that the company says is machine polished “to a gleaming and lustrous finish.” The painting process alone represents eighteen hours of labor, not including curing times. The look is further enhanced with a bespoke blue Leather by Connolly trim on the top plate.

Equally impressive is the California Burl Gloss wood veneer finish which has a dramatic and striking woodgrain design with a high gloss finish. The company says the wood is sustainably sourced engineered wood from Italian specialist ALPI. The dramatic gloss comes from fourteen coats of lacquer coupled with multiple sanding sessions. Altogether, it takes more than twenty-four hours to finish a single 801 D4 Signature in California Burl Gloss.

Pricing and Availability

Both of these new flagship models are available now. Pricing for the 801 D4 Signature runs $50,000 per pair (MSRP). The 805 D4 Signature model sells for $12,000 per pair (MSRP).

To learn more about B&W 800 Series Signature models, visit bowerswilkins.com.