This is a big one: British brand Bowers & Wilkins has announced the new model in its legendary 800 Series Diamond range, and during its 60th anniversary year. The D5 is the fifth generation of the 800 Series to feature the Diamond Dome tweeter, and follows multiple five-star and Award-winning entries.
So what's new? The D5 range includes new tech, a refined design and new finishes to deliver what B&W claims is its most advanced speaker range ever.
The range comprises seven models: the two-way 805 D5 standmount, 804 D5, 803 D5, 802 D5 and 801 D5 three-way floorstanders, and HTM81 D5 and HTM82 D5 centre channel speakers for home cinema use.
Like previous models in the Diamond series, the speakers are luxuriously designed. The new models have new top plates, spines and plinths, and revised drive unit pods, tweeter bodies, trim rings and grilles. They also have new finishes with more durable paint than previous models.
We also get tighter production tolerances, with visible transitions between surfaces minimised, fixings hidden and gaps between panels greatly reduced. All of which should amount to a more seamless and premium finish.
There are improvements under the hood, too, resulting in "more openness, lower distortion, heightened resolution and superior dynamics," B&W says. One of the highlights is Space Frame Bracing, which features parallel aluminium bracing rails that are periodically enforced longitudinally and transversely bolted onto the rear of the Matrix inside the speaker cabinet. This stiffens the inside of the enclosure, reducing the unwanted impact of vibrations and resonances.
The new plinths have been redesigned to match the form of the cabinet they support. They have new metal trims and have been extended to conceal the speakers' wheels and spikes to make them more aesthetically pleasing. They benefit from constrained-layer and tuned-mass damping to again reduce unwanted output.
The new aluminium top plate braces the top section with thicker aluminium ribbing sections for greater stiffness. It also has more mechanical location points and revised coupling mounts, and an upgraded collar trimmed in Leather by Connolly.
The 804 D5 features an internal aluminium enclosure for its Continuum Cone FST assembly. This is derived from the stiff Turbine Head structure used on all larger floorstanding 800 Series Diamond models, and isolates the midrange assembly while also providing a consistent mechanical decoupling point for the drive unit. Which should make for a more free and open sound from the Continuum Cone midrange.
All the new speakers have the same tweeter grille mesh design as the 801 D4 Signature, but made more acoustically transparent for greater resolution. Each midrange, bass/midrange and bass drive unit in the new range has lower distortion motor systems based on Signature-specification components. Which should deliver a "cleaner, more accurate sounding presentation with better resolution, transient response and dynamics."
They also have upgraded crossovers, again derived from B&W's Signature speakers, and new wiring harnesses with higher-quality cabling and terminal post links for better resolution.
New stereo models benefit from a crossover assembly which is housed on an all-aluminium plate construction which is coupled into both the cabinet and the rear Space Frame Bracing using substantial M8 and M4 fixings to improve cabinet stiffness. But the fixings are concealed behind brand and model identifier plates for a more elegant look.
The 801 D5 is the flagship, while the cheaper 802 D5 has the same proportions and same same 6in FST midrange cone. The 803 D5 is cheaper still, with a smaller footprint, while the 804 D5 has a more traditional design than its siblings. The 805 D5 is the standmount.
The HTM81 D5 centre channel speaker is for use with the 801 and 802 D5, whereas the HTM82 D5 is for use with the 803 and 804 D5. Both centre channel speakers are three-way designs.
There are also stands: the FS-805 D5 (for the 805 D5) and FS-HTM D5 (for the HTM81 D5 or HTM82 D5).
Pricing is as follows:
- 801 D5: £43,000 / $65,000 (around AU$81,000)
- 802 D5: £32,500 / $45,000 (around AU$61,000).
- 803 D5: £25,500 / $35,000 (around AU$48,000)
- 804 D5: £16,000 / $25,000 (around AU$30,000)
- 805 D5: £10,000 / $15,000 (around AU$19,000)
- HTM81 D5: £10,000 / $15,000 (around AU$19,000)
- HTM82 D5: £8000 / $12,000 (around AU$15,000)
- FS-805 D5: £1600 / $2000 (around AU$3000)
- FS-HTM D5: £1100 / $1500 (around AU$2000)
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