The Stunning New Bowers and Wilkins 700 Series Loudspeakers

Any new speaker from B&W causes excitement and the new 700 series doesn't disappoint!

Shown here are the 702, 704, and 707

Shown here are the 702, 704, and 707

Although this range bears some visual similarity to the outgoing CM range they are in fact completely different speakers in almost every way. All the drive units are radically different to those in the CM range and utilise trickle down technology from the famous Diamond 800 range and also some tech unique to this range.

B&W 707 Standmount Speaker

B&W 707 Standmount Speaker

Taking the wonderful little 707 as an example the first thing you'll notice is the old yellow Aramid Fibre cones, so long a trademark of B&W speakers, has been replaced by a shiny new silvery cone made from their new proprietary material Continuum™. Not only is this a sonically superior material it also looks really smart in the new 700 cabinet work.

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Although you can't see it through the snazzy (and very protective) cover on this 702, the tweeter is also a completely new design using a carbon dome, which offers less break up in the higher frequencies than the previous aluminium tweeter. There have been other changes to the driver chassis and the new Aerofoil™ configuration of the bass cones.

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All of this results in a very handsome range of speakers.

But enough techy stuff, these speakers really do sing! A newly established favourite combination with some of the shops is to partner the little 707 with the wonderful new Naim Uniti Atom

Our dem room favourite at the moment is the B&W 702 with the Quad Artera Play and Artera power amplifier. This system produces huge dynamic range and frequency response, we've been throwing all sorts of music at it from Outrospective by Faithless to Bjork's Utopia with a little country blues from Chris Jones Roadhouses and Automobiles and the speakers have just sailed through with grace and occasionally scary levels of dynamics.

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So all in all a great success, A beautiful range of speakers with an exciting sound and a model to work in any room. There are six stereo pairs, two centre speakers and a sub. Come in, have a listen and sit back, relax and enjoy the music!

Boswell chilling to music on the 700 series

Boswell chilling to music on the 700 series

We also want to wish all of our customers and friends a very happy festive season.

Paul, Francis, Jason, and of course Boswell at Audio T Brentwood.

Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers are also available from the following branches of Audio T:
Brentwood, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Enfield, Manchester, Oxford, Portsmouth, Preston, Reading, Southampton, Swansea and Swindon. Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 series are only available from Audio T Cardiff.

Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2 Series Stand Mount Speaker Stunners!

When B&W announced that they were replacing their popular and classy CM range, we were pleased and intrigued as to how they would develop an already successful product.

B&W 705 S2

B&W 705 S2

The more expensive CM models had the tweeter placed in a discrete housing on top of the cabinet, decoupling it from the main enclosure. This looks a bit odd, but has the happy effect of providing a much more open and airy soundstage by placing instruments firmly in a solid stereo image. This is direct trickle down technology from the imperious and top of the range B&W 800 Series. Curiously, we found them more difficult to drive than the non-discrete enclosure versions that required much more capable amplification. However the demanded increase in amplification (and source) quality was always rewarded well. 

Tweeter without the Monkey Man

Tweeter without the Monkey Man

The Bowers & Wilkins 700 range has strong echoes of this former glory, in that the top of the range floorstander the B&W 702 and standmount B&W 705 (picutred) have an advanced version of the trick tweeter housing on top of the cabinet, plus a whole host of developments, not the least of which is the ‘Carbon’ tweeter itself. Colour choice remains the same at Satin White, Gloss Black and a very handsome Rosenut.

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With the need for quality amplification in mind, we thought we’d set Naim’s £2k Uniti Atom one-box media player/amp the job of driving our 705s. We were very pleasantly surprised. The music sprang rich, solid, full and remarkably clean from the speakers, with a much bigger soundstage than we were expecting. A bit easier to drive than the outgoing model, so it appears, plus sweeter sounding and better timing. Insightful with instruments and vocals locked in space, lets acoustic music wash over and melt you into the sofa. If you’re in the mood for something more aggressive, you’ll be leaping about the lounge like a crazy lounge leaping thing! They're a lot of fun too.

Would I have these in my home? Yes. In white please Father Christmas.

Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers are available in the following branches of Audio T: shops, BrentwoodBrightonBristolCardiffEnfieldManchesterOxfordPortsmouthPrestonReadingSouthamptonSwansea and Swindon. Bowers & Wilkins 800D3 series are only available from Audio T Cardiff.