Seeing How They Are Made: The Bowers and Wilkins 800 Series Loudspeakers
/We recently had the opportunity to visit the Worthing based production facility for Bowers and Wilkins 800 series speakers to see first hand how their flagship range are made.
We were greeted at the door by the iconic Nautilus loudspeaker, this one resplendent in its Union Flag livery.
Our guide to the process and factory was Peter, who has been working for Bowers and Wilkins for more than 25 years. He took us around the complete production facility explaining processes and technologies along the way in a very informative, and entertaining, way.
One example of this was the machine used for forming the cabinet for 800 series. This is created from multiple layers of wood and glue which are formed at high pressure and temperature by folding down across a folder like this:
The tour was like the audiophile version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a huge array of machines and people finishing, sanding, painting etc etc.
We saw the famous Bowers and Wilkins Matrix being inserted into one of the 800 series floorstanders.
The Matrix is assembled separately
With the cabinet prised apart by metal jaws the matrix is positioned and glued into place. When the jaws are released the natural spring of the cabinet form will add compression to the matrix
Peter was full of interesting information most of which highlighted the amount of time and care which goes into making these speakers. They are not just built, they are truly hand crafted!
From paint which is applied in up to 13 layers with a four day drying time for each layer, to creating, forming, and metalising the Continuum cones for the drivers everything is done with so much care and attention to detail. The people who work at this production facility are justifiably proud of the products they create!
The factory also produces the iconic Nautilus speakers and the Custom Theatre range which includes beasts like this:
it’s big!!
Also some funky special edition colours.
All in all we were incredibly impressed with the dedication of the people on site and the pride and care which was taken over every aspect of the production of these phenomenal 800 D3 speakers.
Part of the production floor
Alien anyone?
The finished article
We came away with a new found admiration and respect for the Bowers and Wilkins 800 D3 series
We already knew they sounded stunning, now we have a better understanding of why due to the care and attention to detail that goes into creating them,
Last but not least these two poor cabinets were marked “no partner” maybe they need a dating app? I’m thinking Timbr possibly!
