The new Bowers & Wilkins 700 Series is empowered with many of the same technologies found in the brand’s flagship range, the 800 Series Diamond, as trusted by many of the world’s most famous recording studios.
The new 700 Series continues Bowers & Wilkins policy of deploying concepts and technologies cascaded from its flagship range. An exhaustive three-year development program has seen nearly every element of the new range transformed, from cabinet design, construction, and finish through to key acoustic and mechanical improvements.
The new 700 Series continues to be Bowers & Wilkins most comprehensive range, featuring eight models including three floor-standing speakers and three stand-mount speakers, plus two dedicated center channels for home theater use.
In a first for the 700 Series, the new range introduces slimmer cabinets featuring a curved front baffle and drive units mounted in external ‘pods’ that form a direct visual and technical link to the 800 Series Diamond range. This revised form dramatically reduces the impact of the loudspeaker baffle on sound quality by minimizing the “cabinet diffraction” effect, and, as a result, the new range is better than ever at “disappearing” acoustically, so you can just concentrate on the music, rather than the sound of the loudspeaker cabinet.
The new cabinet forms are not only more svelte than before — they’re also offered in an all-new Mocha finish, a highly grained wood that complements the revised proportions and premium detailing of the new 700 Series cabinets. Mocha joins the Gloss Black and Satin White finishes previously offered to form a three-strong range of options for most markets globally: a fourth Rosenut finish will also be offered exclusively in Asian and Pacific markets.
Upgraded Drive Units, New Acoustic Forms
In a significant step forward for acoustic performance, Bowers & Wilkins now offers its iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top technology in four models in the new 700 Series, representing half the range in total. Now, the 702 S3 and 703 S3 floorstanding loudspeakers, the 705 S3 standmount model, and the HTM71 S3 center channel loudspeaker include Tweeter-on-Top. This means, for the first time in a 700 Series range, owners have the option of building a complete 700-Series home theater system featuring Tweeter-on-Top throughout.
The Tweeter-on-Top form itself has been comprehensively re-engineered in the new range. Machined as ever from a single, solid block of aluminum, the new 700 Series Tweeter-on-Top enclosure has been significantly lengthened, reducing distortion and ensuring an even cleaner presentation. This longer form is further enhanced by the introduction of improved two-point decoupling that better isolates the assembly from the loudspeaker cabinet, ensuring a more free and open soundstage.
Beyond these mechanical improvements, the Tweeter-on-Top diaphragm retains the Bowers & Wilkins Carbon Dome tweeter, with its 47 kHz first break-up performance, coupled to improved, vented voice coils with new, upgraded magnets. Even models that feature tweeters mounted in the baffle — 707 S3, 706 S3, 704 S3, and HTM72 S3 — benefit from all these changes, alongside a significantly elongated tube-loading system that, as with the Tweeter-on-Top, works to reduce distortion and ensure a cleaner sound.
Biomimetic Suspension
In all three-way loudspeakers in the new range, Bowers & Wilkins has introduced its Biomimetic Suspension — first revealed last year in the new 800 Series Diamond range. Replacing the conventional fabric spider found in the suspension of almost all loudspeakers built over recent decades, the Biomimetic Suspension dramatically reduces unwanted noise from the output of the spider as the midrange cone operates. Used alongside all of Bowers & Wilkins other proprietary midrange cone technologies — including decoupling for the entire midrange assembly, an aluminum drive unit chassis featuring tuned mass dampers for reduced resonance, FST surround-less suspension, and the Continuum cone material —the result is astonishing midrange transparency. Models with mid/bass drive units – 707 S3, 706 S3, 705 S3, and HTM72 S3 — have been upgraded too, with new motor systems and improved chassis for cleaner output.
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Bass, meanwhile, uses the latest generation of Bowers & Wilkins famous Aerofoil Profile bass cone technology, based around a composite sandwich of materials with a carefully formed variable profile aimed at delivering cleaner, lower distortion bass.
The new 700 Series range will be available from September 21st.
For more information, visit https://www.bowerswilkins.com/en-us.