800 Series Diamond Performance in Room-Friendly Proportions: British-Built Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4 Floor-Standing Loudspeakers Handle Music with Extraordinary Prowess

The Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4 floor-standing loudspeakers subscribe to the elevated principle of "True Sound" — reproducing music in the exact manner the original artists and producers intended when they were in the studio or, in live instances, on the stage. Meeting that standard is exceedingly challenging, but then again, nothing about 804 D4 takes the easy way out. Loaded with nearly all of the design principles that guide its larger 800 Series Diamond siblings, 804 D4 features a conventional visual aesthetic and proportions that allow for seamless integration into smaller spaces. Most importantly, it performs like an 800 Diamond model in every way.

Just consider its prowess with everything from hard rock to soft pop, classic jazz to orchestral fare, acoustic-based folk to electric fusion, or beat-driven hip-hop to dancefloor-ready EDM: The three-way 804 D4 doesn't discriminate when it comes to genre. Its advanced driver array handles any kind of music with engaging depth, dynamics, openness, air, and balance. Specialists in playing with stunning frequency extension and recreating three-dimensional soundstages, Bowers & Wilkins' one-inch diamond dome tweeter and famous solid-body Tweeter-on-Top housing — milled from a single block of aluminum and sculpted into an elongated form with a long tube-loading system that lessens rear diffraction — accompany a five-inch Continuum cone FST midrange and two 6.5-inch Aerofoil woofers.

Those features are among the reasons 804 D4 touts a fantastic 20Hz-35kHz frequency range. But what might startle you most is how true to the source 804 D4 remains in both the analog and digital domains. Credit for such transparency owes to Bowers & Wilkins engineers' belief that everything involved with the speaker's construction can impact the end result. That obsessive passion explains why 804 D4 is made entirely in the company's dedicated factory in England — and why all of its components went through years of sophisticated testing and analysis before they were approved. Such painstaking devotion also accounts for why many of the world's foremost music institutions and recording studios — Abbey Road Studios, Capitol Records, Interscope Records, 20th Century Fox, Sony, MIT, Sterling Sound, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra to name just a handful — choose to use the 800 Series Diamond family in their everyday pursuits.

The 42.2 x 12 x 15.4-inch (HWD) 804 D4 also comes with another huge advantage many other towers lack: it fits in most rooms while skimping on none of the qualities for which Bowers & Wilkins' flagship speaker line is known. From its sophisticated internals to its show-stopping exterior, the 81.2-pound 803 D4 trumpets nearly all of the leading-edge technological innovations — the ultimate Matrix bracing with interlocking panels for superb reinforcement; all-new Biomimetic Suspension that dramatically reduces unwanted air pressure and coloration; reverse-wrap cabinet for unprecedented inertness — that Bowers & Wilkins developed during the past decade for optimal performance. (Read more about these hallmark features below.)

True to Bowers & Wilkins tradition, 804 D4 possesses the kind of looks that command the attention of any room. These speakers have the kind of lines, finishes, and materials modeled by the world's most desirable supercars. Just consider the Leather by Connolly detailing, choice of four different hand-applied colors, or rear-mounted crossover mounted on stiff aluminum spines — a unique touch that isolates the sensitive capacitors and acts as a strategic heatsink. The speaker's unique architecture, which extends to the decoupled tweeter housing, also means reflections and colorations are practically an afterthought. On paper, Bowers & Wilkins' engineering feats impress. In practice, they help make music sound as if it is being made in your room in real time by real artists.

Boasting a rock-solid foundation, 804 D4 employs a downward-firing Flowport that exits on to a solid aluminum plinth complete with a steel constrained-layer damping sheet that defeats unwanted resonance. Once you get the speaker where you want in your room, upgraded spikes are at the ready. Want even more peace of mind? 802 D4 includes a five-year manufacturer warranty.

We'd love to talk more with you about these truly special speakers. To learn more, and arrange for a risk-free in-home audition, please call one of our audio consultants today.

Solid Body Tweeter: Not Just for Looks

The latest edition of Bowers & Wilkins' iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing features an elongated form with a longer tube-loading system, producing an incredibly free and open sound with high frequencies. The carefully decoupled housing is milled from a single solid block of aluminum to better resist resonance.

Matrix Bracing: Reinforcing the Point

Trademarked Matrix bracing uses interlocking panels to reinforce loudspeaker cabinet walls in all directions internally, reducing resonance and creating a more believable soundstage. Every loudspeaker in 800 Series Diamond benefits from an upgraded Matrix design that combines solid plywood construction with aluminum bracing to reinforce key stress points.

Reverse Wrap Cabinet: A Wicked Curve

When it came to designing the ideal shape for the 800 Series Diamond cabinet, Bowers & Wilkins did a U-turn. Instead of a flat-fronted speaker with a curving back, the company produced a cabinet with a front and sides formed of one continuous curve — and held together with a spine of solid aluminum. Fewer joins make for a stiffer, more inert structure, and a curved front means less baffling around the drive units. The upshots: sound dispersion is improved, and cabinet reflection reduced.

Biomimetic Suspension: Thinking Outside the Box

Sometimes, making a big difference takes unconventional thinking. Bowers & Wilkins' all-new Biomimetic Suspension revolutionizes midrange-cone performance by greatly reducing the unwanted air pressure and coloration that a conventional fabric spider can generate. The resultant transparency needs to be experienced in order to be believed.

Decoupled Midrange: An 800 Series Diamond Hallmark

Every 800 Series Diamond loudspeaker (save for 805 D4) has a dedicated midrange cone using several proprietary Bowers & Wilkins technologies: the Continuum FST cone, Biomimetic Suspension, and midrange decoupling. The latter ensures minimal interference from the operation of the loudspeaker's bass units.

Aluminum Top Plate: The Ideal Match

Every stereo model in the 800 Series Diamond range has a significantly upgraded cabinet design with an all-new aluminum top plate for even greater stiffness. The same design also provides a perfect mounting point for the all-new Leather by Connolly cabinet detailing.

Rear-Mounted Crossover: No Detail Overlooked

All stereo models in the 800 Series Diamond range use rear-mounted crossover designs mounted on stiff aluminum spines. This isolates the sensitive capacitors from the unwanted effects of air pressure within the enclosure and makes for a very effective heatsink to ensure optimum performance when in use.