801 D4 Signature Floorstanding Speaker Pair Midnight Blue Metallic
Prepare to be swept away on a symphonic journey like no other with the stunning Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 Signature loudspeakers. Crafted to perfection, these legendary speakers are the epitome of audio brilliance, designed to immerse you in a world of captivating sound.
Optimized for perfection
The 801 D4 Signature is an optimized version of our most advanced loudspeaker. It features meticulously evolved technology, carefully crafted design, and unique finishes that culminate in the pinnacle of performance. This is Bowers & Wilkins' flagship loudspeaker perfected.
The 801 D4 Signature tower speaker features optimized technologies, including that all-important Diamond Dome tweeter and Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top, an all-new tweeter grille, and upgraded crossover.
Diamond Dome tweeter
One of our most significant accomplishments over the past two decades, the ultra-stiff, supremely accurate Diamond Dome tweeter is the perfect combination of low mass, exceptional stiffness, and outstanding accuracy. Fifteen years after we introduced it, we haven't found a better tweeter dome technology.
Solid Body Tweeter
Our Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing features an elongated form with a longer tube-loading system and an all-new design of tweeter grille, producing an even more free and open sound with high frequencies.
Upgraded crossover
Our 801 D4 Signature uses upgraded 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.
Aluminum top-plate
Every new 800 Series Signature model has a significantly upgraded cabinet design with an all-new, optimized aluminum top section for even greater stiffness. The same design also provides a perfect mounting point for Leather by Connolly cabinet detailing, with luxurious full-grain blue leather for our Midnight Blue Metallic models and full-grain black leather for our California Burl Gloss models.
Based on the brand’s Diamond Dome tweeter and Continuum™ Cone FST™ midrange drive unit, the 801 D4 Signature adds powerful twin 250mm (10”) Aerofoil Cone bass drivers with upgraded and improved magnets to their motor systems relative to the 801 D4 model. It also includes a radically enhanced aluminium top plate beneath its Turbine Head midrange enclosure; this new design uses a new optimised skeletal structure and carefully placed damping material to significantly reduce unwanted resonance from the top of the enclosure. The result is even more midrange transparency and openness to the already outstanding performance of the 801 D4.
The port output on 801 D4 Signature has received similarly significant upgrades; it is now cast from aluminium, creating a stiffer and quieter structure that is less prone to unwanted port noise. In combination with the updated Aerofoil Cone bass drivers, this results in even cleaner, lower distortion and more accurate sounding bass.
As with all Signature models over the years, the 801 D4 Signature benefits from careful upgrades to its crossover aimed at further increasing transparency with new and upgraded bypass capacitors for every element of the assembly. Finally, the 801 D4 Signature introduces a new FEA-optimised design of tweeter grille mesh that builds on the already impressive transparency offered by existing Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers. The new mesh provides a new superior blend of transparency and stiffness, allowing even more energy from the Diamond Dome tweeter into the room, while guarding the diaphragm against unwanted damage.
Exclusivity celebrated
To properly identify their prestigious position within the Bowers & Wilkins portfolio, the 801 D4 Signature is only available in two exclusive new finishes. The Midnight Blue Metallic paint is the same as offered on the iconic Nautilus loudspeaker, featuring a total of eleven coats of paint and lacquer that are machine polished to a gleaming and lustrous finish. Excluding curing times, the paint application process alone is in excess of 18 hours of labour. Midnight Blue Metallic loudspeakers are further celebrated with a bespoke blue Leather by Connolly trim on the top plate.
Alternatively, 801 D4 can be purchased in an exceptional California Burl Gloss wood veneer, featuring unique wood figuring and a luxurious high gloss finish trimmed in black Leather by Connolly. The wood veneer is sustainably sourced engineered wood from Italian specialist, ALPI. Including no less than fourteen coats of lacquer and multiple sanding processes, the total finishing time for a single 801 D4 Signature in California Burl Gloss is in excess of 24 hours.
40 years of excellence
Innovation. 801 D4 is defined by it. In each of its incarnations over the decades, 801 has always been the most advanced loudspeaker that we know to make at that particular point in time, a showcase of all our newest technologies and most original thinking. Small wonder it has become an icon.
The ultimate Matrix™
Matrix bracing uses interlocking panels to reinforce loudspeaker cabinet walls in all directions internally, reducing resonance and creating a more believable soundstage. The Matrix assembly in 801 D4 is our best yet, upgraded with extensive aluminium bracing to reinforce key stress points.
Turbine™ Head
The all-aluminium Turbine Head houses our Continuum™ midrange cone in a stiff and critically damped enclosure to eliminate unwanted resonances. At the same time, it’s decoupled from both the bass enclosure and the tweeter body. The result? The most realistic midrange sound yet.
Biomimetic Suspension
Sometimes, making a big difference takes unconventional thinking. Our new Biomimetic Suspension revolutionizes midrange performance by greatly reducing the unwanted air pressure and coloration that a traditional fabric spider can generate. The result? Midrange transparency you wouldn’t believe.
The science of sound
Innovation is at the heart of everything we do. We question, we examine, we understand and then we evolve. We use computer modelling to explore and reimagine every aspect of loudspeaker design. Learn more about all the technologies that combine to make 800 Series Diamond so special here.
The state of our art
801 D4 is our flagship and the most powerful model in the new 800 Series Diamond range. Its no-compromise design includes all our most advanced technologies in their purest, most optimized form alongside crossover components of the highest quality. You want our reference loudspeaker? This is it…
Specifications:
Size & weight / Dimensions
Height: 1221mm (48.1in)
Width: 451mm (17.8 in)
Depth: 600mm (23.6 in)
Net weight
100.60kg (221.8 lb)
Technical features
Diamond tweeter
Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top
Continuum™ cone FST™ midrange
Anti-Resonance plug
Biomimetic Suspension
Turbine Head
Matrix™
Aerofoil™ Profile bass cones
Flowport™"
Description
3-way vented-box system
Drive units
1x ø25mm (1in) Diamond Dome high-frequency
1x ø150mm (6in) Continuum™ cone FST™ midrange
2x ø250mm (10in) Aerofoil™ Profile bass
Frequency range
-6dB 13Hz - 35kHz
Frequency response
15Hz - 28kHz ±3dB
Sensitivity
90dB spl (2.83Vrms, 1m)
Harmonic distortion
2nd and 3rd harmonics (90dB, 1m on axis)
<1% 30Hz – 20kHz
<0.3% 100Hz – 20kHz
Nominal impedance
8Ω (minimum 3.0Ω)
Recommended amplifier power
50W - 1,000W into 8Ω on unclipped programme
Max recommended cable impedance
0.1Ω
Finishes
Cabinet finishes:
California Burl Gloss
Midnight Blue Metallic
Grille finishes:
Black
