Bowers & Wilkins – Company Profile and Signature 801 D4 Review
801 D4 Signature – Technical Aspects
The new models enhance the already exceptional performance and aesthetic benchmarks of the models on which they are based. Careful component upgrades and luxurious, beautiful new finishes have been added. The new 801 D4 Signature represents the pinnacle of current Bowers & Wilkins thinking and design and can therefore be regarded as the new flagship of Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers.
The 801 D4 Signature is based on Bowers & Wilkins’ Diamond Dome tweeter and Continuum™ ConeFST™ center driver with the addition of powerful dual 250mm (10″) Aerofoil Cone bass drivers with upgraded and improved magnets for the motor systems.
The Signature 801 D4 also features a radically improved aluminum top plate supporting the Turbine Head midrange enclosure. This new design with its new optimized skeletal structure contains machined-out holes, strategically positioned to change the resonant frequency of the aluminum to minimize unwanted resonance. We were allowed to handle a normal top plate and then one for the signature series and indeed, the latter is very noticeably quieter.
The aluminum top plate of the 801 Signature is paired with a new design of leather-trimmed plastic ‘collar’ that slots into the aluminum top plate. This collar contains strategically positioned wedges of Techsound damping material, as is used elsewhere in the 801 D4 structure, for example, inside the Turbine Head, and in the plinth. This results in even lower mechanical noise and as a result, a less audible cabinet contribution effect.
The 25cm (10in) low-frequency unit has been re-engineered with an upgraded steel specification in the top-plate and mid-plate which lowers inductance and leads to lower current distortion.
The 801 D4 bass port output is a substantial aperture in the cabinet. In the standard model, the area around this hole is braced with an aluminum baseplate to restore lost stiffness. This follows the same logic as the aluminum plates inserted into the baffle around the drive unit apertures at the front of the cabinet.
The 801 D4 Signature goes one step further by upgrading the port output itself. In a standard model, the Flowport flare is plastic: in the 801 Signature, it is replaced with cast aluminum to make it stiffer and quieter, and less susceptible to unwanted port noise.
As with previous Signature models, the 801 D4 Signature’s crossover has been carefully upgraded with new and upgraded Bypass Capacitors (identifiable by their yellow finish). These are also doubled up in quantity across the boards.
Finally, the 801 D4 Signature introduces a new tweeter grille mesh design. The new design is more open than ever. The orientation of the structure is specific and engineered to ensure the best results. Reportedly, there were over 25 iterations in the development process before the engineers eventually settled on this new design!
I handled a mesh sample that was available and can confirm that the “holes” are now indeed larger while the structure is still extremely stiff. I would not expect anyone to damage their tweeters even if they tried.
Above: standard 801 D4 model tweeter mesh; Below: Signature 801 D4 model tweeter mesh.
Exclusive to the Signature series
Please note that none of these improvements will be made available for ‘retrofit’ to current products, nor will they be incorporated as a running change into existing 800 Series Diamond products. This ensures that the Signature series remains unique.
Next: 801 D4 Signature – Listening
Nice article (and photos) to read!
I would expect a Signature set a bit later in the life cycle of the D4 series and also would find that more appropriate.
As an 801D4 owner, if I had the choice now, I would not choose the Signature. Simply because of the color. I don’t like the brown in itself. And I don’t like blue in my set, in which everything is black and grey/silver.
In my opinion, the Sound United set does not do justice to the quality of the speakers. I mainly refer to the server as Mac Mini (Antipodes anyone? ;)), but I would also pass the internal DAC in the Classé (or the Marantz) for a better stand alone DAC.
While I do agree with your assessment of getting the source and DAC on par with the speakers, for the purpose of the A/B listening impression it suffices.
Thank you for the well written review.
Would it be possible to share information on the listening room dimensions, the position of the speakers, the listening position and how much toe in was used.
This is always useful information for speaker reviews as it helps one understand the listening impressions. All of the detail on the music and associated hardware is to an extent lost without the room information.
Hi Ian, The room is custom-designed and fully treated but providing dimensions and positioning info would not be very helpful in my opinion as no two rooms sound alike. Please note that the intention of this article is to introduce the Signature model and to illustrate the differences between the two models. It is not a full review, which I would normally do in my own listening environment. That said, some more info can be found in my previous 801 D4 review.
Hey Christian,
Really well done a thorough history of the B&W Signature history and nice info on the factory and building process. And a very succinct review-ette on the D4 vs the Signature. I heard the D4s at Capitol Audiofest last year or perhaps the year prior, the world premiere I believe. These were also brand new and not broken in and shoe horned into a smallish hotel room not a proper showing and so I won’t pass any judgement.
One question I was totally fascinated and glad they are still producing the Nautilus speaker what an icon! Do you know if they’ve continued to refine the design over the years or is it unchanged?
Again thanks for a really fun article!
Cheers,
Jon
Hi Jon, thanks for the nice feedback, glad you enjoyed the article. You know, I actually had the same question about the original Nautilus and the answer was that the design has remained unchanged. A major reason for this is “why change a winning team”, especially given that everything is sold out half a year or more in advance of production… I guess they made a very good point with that:-)
I just acquired a new 801D4 for my new house, and would like to know the brand of the that the 801D4 in your pics are on. I was planning to order a rectangular stone plate, but this one looks nice!
Hi Joe, Not sure what you are asking about. The brand of… what item? The baseplate or footers, perhaps? The speakers are shown in their standard guise, using the standard castors and spikes that come with the speakers.