Bowers & Wilkins 803 D4

Bowers & Wilkins 803 D4

Their most compact headed model 803 D4 brings all the technical advantages of a dedicated midrange enclosure – the Turbine^™ Head, with its decoupled midrange cone – to a smaller footprint that’s easily accommodated in any home.

803 D4 may be notably more compact than the 801 D4 or 802 D4, but it still bristles with technical innovation, most obviously in its use of a three-box construction. Its 130mm (5in) midrange cone is carefully isolated from the impact of its bass cones thanks to its Turbine Head enclosure.

Instead of a conventional loudspeaker box, their cabinets are made from a continuous curved section of wood, with the drive units mounted at the heart of the curvature. This stiffer, more inert structure resists mechanical resonances far better and also ensures better dispersion of sound.

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 803 D4 is our best yet, ensuring optimum scale, power and intelligibility.

803 D4 mounts two Aerofoil^™ bass cones in twin solid aluminium bass pods, each of which is clamped into an aluminium plate fixed to the stiffest part of its curved cabinet. Formed as single pieces of metal, these stiff structures provide the perfect mechanical location for those powerful bass cones.

Innovation is at the heart of everything they do. They question, they examine, they understand and then they evolve. They use computer modelling to explore and reimagine every aspect of loudspeaker design.