Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4

The boxes sit there in our storage units, opposite the 20 banker’s boxes that hold 33 years’ worth of product-measurement workbooks. The two large boxes are for the Bowers & Wilkins Matrix 801s my wife owned when we got married in 1987.1 The four smaller boxes are for the B&W John Bowers Silver Signatures and their stands, which I purchased after reviewing them in June 1994.2 Both pairs of speakers gave superb sound quality back in the day, but now they sit there in the storage unit, their boxes giving me recriminatory looks when I visit.

- JOHN ATKINSON

LOUDSPEAKER

Stereophile has reviewed many Bowers & Wilkins speakers since the first, the “pregnant kangaroo” DM6, in December 1977.3 The most recent was the 705 Signature stand mount, which I wrote about in December 2020.4 I concluded my review of the 705 Signature, which costs $4000/ pair, by writing that “this elegant loudspeaker stepped out of the way of the music in a very satisfying manner.” So, last summer, after I watched a video presentation of Bowers & Wilkins’s new 800 D4 series loudspeakers, I asked for review samples of the 804 D4 floor stander, which costs $12,500/pair.

The 804 D4

The D4 800-series loudspeakers are mostly similar to the D3 models,5 but they incorporate a few revised and upgraded design features. The 804 D4 differs most from its predecessor in that it features what the manufacturer calls the “reversewrap cabinet” that had been used for the larger floorstanding 800 series models. The elliptical-plan enclosure has a flat back faced with a vertically ribbed aluminum panel, while the front baffle is gently curved to optimize dispersion. The midrange unit and twin woofers are housed in circular aluminum pods mounted to the baffle. The enclosure has a cast aluminum top panel, covered with a padded material, and the internal Matrix bracing now uses panels made from solid plywood rather than the previous MDF, these reinforced with aluminum bracing.

SPECIFICATIONS

Description