Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4

The smallest addition to the 800 Series has some refinements not seen before at this level. Time to judge the results

A new arrival to B&W's famed 800 Series is always an occasion of significance. Not only does it introduce technology that will eventually filter its way down to more terrestrial members of the range, but some of the ideas tend to find their way into wider speaker design too. This latest range comprises the same choice of five stereo models and two centre speakers as before and the 805 D4 is the smallest and most affordable option as well as being the only standmount.

The major refinement for this latest version of 805 (and the floorstanding 804) is that they are constructed in the same way as the larger members of the range. The process, which Bowers & Wilkins calls 'reverse wrap', takes alternating layers of birch ply and adhesive and forms them into an arch.

The driver aperture is cut in the front of the cabinet at the strongest point proportionately. The cabinet then curves back with the sides converging toward one another. Engineers cut the cabinet and insert a rear section to seal it, leaving a section behind which houses the crossover. The bottom is sealed with more birch ply, while the top has a machined aluminium section.

As well as closing off the cabinet this aluminium mounting also supports the tweeter. In keeping with previous generations, this is a 25mm Diamond dome that is mounted in its own machined aluminium housing. The housing is longer than before, though, and is now affixed via two decoupled mounts rather than the one used previously. It is recessed further into the top of the cabinet and the result looks much better.