Bowers & Wilkins reveals “best ever” flagship 800 D3 speaker

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There’s a new flagship 800 Series Diamond speaker, the £22,500 800 D3, and B&W claims it’s the best speaker the company has ever made.

The launch comes on the first day of High End 2016 in Munich, and B&W intends the 800 D3 to be a fitting speaker to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary. It heads up the new 800 Series, which was launched last year.

The 800 D3 sits above the 802 D3, 803 D3, 804 D3 and 805 D3, borrowing much of the technology from the 802 D3 but with two 10in bass drivers compared with the two 8in units found in the 802.

As a result, it’s a wider, deeper speaker, despite being only fractionally taller and heavier. This is in part due to the new plinth, constructed of solid aluminium. This lightens the load, while also further helping to dampen any resonance.

MORE: B&W reveals new 800 Series Diamond speakers

While the instantly recognisable Continuum cone, Turbine head and solid-body tweeter are the same here as on the 802, the new 800 D3 flagship has redesigned, larger bass drivers.

A new carbon-fibre construction makes for a stiffer Aerofoil cone with reduced distortion, while there’s an upgraded motor, crossover and voice coil.

With a promise that it will deliver serious bass weight, improved scale and greater resolution, the B&W 800 D3 comes with a whole world of superlatives, which befit the price tag and founder John Bowers’ aim to deliver ‘True Sound’.

Available from July in piano gloss black, satin white and rosenut, the B&W 800 D3 will set you back £22,500 for a pair.

MORE: All the highlights from the Munich High End Show 2016

Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).