Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature speakers
Every five or so years Bowers & Wilkins revises its top flight 800 series models, this move is usually preceded by a Signature version of the current models which incorporates some of the upgrades that will be seen in the next version. A couple of years ago the company announced two Signature models in swanky finishes with a few rather tasty tweaks over the standard 800 D4 models. We looked at the mighty 801 Signature in 2023 and now have the smallest 800 series speaker, the 805 D4 Signature, and very smart it looks too.
Available in midnight blue or California burr, the 805 D4 Signature standmount runs a diamond dome tweeter in a solid aluminium case on top with a 6.5 inch Continuum cone mid/bass driver in the curvy, reflex loaded cabinet that is largely the same as the 805 D4. Where it differs is in the details such as the grille that protects the diamond dome which has a different perforation pattern. This might not sound significant but in comparative demonstrations it makes a dramatic difference to the openness of the sound that the 805s are capable of producing. The motor system on the main driver has a larger pole-piece which is claimed to deliver both a cleaner midrange but also greater bass extension. The cabinet looks identical but the plate beneath the dark blue leather on the top has been reinforced for greater stiffness/lower vibration. Finally, the crossover has twice as many bypass capacitors and these are of a higher quality.
These changes and the very fancy finishes offered for the 805 D4 Signature mean that it costs £3,000 more than the standard version at £11,750 so Bowers have upped expectations considerably with this model. It certainly feels and looks like a high end loudspeaker, the 15.5kg (34.3 lb) weight feels like more because of the relatively compact size of the cabinet (44cm/17 inch high), and when you bolt on the dedicated and loaded stands it might as well be a floorstander. The stands aren’t inexpensive (£1,350) but they are what Bowers’ engineers used to tune them with at the development stage.
The cabinet is a pretty impressive bit of engineering in itself, it is made by building up laminations which are then bent in a gigantic press while the glue that bonds the sheets together sets. 800 series models are the only ones that Bowers makes in its Worthing, UK facility and the woodwork shop there is the most impressive in the industry. The result of this process is an exceptionally stiff cabinet whose curved front leaves nothing for sound to bounce off as it leaves the driver save for the round edge of the aluminium mounting ring.
The Continuum cone was developed to replace the yellow Kevlar cones that were once a Bowers signature, they deliver significantly better measurements and in the many models we have heard, helps to deliver a cleaner sound. The diamond dome is well documented for its incredible stiffness to weight advantage over more conventional materials and since its introduction the housing that it sits in has become longer and stiffer yet has a more compliant mounting which reduces vibration coming from the cabinet.
On the 805 D4 Signature there is an aluminium trim around the top plate that blends with the back of the loudspeaker, this has a gun metal finish that is very attractive and works well with the midnight blue finish. You do however have to have the right light to realise that the Connolly leather on top is dark blue and not black. The crossover is mounted on the inside of the metal back panel and is surprisingly big thanks to a large air core inductor and Mundorf capacitor. The bypass capacitors are the four yellow components at one end next to what look like holes to add even more, perhaps.
Sound quality
I didn’t request the dedicated stands for the 805 D4 Signature and started out using a pair of Hi-Fi Racks walnut stands with foam isolating pucks on the top, which is pretty much the opposite of the taller metal dedicated stands. This did not stop these speakers making a very positive impression pretty much from the off, I had expected a more bleeding edge presentation from them given experience with similar speakers in the past but was pleasantly surprised at how even handed they were in my room. Soon it became clear that these are total detail monsters that are capable of filling the room with sound at the slightest provocation.
Many speakers will make a big sounding production approach its potential but it takes a carefully executed one to find the acoustic space in everything that’s played. A lot of this is apparently down to the unusual grille on the tweeter which was developed to enhance dispersion but there’s more to it than that. Scale and depth are not merely a high frequency thing, after all adding a subwoofer to a system often increases this aspect of performance. This has to be down to the overall speaker design, the 805 D4 Signature cabinet is very well controlled so it adds very little in the way of colouration to the mix and this combined with the control available from the driver and the compact nature of the box all add up to massive sonic imagery.
These factors also allow the 805 D4 Signature to produce prodigious bass for the size of cabinet, this is not only deep and powerful but super clean and well defined, there is no sense of thickening or port tuning to bump it up. It’s too fast and transparent for that, in fact that is the case across the board, you hear so much with this speaker that more affordable alternatives sound positively crude. Cymbals are crisp, harmonics are precise and clear and the drums take centre stage on Evita Polidoro’s album Nerovivo, which isn’t always the case, yet Polidoro is a drummer so it makes sense. I encountered numerous pieces of music like this where the 805 D4 Signature’s presentation sounded more true to the recording than most. The growl of the bass guitar on this is superb as is the electric guitar but these no longer take centre stage as is often the case.
With Keith Jarrett’s The Old Country (More from the Deer Head Inn) the room sounds so real and the level you can play this fabulous recording makes this even more the case, it feels like the headroom is unlimited, as if you could keep on winding up the wick ad infinitum. Bowers have long been inclined to make speakers that work well at higher levels and the relatively compact nature of the 805 D4 Signature does nothing to undermine this impression. With the electronics and piano of Djrum’s Under Tangled Silence the sound is more palpable and present, the bass really spectacular and the spatial dynamics thrilling to say the least. This was one of many albums that made me wonder where all the new information was coming from, how could other speakers have hidden all this detail. There is just so much going on in our music that most systems don’t reveal, and they are good systems too.
With the dedicated 805 stands the balance is tighter, faster and more precise, with just as much openness if not more. I played quite a lot of vinyl through the 805 D4 Signatures because it’s the best source I have and boy did it sound good. The Phi-Psonics new album Expanding to One just sounds so natural that it becomes more cosmic and involving via these speakers, you can hear the intimate nature of the record store venue where it was captured and the saxophones deliver more of their intrinsic energy. Good recordings also provide remarkably precise image solidity and depth, this goes with the 805 D4 Signature’s all round ability to deliver so much information of course, but the way that the drums take shape on Jarrett’s God Bless the Child reveals that acoustic instruments that move the most air are a force to reckon with even when played in restrained fashion. The immediacy from the snare is remarkable and subconsciously draws you into the groove.
The last album I managed to make any notes about was Sun Kil Moon’s Ghosts of the Great Highway, I don’t usually find the opener Glenn Tipton all that strong but in the 805 D4 Signature’s hands its emotional punch was obvious, as were the quiet bells that I haven’t heard in the background before. This was another occasion where the level just had to be raised in order to get the full effect, to get the full picture, to put the music in the room and revel in it. I highly rewarding activity that we could all benefit from.
I dabbled with single wire connection to the bi-wire terminals as well, finding that using the HF terminals gives the fastest most open result while the LF terminals provided a warmer, easier result where the timing was still very strong. The guys from Bowers’ R&D recommend upgrading the supplied jumper cables for a less compromised result, which given the resolution on offer makes perfect sense.
Conclusion
The 805 D4 Signature is not like other speakers, its ability to resolve fine detail puts it in another league, one that is entirely appropriate to its price. It may look expensive but you find me another standmount that delivers this much information with so little colouration and does so in such a coherent fashion. It won’t be easy. The neutrality and absence of the usual distortions can make it seem cool in emotional terms but it is totally transparent to the source and the recording, if those elements deliver the heart of the music you will hear it loud and clear. In fact, you hear everything loud and clear, the 805 D4 Signature is revealing but relaxed, just the way I like it.
