Bowers & Wilkins 804D5 Speaker

For over forty years, the 800 Series has represented the pinnacle of Bowers & Wilkins’ production (you can read its history here) and one of the absolute benchmarks in the high-fidelity world. Each new generation has never been a mere aesthetic or commercial update, but rather the evolution of a specific design philosophy based on minimizing coloration, controlling vibrations, and progressively eliminating anything that might stand between the original recording and the listener.

The history of the series began in 1979 with the first 801, a loudspeaker destined to profoundly change the very concept of the home monitor. At a time when tonal neutrality was not yet a shared goal, the 801 was designed to reproduce the musical message without emphasis or coloration. Its adoption by numerous recording studios quickly helped build the reputation of the 800 Series, establishing it as a benchmark in both the professional sector and the audiophile world.

Since then, the 800 Series has become Bowers & Wilkins’ technological laboratory. It is here that many of the solutions later extended to lower-tier models made their debut: the Diamond tweeter, the Continuum cone, the Matrix structure, the Reverse Wrap cabinet, the Turbine Head, and the Aerofoil woofers. Each generation has represented a step forward in the quest for increasingly neutral and transparent sound reproduction. Click here to read an in-depth article on the importance of the cabinet.

Within the lineup, the 804 holds a special place. It is the most compact floor-standing model in the 800 Series and likely the one that best meets the needs of the home audiophile. It requires less demanding listening environments than the 801 and 802, offers a more manageable footprint and a more affordable price, while still sharing much of the technology developed for the flagship models. For this reason, it has for years been the most balanced entry point into the world of the 800 Series.