About The Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 Signature Speakers
The 705 S3 Signature has taken over as B&W's ultimate 700 Series stand mount speaker, a no-holds-barred celebration of excellence able to highlight all the subtle nuances in your music that other speakers miss.
Its Carbon Dome tweeter is housed in a Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top enclosure evolved from the latest generation of 800 Series Diamond. That joins a new and subtly curved baffle endowed with an all-new 'pod' housing for its Continuum Cone bass/midrange driver, ensuring that you hear less of the speaker's cabinet, and more of the music you love.
700 Series Signature Upgrades
The 700 Series Signature models employ a series of carefully designed and engineered upgrades designed to deliver the best possible sound and visual presentation.
Aesthetically, the Signature models are finished in lustrous Midnight Blue Metallic paint or Datuk Gloss veneer, with multiple coats of paint or lacquer to deliver a supremely rich and desirable finish. Metal component parts, such as the tweeter body, are finished in Satin Black.
Drive unit pods and tweeter grilles are trimmed with a gold colour diamond cut trim bezel while Tweeter grilles adopt the same advanced design and hole pattern found on the 801 and 805 D4 Signature models. Each unit also features new brass speaker terminal posts for a cleaner signal path along with a Signature logo above the speaker terminal plate designed to highlight its exclusivity.
The Crossover is the main area of significant audio improvement over the standard models and includes the following upgrades:
- New Mundorf EVO Silver Gold Oil capacitors with Angelique wire lead-outs for High Frequencies
- New Mundorf EVO Silver Gold Oil capacitors with Angelique wire lead-outs and new Bevenbi MPAZ-E polypropylene capacitors with zinc foil for Midrange Frequencies
- New air-core inductors for Low Frequencies
- Upgraded poles on Mid/Bass motor systems with larger venting and lower inductance
- Bypass capacitors reconfigured and located in series with each other on each board
As with all Signature technologies, none of these components will be made available for 'retro-fit' to current products or added as a running change into existing 700 Series S3 products.
A Closer Look
Solid Body Tweeter: The 705 S3 Signature features the latest generation of B&W's iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing. Its redesigned, more elongated form incorporates a longer tube-loading system to produce an even more free and open sound with high frequencies. The carefully decoupled housing is milled from a single solid block of aluminium to better resist resonance.
Carbon Dome Tweeters: Carbon Dome tweeters are purpose-built for the 700 Series. Delivering a dramatic improvement on the aluminium double dome tweeter, they raise the breakup threshold to 47kHz, for pinpoint imaging accuracy and detail.
Continuum™ Cone: Thanks to its composite construction, the Continuum™ cone avoids the abrupt transitions in behaviour that can impair the performance of a conventional drive unit. The result is a more open, neutral performance that delivers voices and instruments with precision and transparency.
Curved Baffle: The 700 S3 range features a curved front baffle for the first time. This allows the midrange and bass drivers to be located in individual pod-type housings that sit proud of the speaker baffle. When combined with the curvature of the structure, this advanced approach – derived from the 800 Series Diamond – reduces the audible impact of the cabinet, creating a cleaner, more open and more immersive sound.
About The 700 Series 3 Range
The Bowers & Wilkins 700 S3 range of loudspeakers is defined by elegance and driven by performance. Every model in the range is inspired by the recording studio and enabled by cutting-edge technologies first developed for B&W's flagship 800 Series Diamond.
The 700 Series contains eight models: there's a speaker to suit every home and every requirement, whether your passion is high-performance stereo, immersive home cinema or a mix of both. Every model combines slim, elegant proportions with a choice of exquisite finishes.
With the 700 Series 3, Studio Sound comes home.
Precision Sound: 700 Series uses a wealth of state-of-the-art technologies derived from B&W's award-winning 800 Series Diamond range to provide a best-in-class audio experience.
Bring Hollywood Home: With two centre channel speakers to choose from plus the option of matching subwoofers, in-wall and in-ceiling speakers, the 700 Series performs brilliantly in any home cinema set-up.
Meaningful Design: Thanks to its svelte proportions, premium detailing and subtly curved cabinet form – plus the option of an all new Mocha finish – the 700 Series range is both beautiful and effortlessly elegant.
Studio Sound, Your Way: This is B&W's most extensive range: 700 Series range features floorstanding, standmount and bookshelf speakers, meaning you can get precision sound in any size of room, however you prefer to listen.
Our Take
We are big fans of the standard 705 S3 which took standmount speakers to the next level in refinement when they were released. However, the 705 S3 Signature comprehensively leap frogs them in performance and shows what the Bowers & Wilkins design team can really do. In particular, the midrange transparency on offer here is a notch above the standard 705 S3 and is absolutely world class with a hear-through ability which is almost uncanny. For a speaker of this size, bass is full and satisfying, especially when used on the matching FS700 S3 stands filled with Atacama Atabites. If full range is important then we would recommend a subwoofer or two to round out the lower frequencies and provide an even bigger soundstage. From top to bottom these speakers really shine, on acoustic music in particular, where their lovely tonal balance, tonal accuracy and lively dynamics allow the music to flow easily into the room in a thoroughly enveloping and attractive manner. The 705 S3 Signatures really are some of the most satisfying stand mount speakers around and deserve to be right at the top of your short list.
Main Features & Specifications
- Design: Signature 2-Way Vented-Box Stand Mount Speakers
- Significantly Upgraded Crossover Design
- Stunning New Finishes
- Decoupled Carbon Dome Tweeter
- Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top
- Continuum™ Cone Bass/Midrange
- Flowport™
- Drive Units
- 25mm (1") Decoupled Carbon Dome High-Frequency Driver
- 165mm (6.5") Continuum Cone Bass/Midrange
- Frequency Range: 45Hz to 33kHz
- Frequency Response: 50Hz - 28kHz (+/-3dB from reference axis)
- Sensitivity: 88dB (on axis at 2.83Vrms at 1m)
- Harmonic Distortion: 2nd and 3rd harmonics (90dB, 1m on axis)
- <1% 100Hz - 22kHz
- <0.5% 150Hz - 20kHz
- Nominal Impedance: 8Ω (minimum 3.7Ω)
- Recommended Amplifier Power: 30W - 120W into 8Ω on unclipped programme
- Optional Matching Speaker Stands: B&W FS700 S3 (best filled with Atacama Atabites)
- Cabinet Finishes: Midnight Blue Metallic paint or Datuk Gloss veneer both with a black grille
- Width
- 192mm cabinet only
- Height
- 345mm cabinet only
- 413mm including tweeter
- Depth
- 297mm cabinet only
- 337mm including grille and terminals
- Weight 9.6 kg each
- Manufacturer's Warranty: 5 Years
Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE.