The D4 Sound
Contents
A Bowers & Wilkins sounds like…. a Bowers & Wilkins. It’s a brand with an obvious signature. And that’s fine: people choose a brand because they like it. It’s the same with cars, it’s the same with food… and with hi-fi. People buy a B&W because they fall for that sound. And since there’s no arguing about taste, we’re just not going to do that either. However, to be honest, we were a little hesitant, as the Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3 can be quite sharp. Especially on an amplifier with an airy and fast character. You really need to take care of the matching.
More balance
Fortunately, the new Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 is a lot friendlier in character. Make no mistake: we can still hear the Bowers signature. However, the edge has been taken off the 805 D4. It’s a friendlier presentation we hear.
Vocals come through with crystal clarity and high-hats splash out like they almost only can on a Bowers with Diamond tweeter: energetic and highly holographic. This is no doubt due to the cleaner presentation of the tweeter.
The Continuum mid-woofer seems to go into depth a little easier; we hear a little more chest and roundness in the low end. To be honest, this is also necessary, as the 805 D3 came across a bit bare in our room with our system. Now the acoustics have improved in the meantime, so maybe we are wrong…. it’s hard to compare with so many variables. All in all, we undoubtedly hear more balance and more refinement in the Bowers 805 D4. So it’s safe to say that the British have done their homework.
Less power hungry
What’s also nice is that the D4 version is not as power hungry. Yes: more power is always nice with an 800 series (current that is…), but both our Yamaha A-S2200 can drive the 805 D4 and the Marantz Model 40n that we also had on hand at the time of the review.
The Yamaha is not immediately our first choice on the Bowers (a bit thin), but the Marantz goes quite nicely! Do you get the deepest bass out of it? No. Do you get the most holographic stereo image in the house? No. But it does work. And it can go loud enough, too… Conclusion: yes, a beast of an amplifier is nice, but with a nice integrated amplifier is also possible.
What would be an ideal match? We would think of something with a touch of warmth and flow. Think of a Pass Labs INT25 or perhaps a Luxmann or Accuphase. Those will be pleasant marriages with this new 800 series we estimate.
