Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 Signature loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: 3-way vented-box loudspeaker system with bottom port. Aluminum internal construction and bracing. Separate aluminum chambers for midrange driver and tweeter. Drive units: 1" (25mm) Diamond Dome tweeter; 6" (150mm) Continuum cone FST midrange; two 10" (250mm) Aerofoil Profile woofers. Crossover frequencies: 400Hz and 4kHz. Frequency range: 13Hz–35kHz, –6dB. Frequency response: 15Hz–28kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 90dB/2.83V/m. Harmonic distortion: 2nd and 3rd harmonics (90dB at 1m, on-axis) <1%, 30Hz–20kHz; <0.3%, 100Hz–20kHz. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 3.0 ohms). Recommended amplifier power 50W–1000W into 8 ohms on unclipped program. Max recommended cable impedance: 0.1 ohm.
Dimensions: 48.1" (1221mm) H × 17.8" (451mm) W × 23.6" (600mm) D. Weight (each speaker): 221.8lb (100.6kg).
Finishes: California Burl Gloss or Midnight Blue Metallic, Black grille.
Serial numbers of units reviewed: 2320 0004093/4. Manufactured in Worthing, England.
Price: $50,000/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 300. Warranty: five years from the date of purchase.
Manufacturer: B&W Group Ltd., Dale Rd., Worthing, West Sussex BN11 2BH, United Kingdom. Web: bowerswilkins.com. US distributor: Bowers & Wilkins North America, 5541 Fermi Ct. N., Carlsbad, CA 92008. Tel: (800) 370-3740.

COMPANY INFO
B&W Group Ltd.
Dale Rd.
Worthing
West Sussex BN11 2BH, United Kingdom
(800) 370-3740
bowerswilkins.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Axiom05's picture
Submitted by Axiom05 on February 16, 2024 - 12:40pm

Figure 6 is incorrect, it shows the waterfall plot instead of the vertical response.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on February 17, 2024 - 4:15am
Axiom05 wrote:
Figure 6 is incorrect, it shows the waterfall plot instead of the vertical response.

Fixed. Thank you.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

georgehifi's picture
Submitted by georgehifi on February 16, 2024 - 2:46pm

JA: "The minimum EPDR values are 1.24ohms at 72Hz, 2.3ohms at 362Hz, 1.62ohms at 912Hz, and 1.82ohms at 10.6kHz. The 801 D4 Signature has one of the most current-hungry impedances I have encountered"

This to me says just as hard or even harder load than Wilson Alexia's, and the amps/ that were used (especially the Class-D) for this review I feel didn't do the speakers justice that they rightfully deserve.

Cheers George

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on February 16, 2024 - 6:01pm

... for driving such a low impedance load include the ($3,400) Rotel RA-1592 MKII and the ($5,800) Rotel Michi X3 Series 2. Either amp can generate a peak output power of over 1.7kW into a 1ohm load.
https://www.hifinews.com/content/rotel-ra-1592mkii-integrated-amplifier-lab-report
https://www.hifinews.com/content/rotel-michi-x3-series-2-integrated-amplifier-lab-report

In case a professional Stereophile reviewer needs something with a higher level of audiophile credibility, there's the ($12,500) Hegel H600, which is capable of a peak output power of 2.3kW into a 1ohm load.
https://www.hifinews.com/content/hegel-h600-network-attached-amp-lab-report

If that's still too inexpensive, then there is the ($65,000) D'Agostino MxV Integrated, which is capable of a peak output power of about 1.6kW into a 1ohm load.
https://www.hifinews.com/content/dagostino-mxv-integrated-integrated-amplifier-lab-report

georgehifi's picture
Submitted by georgehifi on February 16, 2024 - 11:32pm

It's more current that's needed than wattage, because they are 90db efficient, so even a 100w into 8ohm amp will do, so long as it can "almost" double down it's wattage to 4ohm, and "almost" double again down to 2ohm. These sort of amps are linear big & heavy, and usually bi-polar output stage, like Agostino, Gryphon, Halo, Krell etc etc.

Cheers George

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on February 17, 2024 - 11:04am

... nearly 1ohm. A "100W into 8ohm" amp that can "double down" into such a load would need to be capable of about 800W into 1ohm. How many amps can do that?

The Benchmark amp used for the test could only manage 230W into 1ohm:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0321/7609/files/HFN_Mar_Benchmark_AHB2_Reprint.pdf

As noted above, the less expensive of the two Rotel amps could output over 1.7kW into 1ohm, and it weighs less than 40lbs. The more powerful Hegel amp weighs lesss than 50lbs.

JohnnyThunder2.0's picture
Submitted by JohnnyThunder2.0 on February 17, 2024 - 3:57pm

JAs measurements confirming tipped up treble. The ripeness / warmth of a Gryphon might make that less noticeable.

cognoscente's picture
Submitted by cognoscente on February 17, 2024 - 12:37am

As a NON audiophile friend once said when we talked about my set, he was curious about the (financial) damage: "for that money I can go to a lot of live concerts, then I really hear the music live and I am really present. How real can you have it?".

He also said "I can't hear your speakers", the biggest compliment a audiophile can get.

If you already have a Bugatti, you can definitely consider these speakers. Yes, yes, I know, these speakers are mainly intended to show, um... hear what they are capable of (in order to sell cheaper models better, yes, I know) but then I want to read about a direct comparison with for example the Focal Utopia or price-wise comparable Wilson Audio. Now I don't know anything yet (about something I'm not even considering).

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on February 18, 2024 - 12:00pm

... assuming that you have a good seat and the sound system, if it's a non-acoustic performance, is of high quality.

But, what if you can't get to any of the venues at which the artist you want to hear is performing, or the dates are inconvenient? Or, suppose that you would rather hear the artist from when they were in their 20s-30s, rather than in their 60s-70s? Or, what if they're dead?

Then, you need a sound system of whatever level of performance (and affordability) will provide you with a satisfying reproduction of the artist's work.

Axiom05's picture
Submitted by Axiom05 on February 17, 2024 - 4:38am

B&W speakers will never have good off-axis response until they dump the FST midrange driver. This "technology" created far more problems than it supposedly solved. I have owned many B&W speakers over my years as an audiophile (I still own 802D2 in use with our TV), but I would never consider them now. The non-flat frequency response of the current designs do not lend themselves to long-term listener satisfaction. They may be impressive in a short-term audition but they don't resemble anything that would equate with neutral sounding.

Laphr's picture
Submitted by Laphr on February 19, 2024 - 11:37am

It's interesting that you've deduced something from chart traces that oh, a thousand-odd people in B&W's chain of professional custody apparently haven't reported from real use.

Axiom05's picture
Submitted by Axiom05 on February 19, 2024 - 12:16pm

Actually, the complaints about the off-axis midrange response date back to the Nautilus series, the first to use the FST driver.

Laphr's picture
Submitted by Laphr on February 19, 2024 - 6:07pm

I see three points: A fairly high crossover point, realistic overall sound quality, and the behavior of a 6.5" driver.

You asserted that this speaker was incapable of sounding good. I said that given its pedigree and the sheer number of experts involved with it for so long, it would be quite a trick to conceal that from everyone but a reader interpreting the charts at the end of a review.

Now the issue is the speaker's midrange behavior above 3-4kHz? I still don't see that correlating with practical listener feedback. If people need to address an eight-wide media room with absolute linearity maybe they could use something else and just give up on the center listener and stereo too.

Aleph5's picture
Submitted by Aleph5 on February 21, 2024 - 4:07pm

Mr. Fine attributes Taylor Swift's Red (Taylor's Version) to Big Machine Records. The whole purpose of her re-recording all of the albums on that label is to circumvent ownership of the original masters, which happened without her consent. Taylor's Version releases are the anecdote to and antithesis of those originally released on BM Records.

Brent Busch's picture
Submitted by Brent Busch on March 16, 2024 - 6:25pm

Why don't you show the impulse response? You show step response, and on the old Dunlavy review both step and impulse measurements were shown.

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson on March 17, 2024 - 5:19am
Brent Busch wrote:
Why don't you show the impulse response? You show step response, and on the old Dunlavy review both step and impulse measurements were shown.

The impulse response is dominated by the tweeter's behavior, so is not very informative about the way in which its output integrates with that of of the lower-frequency drivers.

See these 2 pages from my 1997 AES paper on measuring loudspeakers: www.stereophile.com/content/measuring-loudspeakers-part-two-page-2 and www.stereophile.com/content/measuring-loudspeakers-part-two-page-3.

John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile

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