High Notes
Carbon Tweeter
The specially designed Carbon tweeter reproduces sound way beyond the range of human hearing giving it a super effortless quality. Imagine hearing the brush on a cymbal that sounds like its right in front of you.
Continuum Cone Midrange/Bass Driver
B&W's Continuum midrange driver came from the top of the line 800 series and is the first material they found that outdid their classic Kevlar drivers. These have such a good midrange you will get that sense the vocalist is right in front of you
Beautiful New Curved Cabinet Design
For decades B&W has been all about improving their cabinets for less resonance and the new 700S3 series now has curved cabinets like the 800 models for not only a very cool look, but better antiresonance properties.
The 704 S3 3-Way Tower Speaker has the same type of tweeter you get in the bookshelf models with it being built into the cabinet. It does have the special tapered tube behind it. You also get the great tech of the Biomimetic midrange just like in the 702 and 703.
The midrange in the 704 S3 is a 5” driver as are the two Aerofoil woofers.
We really like this one. While it is not quite as open on the top end as the other two with their separate tweeter housings, the midrange sounds fantastic and those two 5” drivers are just super fast. The smaller cabinet gives it a slight edge in stereo imaging too.
These are a bit less sensitive at 88 dB, so you will not want to cut corners on power, but if you get an amp with great bass control, you’ll extract some decent deep bass from the dual 5” system.
At almost half the price of the 702 S3, these are probably the best value in the entire lineup for everything they offer. When you hear the midrange all of that new high tech can reveal and their super quick bass, you will know what we mean!
Solid Body Tweeter
The 700 Series features the latest generation of Bowers & Wilkins' iconic Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing. Its new, more elongated form incorporates a longer tubeloading 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.
Biomimetic Suspension
The new Biomimetic Suspension, first seen on the 800 Series Diamond, revolutionises midrange cone performance by greatly reducing the unwanted air pressure and coloration that a conventional fabric spider can generate. The result? Midrange transparency you wouldn’t believe possible.
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.
Decoupled Midrange Assembly
Every three-way loudspeaker in the new 700 Series has a dedicated midrange cone using four key Bowers & Wilkins technologies: the Continuum cone, FST™, Biomimetic Suspension and midrange decoupling, the latter ensuring minimal interference from the operation of the loudspeaker’s bass drivers.
Aerofoil™ Profile bass cone
Developed using advanced computer modeling techniques, the Aerofoil Profile bass cone has variable thickness, providing stiffness and rigidity where it’s needed most. The result: deep and dynamic bass.
Curved Baffle
The new 700 Series 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 new approach – derived from the 800 Series Diamond – reduces the audible impact of the cabinet, creating a cleaner, more open and more immersive sound.
Technical Features:
- Decoupled Carbon Dome tweeter
- Continuum™ cone FST™ midrange
- Decoupled midrange
- Aerofoil™ Profile bass cones
- Flowport™
Description: 3-way vented-box system
Drive Units:
- 1x ø25mm (1in) Decoupled Carbon Dome high-frequency
- 1x ø130mm (5in) Continuum cone FST midrange
- 2x ø130mm (5in) Aerofoil profile bass
Frequency Range: 43Hz to 33kHz
Frequency Response: (+/-3dB from reference axis) 48Hz - 28kHz
Sensitivity: (on axis at 2.83Vrms at 1m) 88dB
Harmonic Distortion:
- 2nd and 3rd harmonics (90dB, 1m on axis)
- <1% 100Hz - 22kHz
- <0.5% 300Hz - 20kHz
Nominal Impedance: 8Ω (minimum 3.1Ω)
Recommended Amplifier Power: 30W - 150W into 8Ω on unclipped programme
Max. Recommended Cable Impedance: 0.1Ω
Dimensions:
- Height: 925mm (36.4in) cabinet only, 964mm (38in) including tweeter and plinth
- Width: 165mm (6.5in) cabinet only, 252mm (9.9in) including plinth
- Depth: 263mm (10.4in) cabinet only, 300mm (11.8in) including grille and terminals, 321mm (12.6in) including plinth
Net Weight: 20.5kg (45.3lbs)