NEW B&W series 2015 ?

[TimbaLand]

Is there no one to leak the pics? I sure B&W can do it for publicity

[grdn1987]

Take a look at the big poster behind the speakers. You can see the shape of the new nautilus tweeter and revised marlan head. new tweeters are way shorter than previous.

[RebelMan]

I see hints of the PM series in some models. Wouldn't surprise me if they did.

[Rod#S]

So do you think that's a center channel covered up under the screen along with a sub covered up under the projector?

[Kal Rubinson]

Take a look at the big poster behind the speakers. You can see the shape of the new nautilus tweeter and revised marlan head. new tweeters are way shorter than previous.

Where? I do not see anything but text on the posters.

Kal (finding all this speculation amusing)

[TimbaLand]

Where? I do not see anything but text on the posters.

Kal (finding all this speculation amusing)

Same here I dint see any hints from anything in that room. I was starting to think there's maybe something wrong with me. I'm glad we are on the same page Kal

[windshear]

Look at the top picture on this page. Below the B&W Group Asia logo which is part of a picture on the wall, look at the size of the tweeter enclosure.

[Kal Rubinson]

Look at the top picture on this page. Below the B&W Group Asia logo which is part of a picture on the wall, look at the size of the tweeter enclosure.

I looked at all the pix posted and have no idea to what you are referring.

[Rod#S]

I see what he's referring to. Look at the picture SoundEngine355 posted, post #40. It's an aerial shot looking down at the top of the tweeter and marlan head.

[Hiend]

Look at the picture at post #40. Look below the "B&W Group Logo" of the picture hanging behind the covered speakers. It's subdued black on black, but if you look at it you will see a top down view of the speaker. As if you were looking straight down on the speaker from the top.

[Kal Rubinson]

Look at the picture at post #40. Look below the "B&W Group Logo" of the picture hanging behind the covered speakers. It's subdued black on black, but if you look at it you will see a top down view of the speaker. As if you were looking straight down on the speaker from the top.

If you mean this. your eyes are better than mine. I do not see anything definitive nor do I see a Marlan head.

[grdn1987]

If you mean this. your eyes are better than mine. I do not see anything definitive nor do I see a Marlan head.[ATTACH=CONFIG]24400[/ATTACH]

This should help.

[arzt506]

Everyone sees it except for Stereophile. So used to the opposite. Usually nobody hears it except stereophile. lol

[Kal Rubinson]

This should help.

Thanks. Although I now see what you are referring to, I still cannot tell if it is from the new line.

[RebelMan]

It is Kal.

[arzt506]

Thanks. Although I now see what you are referring to, I still cannot tell if it is from the new line.

Quite the demonstration of objective skepticism

[Kal Rubinson]

You might say so. I could not possibly comment.

[windshear]

To really stir the pot, I wonder when a new Nautilus will be released, its at least 20 years overdue.h:

[Indytown]

I clearly see the new marlan head and tweeter. Definitely a shorter fatter Twetter.

[James63]

To really stir the pot, I wonder when a new Nautilus will be released, its at least 20 years overdue.h:

They came out a while ago and are called the Giya...

As for B&W I hope they kicked the Kevlar midrange to the curb. They have always held the speaker back IMO.

[ShadowZA]

They came out a while ago and are called the Giya...

Laurence Dickie, who Joined B&W in 1984 and who is responsible for developing the B&W Nautilus, left B&W in 1997 and eventually started Vivid Audio in 2004. The Giya's are the flagship models currently produced by Vivid Audio. http://www.vividaudio.com/

[Mikael]

Where? I do not see anything but text on the posters.

Kal (finding all this speculation amusing)

Well it's easy for you to be amused of our speculations.since you obviously have seen the new models.

[Kal Rubinson]

Well it's easy for you to be amused of our speculations.since you obviously have seen the new models.

No comment.

[grdn1987]

announcement imminent. Check out their twitter. They're doing a 800 series retrospective just like they did with the 600 series the two weeks before announcing. My money is on monday or tuesday next week.

not that I give a shit really - going to be overpriced with marginal gains. Name me one other surviving tech segment where the tech advances are so slow and the prices go up so fast. Unfortunately, the generation that are willing to value speakers as a luxury good is aging rapidly and millenials are very content with speakers like the X300, that actually offer great quality tech (85% of the performance of 805D IMO) at a fair price.

The 800 series is a dying breed thank god. Once the boomers die off, we'll be able to buy 100% of the sound quality for thousands less as willingness to pay creeps back lower to the costs of production at the high end.

/rant

[Kal Rubinson]

announcement imminent.

It is known that the announcement will be on 9/9. Not a secret.

[Indytown]

What's a X300 ?

[Rod#S]

announcement imminent. Check out their twitter. They're doing a 800 series retrospective just like they did with the 600 series the two weeks before announcing. My money is on monday or tuesday next week.

not that I give a shit really - going to be overpriced with marginal gains. Name me one other surviving tech segment where the tech advances are so slow and the prices go up so fast. Unfortunately, the generation that are willing to value speakers as a luxury good is aging rapidly and millenials are very content with speakers like the X300, that actually offer great quality tech (85% of the performance of 805D IMO) at a fair price.

The 800 series is a dying breed thank god. Once the boomers die off, we'll be able to buy 100% of the sound quality for thousands less as willingness to pay creeps back lower to the costs of production at the high end.

/rant

Wishful thinking I'm afraid. I'm far from a boomer and there is no way the gear peddled in a lot of the big box stores are able to reproduce the realism and authority of higher end speakers. This is far from a B&W argument as it applies to a lot of brands and B&W even with these supposed price increases are a relative bargain compared to the prices of some high end speakers.

[grdn1987]

Wishful thinking I'm afraid. I'm far from a boomer and there is no way the gear peddled in a lot of the big box stores are able to reproduce the realism and authority of higher end speakers. This is far from a B&W argument as it applies to a lot of brands and B&W even with these supposed price increases are a relative bargain compared to the prices of some high end speakers.

I'm not saying that big box speakers come close performance wise. The Kef X300 are an exception to the rule - they are outstanding for the money. I've owned 802D's, 804n, 805s, 805d, 805N, and all of the matrix speakers at one point or another with the exception of the 801, as well as DM303s and the 601 s2. Obviously I get that there's a pretty big sound quality disparity between the low end and the top end.

I'm just making the point that gross margin % on high end speakers is without a shadow of a doubt crazy high compared to lower end models. To John Atkinson's point, the economics make sense and these companies are acting rationally - declining aggregate unit sales of high end speakers necessitates higher gross margins to justify production. However, my point is that this is not a strategy that will outlive the market that grew up obsessing over hi-fi. I can guarantee you that my generation will not value speakers as a luxury good to the extent that boomers do. Which is why I believe gross margins in aggregate will eventually decline on the highest end after years of what are more than likely crazy increases.

I don't have data, but I highly doubt the cost of drivers, capacitors, copper wiring and MDF have outpaced inflation over the last 20 years. Looking forward to any data that says the cost of a team of 3 acoustic engineers with BAs has been growing exponentially since the early 90s. I am pretty confident that high end speakers, say $5000+/pair are not priced primarily against their cost of goods.

As to who buys these speakers in thirty years, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be the tech junkie who grew up reading Anand, ars, Engadget and the Verge instead of Stereophile, and the other hifi magazines from the 70's.

[SoundEngine355]

Announcement is rumored to be this week, potentially 9th September.

Captured the below from another forum:

The 800-series v3 is set to compete with the Wilsons & Magicos

- Redesigned head assembly in Aluminium
- Redesigned midrange driver with new composite material
- Redesigned bass drivers
- Outstanding build quality & craftsmanship using superior materials
- Heavier than v2
- Superior internal cabinetry engineering
- Std finishes in piano black, brilliant white & rosewood
- 35 ~ 50% more expensive

Euro pricing has been announced:

802 Diamond was 14,000euro, v3 is expected to be 24,000euro
800 Diamond was 22,000euro, v3 is expected to be 30,000euro

[TomScrut]

No cherry? :cry:

[Mikael]

If those are the exact prices for the new models it's way out of my reach. And there is going to be a very big jump both in price and performance from the CM line, so hopefully we will se the 7 sereies reintroduced.

[corbelli]

[corbelli]

https://www.facebook.com/BowersWilkins/photos/a.189490564402285.43759.125932294091446/1100968286587837/?type=1&fref=nf

[Mark_NZ]

Interesting - this looks like the video of new cabinets being routed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-bTsVSeX-c
and cabinet folding machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKq9gX3Lrwk

[Mortyre]

the video are deleted

[sidmini]

B&W D3 - the new 800 diamond series
JUST GOT THIS VIA EMAIL

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/2dIDbMNG88M

[SoundEngine355]

[SoundEngine355]

[sakgoz79]

What about 803 diamond ?

[sakgoz79]

[sakgoz79]

You can see all 800 series below link

http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speakers/Home_Audio/800_Series_Diamond/803-D3.html

[TomScrut]

I take it this is 802 803 804 805? Or have they scrapped one?

[grdn1987]

let me be the first to say that these are unbelievably ugly compared to the previous series. They seem to have taken their design inspiration from all the Chinese knock offs of the 802.

Not even active! No innovation, and a huge price increase. This is a stupid hobby. Peace out.

[Blue Bottle]

Must say that I am unbelievably disappointed in the new look; these speakers have always been beautiful and stylish; these look simply awful. Like the addition of the head to the 803...

[Race Car Driver]

Yea, I think I may have to pick up a set of the current diamonds, these look terrible. I don't care how they sound. That coupled with a price increase.
No. Way.

Ugh.. first time I have been disappointed in B&W..