Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) Monitor Speakers: The Reference

One could almost say “know nothing of Hi-Fi until you know B&W” — Bowers & Wilkins is the brand that major labels the world over have adopted as their standard studio monitor speaker. Even in the studios of minor labels known for high-quality recordings, most use B&W’s Nautilus 800 Series or the older MATRIX series monitors. This performer, that conductor — B&W speakers have found their way into people’s homes and workplaces alike, and for the vast majority of listeners, if you want to know what a major label recording is truly supposed to sound like, get yourself a B&W first — that is how thoroughly B&W monitor speakers have become the de facto standard in Hi-Fi playback today. ※ There are exceptions, of course — Alfred Brendel, for one, is famously devoted to the QUAD ESL electrostatic speaker, and is said to have quietly had the B&Ws swapped out for QUADs during his recording sessions…

The British conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner once appeared in a B&W commercial in the UK, and was reportedly using the MATRIX 802 S3 — though I wonder whether he has since moved on to the Nautilus? Similarly, it is well known that the late conductor Herbert von Karajan used B&W Matrix 801s — from the very first generation onwards — both at home and as his monitoring reference for recordings at Deutsche Grammophon. And when I once watched an interview programme with Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, in what I believe was his office at the Mariinsky Theatre, a pair of B&W floorstanders was sitting in the background.

My own first encounter with a B&W speaker was the MATRIX 805V, back in the days when Nakamichi was the distributor. Despite an exterior finish that looked almost as cheap as plywood, it was an extraordinarily accurate and information-rich small speaker for its time — not merely high in sound quality, but dynamically vivid and incisive in its musical expression, and altogether far more compelling than the competition of the same era.

Incidentally, even within the B&W MATRIX 805 family, the 805H — a variant designed for horizontal placement in studio use, with the tweeter repositioned accordingly — shares the same tonal character, yet curiously, that lively dynamic quality of the 805V is somehow subdued. It struck me as rather remarkable that despite identical components and construction, the sense of musical enjoyment conveyed could differ so completely.

Compared with the current Nautilus series, the older MATRIX series had a light, natural ease and gentleness across the full frequency range, and the tweeters rarely gave any impression of harshness or strain. When the model change to Nautilus brought a sharp leap in modern resolution and speed, however, it simultaneously acquired the unforgiving quality of a strict monitor speaker — one that shows up without mercy every flaw in the upstream equipment and the recording itself. Faced with that kind of acute precision from the B&W 800 Series, I personally tend to feel it is rather beyond my station and find myself hesitating — and yet, as a Hi-Fi enthusiast whose listening is centred on classical music, I cannot help feeling a certain persistent longing to bring one of B&W’s top monitor speakers into my listening room.

In recent years, when auditioning equipment in shops, I have been using the B&W 805S or the B&W 703/704 as my reference standard for comparative listening. There are other speakers in the mid-to-lower price range that I personally find appealing, but in terms of sheer sound quality, I believe there are very few speakers that genuinely surpass the Nautilus objectively speaking.

The B&W sound is, in every sense, worthy of the name monitor speaker: a wide, distortion-free and accurate soundstage, precise and sharply defined imaging within it, a sensitive and cool high frequency range with formidable resolution, flat frequency response — an overwhelming wealth of information that operates on an entirely different level from other manufacturers’ speakers. The flip side of all that information, however, is a difficulty of use that is equally first-class. The Nautilus tweeter’s exceptional responsiveness can be a double-edged sword: connect it to an amplifier or cable of even slightly insufficient quality, and the treble becomes nervy and fatiguing in a way that makes prolonged listening quite painful. On the other hand, pairing it with equipment that has low resolution and a soft, rolled-off top end will not allow the Nautilus to demonstrate its inherently high-resolution performance to anything like its full potential. To make the Nautilus sing as it should, one needs a listening environment that is excellent in its totality — a quality amplifier, SACD player, speaker cables, and clean mains power, all high-speed, information-rich, free of colouration and entirely free of any sense of distortion across the full frequency range — chosen without being swayed by brand names.

The B&W 800 Series stands at the complete opposite end of the philosophical spectrum from what one might call the “reproductive art” approach in the high-end world — where a speaker with an individual, dangerously alluring tonal character, more lusciously beautiful than live sound itself, is paired with a custom-built valve amplifier and some dubious brand of vintage(?) cabling, producing a sound that is entirely unreal yet utterly bewitching. The 800 Series is, by contrast, a speaker built on the fundamental premise of looking squarely at reality — of doing what a monitor speaker is supposed to do.

As a monitor speaker, B&W products are unquestionably superb. Among the current options available, they are in all likelihood the ultimate choice. Used as reference monitors in many recording studios including those in the PolyGram group, and as development reference speakers by audio manufacturers — they are probably the most widely adopted standard today. For those who know live music, have no interest in the more arcane realms of audiophilia, and wish to put together a truly first-rate system of the highest quality and accuracy — with fine furniture-grade finish to match — without any constraint on budget; or for industry professionals who need the best possible system for monitoring music: in such cases, it may well be correct not to consider any alternative to the B&W Nautilus 800 Series.

However, for those working within a limited budget, the situation looks rather different. As mentioned earlier, the B&W 800 Series leaves absolutely no room to hide anything in playback. Even the lower models — the B&W 703/704/705 and similar, which have a somewhat more accessible, acoustic presence compared with the Nautilus — offer a level of monitor-grade refinement that comfortably surpasses other speakers in the same class from competing brands. So if you can just about stretch to the speaker itself but cannot properly allocate budget to the amplifier, player, audio cables, and mains conditioning as well, and you rashly splash out on a Nautilus in a one-item-splurge mentality… you may well find yourself unable to tame its fussiness, losing control of the sound entirely, failing to achieve anything like the quality you were hoping for, and eventually feeling like throwing in the towel altogether. When a top-tier B&W is paired with a mediocre system, there is every chance that the treble will become metallic and irritating — a relentlessly nervy sound that offers no relaxation whatsoever. Whether you accept that risk and make the leap to B&W anyway, or seek a more balanced compromise within your budget — at that point, it really comes down to your own judgement.

This is my personal favourite among Karajan’s late recordings. It has exactly the sort of sound you would expect from a mastering session on a MATRIX 801.

That said, from 2005 onwards the Nautilus series was substantially renewed through a minor model change, including the introduction of diamond tweeters. If that revision has resolved the former treble nervousness, then there really is no better option. The new Nautilus 804S and 805S unfortunately do not feature diamond tweeters, but the models from the 803 upwards carrying a “D” suffix are, by all accounts, greatly improved in overall balance — and I very much want to audition them.

Budget is tight, but the B&W name holds an appeal. So, could one put together a modest budget Hi-Fi system around B&W? Candidates would include the B&W CM Series and the 600 Series and other relatively affordable models. These lower-range models are less a scaled-down version of the Nautilus monitor and more — ※ a sound character that makes use of the slightly dry, jaw-jutting texture characteristic of Kevlar cones and a degree of cabinet resonance — quite different in flavour from the high-resolution, monitor-oriented sound of the upper models. But within a modest budget, with enclosures that are relatively generous in size for the price, they offer an approachable character that lets you listen to music with uncomplicated, bright enjoyment, and that is their real appeal. Note: ※ The above refers strictly to the old 600 Series as it was in 2005.

There is some useful information about B&W’s manufacturing philosophy over at jazzaudiofan’s blog. I ended up ordering the DVD from the UK myself.

※ 2007 addendum: From late 2005, B&W began releasing a mid-range lineup in the form of the CM Series — CM1, CM5, CM7, CM9, and others. Their quality far exceeds what their price would suggest, and they have already established themselves as the reference and de facto standard within their class. In certain listening environments they can be even more compelling than the Nautilus, making them a truly outstanding product — highly recommended for an audition.

※ 2009 addendum: The CM5 and CM9 have been added to the B&W CM Series, and a piano finish is now available across the entire CM range.