Are Bowers and Wilkins speakers overpriced?

+1 4425

My opinion only but if there’s one piece of a system where you just can’t afford to compromise, it’s the speakers. Of course I’m not saying everything else doesn’t matter but nothing matters more in terms of the dramatic difference in sound you get than speakers.


Here’s what I my mean. Take a price level. Let’s say $5k for sake of argument. Now go listen to 20 different $5k speakers. It is amazing how different they sound.

Do same with amps or source at a fixed price level and variance nowhere near as large.
So for time-challenged folk (aren’t we all?), the one thing you absolutely have to get right is the speakers (if u must prioritize due to other life attention stealers).

So if you love BW, stretch to get them even if they may cost a little more than comparable speakers. Get what sounds best to you.

PS - Electrocompaniet was brand I couldn’t remember


in my search (hundreds of hours), I probably spent 80% on speaker search, 18% on amp search, 1% on source search (at this point I was worn out and just blindly went with dealer recommendation) and 1% on everything else. 

I don’t recommend that but it worked out well for me. Got lucky on source I guess....

elliottbnewcombjr
I was very active when the 801’s were announced, oh my, the big deal in the magazines, before they hit the stores. I couldn’t afford them, just wanted to be amazed by their sound. They hit Harvey’s, audio shows, .... I went away without great enthusiasm, never could explain why....

the 801m were, and still are, a mainstay in many studios, and one of the reasons why, IMO, was nailed by some comments made by Stereophile in their review. I reflect on this, based on my personal experience with them in the past.

All things being equal, this will make the speaker both a little too revealing of recorded detail and somewhat fussy when it comes to the quality of source and amplification components, just as LL noted in his auditioning comments.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-matrix-801-series-2-loudspeaker-measurements

The 801m speakers have excellent target objectives for studios to hear everything - but will become a nightmare for the novice (all dealers when they were introduced), especially anyone, who brings these puppies home and places them on a suspended wood floor, and leaves them there on their factory castors. A design feature to allow movement in the studio.

my take is that b&w is kinda schizophrenic in that some of their lower-priced models  sound better to me than their much pricier TOTL--i feel the same way about focal. i do believe that b&w uses a dealer-only model, so you tend to get less for your $$$ than a maker using direct sales.

+1 loomisjohnson

OMG I feel exactly same way about those two same brands (and really only these two - none others come to mind in same way) but didn’t want to offend. (About the liking lower models at price point more than upper models v competition.)

I really liked 702s2 at $4.5k. It wouldn’t have been my top choice but I considered 30ish speakers. But it was in the mix. Same with Focal Aria series under $4k. Liked them at the price point.


That’s where my speaker budget started in my search and then I heard D7 and knew I had to raise my budget because I had to have them.
When I listened to up-models in those lines, 804d3 and kanta, they didn’t do it for me at their prices. Just my opinion but interesting to see another who had exactly same reaction.


just to make clear I am not dumping on BW. I still own and really like my cdm1nt. They spent 20 yrs as my main music speakers and now remain front stage of my main ht setup. I still get to hear them play music bc that ht system is what kids and wife are allowed to stream music from (they are well trained that my reference system is off limits to them :) I’m such a tyrant, haha

(and fwiw, all three of them swear they cannot hear the sq differences between systems.  Ahhhhh, why couldn’t I be so lucky!! I could have spent all that reference system $$ on a new car or other toys)

Judging from the feedback, this post should have been titled:
"Are B&W Speakers Worth the Cost?"