Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4
The boxes sit there in our storage units, opposite the 20 banker’s boxes that hold 33 years’ worth of product-measurement workbooks. The two large boxes are for the Bowers & Wilkins Matrix 801s my wife owned when we got married in 1987.1 The four smaller boxes are for the B&W John Bowers Silver Signatures and their stands, which I purchased after reviewing them in June 1994.2 Both pairs of speakers gave superb sound quality back in the day, but now they sit there in the storage unit, their boxes giving me recriminatory looks when I visit.
Stereophile has reviewed many Bowers & Wilkins speakers since the first, the “pregnant kangaroo” DM6, in December 1977.3 The most recent was the 705 Signature standmount, which I wrote about in December 2020.4 I concluded my review of the 705 Signature, which costs $4000/pair, by writing that “this elegant loudspeaker stepped out of the way of the music in a very satisfying manner.” So, last summer, after I watched a video presentation of Bowers & Wilkins’s new 800 D4 series loudspeakers, I asked for review samples of the 804 D4 floorstander, which costs $12,500/pair.
The 804 D4
The D4 800-series loudspeakers are mostly similar to the D3 models, but they incorporate a few revised and upgraded design features. The 804 D4 differs most from its predecessor in that
