I’m proud to have been part of the brilliant team that created the 800 Series D4 loudspeakers.

The incredibly popular 800 Series D3 was the result of everything that Bowers & Wilkins knew about designing loudspeakers at the time. But nothing is ever perfect, and ever since it was released the team were working hard on researching new technologies to push the listening experience further.

There are fantastic innovations all over the new 800 Series D4. For me, the highlight is the biomimetic suspension which replaces the traditional fabric spider in the mid-range driver. This took a huge amount of research, simulation, engineering, and evaluation effort to get to a simple, effective, and reliable end product. If you listen through each generation of 800 series speakers, each provides a step-change in certain areas. With the 800 Diamond, there was a monumental improvement at the top end. When the continuum cone was introduced, it made the previous (and critically acclaimed) kevlar mid-range drivers sound uninspiring in comparison. With 800 Series D4, the mid-range resolution took another huge step forwards, pushing the realism beyond anything else I’ve ever heard.

Combine that with the many other upgrades and the beautiful new finishes (especially the long awaited walnut!) the result is an incredible new experience.

As Product Manager, working with the Director of Strategy, I was responsible at the front end for the market study, product concept, and business case. I then helped the team through the selection and evaluation of viable technologies from the research team, working with engineering and the incredible industrial designers at Goodwin & Hartshorn to shape everything into a desirable flagship product range of which Bowers & Wilkins could be proud.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to see this through to release. I left Bowers & Wilkins when this project was part way through the production engineering/manufacturing phase.

Huge congratulations to Christopher May, Roel Stein, Tim Penfold, Antoine Adam, Mattia Cobianchi, Martial Rousseau, George Weaver, Ian Hobbs, David Blakeman, Derek Saunders and the rest of the team, past and present, for getting this finished and out to the world.

Learn more at bowerswilkins.com, or listen to Andy Kerr in this excellent video: