B&W 700 Series Loudspeakers

In 1974 B&W introduced KEVLAR drive units to their loudspeaker ranges.

43 years later B&W have now moved on to the next generation of driver technology originally developed for the 800 Series - the Continuum driver - now to be found in the all new 700 Series 2 range of loudspeakers.
The all NEW 700 Series 2 incorporates a new Carbon Fibre Tweeter - derived from the PM1 tweeter and the introduction for the first time of the Continuum Driver technology as found in the award winning 800 series of loudspeakers.

Continuum was developed for the new 800 Diamond series launched in 2015. The revolutionary midrange cones are the result of an eight-year research and development project that went through over 70 iterations. The Continuum cone delivers pristine midrange performance by effectively negating the break-up behaviour that can adversely affect this all-important part of the audio spectrum.

The 700 S2 Series of loudspeakers from B&W brings studio performance into the home at realistic price points.

There are six stereo pairs of loudspeakers in the 700 S2 Series, from compact stand-mounts to full size floorstanders.

Background to the NEW 700 Series 2 range

Bowers & Wilkins engineers constantly challenge current thinking in acoustic technologies. So even though Kevlar was the midrange material of choice for Bowers & Wilkins speakers for 40 years, other options were constantly explored. This exploration included multiple philosophies – such as a completely pistonic midrange – and many new materials.

In 2007, the engineers at the Steyning Research Establishment found a promising design that offered an obvious performance improvement over Kevlar – and in 2015, after eight years of development, the Continuum™ cone appeared on the 800 Series Diamond for the first time.

Controlled flexibility
The Continuum cone’s design is based on the concept of optimised and controlled flexibility. This helps it avoid the abrupt transition from pistonic to break-up mode behaviour that drastically impairs the openness and neutrality of a conventional drive unit. It delivers improved sound but shows continuity of approach with Kevlar. Like that material, it is a woven composite that gives highly controlled break-up.

Continuum is a triumph for experimental work, with more than 70 iterations and eight years of development prior to launch. And it is one of the many reasons the 800 Series Diamond is the best range of loudspeakers Bowers & Wilkins has ever manufactured.

This innovative technology has now trickled down to B&W's 700 Series 2 range of loudspeakers.

The new midrange drive units use a new FEA-optimised aluminium chassis that is stiffer than the zinc chassis of the outgoing CM Series.
This optimised form is further enhanced with the addition of a tuned mass damper on the front face of the chassis. This dampens any remaining resonance in the structure, which is said to result in a cleaner, less coloured midrange presentation.
B&W developed a new midrange decoupling system that simplifies the design used in the 800 Series Diamond and replaces the drawbar design employed in the previous CM 10 S2. It is used in ALL floorstanding models in the 700 series.

A new tweeter was also developed for the 700 Series 2 Range, The first breakup mode of the new carbon tweeter is 47kHz, which is quite an improvement from 38kHz of the Aluminium Double Dome of the CM series and closer to the holy grail of 70kHz of the Diamond Dome in the 800 D3 series.

For the bass drivers, B&W developed a more affordable implementation of the Aerofoil cone used in the 800 Series by using paper rather than costly fibre skins.

This is the first range of loudspeakers to be mass-produced in their new purpose-built factory in Zhuhai, China.

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Monday 10am-4pm
Tuesday 10am-4pm
Wednesday- CLOSED
Thursday 10am-4pm
Friday 10am-4pm
Saturday 10am-4pm
Sunday-CLOSED