Bowers & Wilkins - The Sound of Perfection

Bowers & Wilkins and the 800 Series Diamond

---

From a Seaside Shop to a Global Icon

In 1966, on the windswept coast of Worthing, England, a young engineer named John Bowers began a quiet revolution in sound.
He worked out of the back room of an electronics shop he co-owned with his friend Roy Wilkins, spending long nights hand-building speaker systems for a small but growing group of music lovers. With a modest inheritance from a satisfied customer, Bowers struck out on his own and founded Bowers & Wilkins.

From the very beginning, Bowers was uncompromising. He believed that loudspeakers should reproduce music exactly as the artist intended, without coloration, distortion, or compromise. That philosophy drove early innovations such as the use of Kevlar® cones, Matrix™ cabinet bracing, and carefully sculpted speaker enclosures.
By the 1970s, Bowers & Wilkins had become a respected name in hi-fi circles, exporting speakers worldwide while remaining rooted in the craftsmanship of the English coast.

The company’s reputation reached a turning point in 1979 with the introduction of its first 800 Series, a flagship line of speakers that combined cutting-edge engineering with sculptural design. These speakers soon earned a place in the most prestigious recording studios — most notably Abbey Road Studios, where legendary artists from Pink Floyd to Adele have relied on Bowers & Wilkins monitors to mix and master their music.

Innovation That Resonates

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Bowers & Wilkins remained at the forefront of acoustic engineering. Their research division — the Steyning Research Establishment — became a hub for innovation, where physicists and engineers worked to solve problems of resonance, diffraction, and clarity.

It was here that Bowers & Wilkins pioneered breakthroughs like tapering speaker tubes to eliminate internal reflections and the iconic Nautilus™ design, whose spiraling chambers remain a symbol of acoustic purity.
These weren’t just aesthetic choices — they were the visible expression of a company obsessed with performance.

When John Bowers passed away in 1987, his team carried forward his vision, guided by his mantra: “We want to make the best loudspeakers that money can buy.”

The Diamond Era Begins

The culmination of decades of research arrived in 2010 with the launch of the 800 Series Diamond, a landmark moment in loudspeaker design.
For the first time, Bowers & Wilkins introduced diamond tweeters, their domes grown through an advanced chemical vapor deposition process.
Diamond, the hardest natural material on earth, proved to be the ultimate solution for high-frequency reproduction — incredibly light and rigid, it could move with absolute precision, revealing musical detail that had previously been inaudible.

The 800 Series Diamond wasn’t just a technical upgrade. Its smooth, flowing cabinets drew inspiration from boatbuilding craftsmanship, using curved layers of wood to eliminate acoustic dead spots.
Inside, hidden networks of bracing — like the keel of a finely built sailboat — ensured strength and silence, so the listener hears only the music, never the box.

Trusted by the Masters

These flagship speakers quickly became the reference standard for professional sound.
Abbey Road Studios, home to The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and countless film soundtracks, adopted Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamonds as their go-to monitors.
When an artist stands behind the glass in that storied control room, the last sound they hear before their music reaches the world is filtered through these very speakers.

It’s a profound connection — a direct line from the recording studio to the living room, allowing listeners at home to experience music just as the producers and artists intended.

British Roots, Global Reach

Even as Bowers & Wilkins has grown into a global brand, its heart remains in Worthing.
In a world increasingly driven by automation, the company still relies on craftspeople who hand-build each flagship speaker, shaping, sanding, and finishing every cabinet with painstaking care.

Walking through the Worthing facility feels less like a factory and more like an atelier.
Here, technology meets tradition — CNC machines cut precision components, while artisans apply final touches by hand, ensuring that every 800 Series Diamond is not just a product, but an heirloom.

Why It Matters Today

In a time of wireless earbuds and disposable gadgets, the 800 Series Diamond stands apart as a symbol of permanence and passion.
For music lovers, these speakers offer a chance to slow down, to sit and truly listen — to rediscover beloved albums with a clarity that feels almost spiritual.
They are equally a statement of design, their organic curves blending seamlessly into modern architecture or classic coastal cottages.

These aren’t speakers you hide. They are pieces of functional art, meant to be seen, touched, and, above all, heard.

Closing Notes

Nearly sixty years after John Bowers first soldered circuits in a seaside shop, Bowers & Wilkins continues to honor his vision.
The 800 Series Diamond is more than a flagship — it is the embodiment of a relentless pursuit of truth in sound, a bridge between heritage and innovation.

From Worthing’s salty breezes to the hushed halls of Abbey Road, every note tells a story.
And if you listen closely, you can still hear the echo of that original dream: music, rendered perfectly, as if the artist were standing in the room with you.