Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4 Satin Walnut Floorstanding Speaker

Bowers & Wilkins 804 D4 – Floorstanding Speaker in Satin Walnut

The 804 D4 is the most compact floorstanding model in the Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond range: a passive three-way loudspeaker in a Satin Walnut finish, built around a Diamond dome tweeter, a Continuum FST midrange driver and twin Aerofoil bass drivers. It brings the reference technologies of the flagship series into a cabinet that fits a wider range of listening rooms.

Every part of the design is about controlling resonance and decoupling drivers from each other, so the cabinet contributes as little sound of its own as possible.

Key features

• 25 mm Diamond dome tweeter in a Solid Body Tweeter-on-Top housing
• 130 mm Continuum cone FST midrange with Biomimetic Suspension
• Two 165 mm Aerofoil cone bass drivers
• Matrix internal bracing and aluminium plinth
• Downward-firing Flowport bass system
• Three-way vented-box design, passive – external amplifier required
• Satin Walnut cabinet finish

Diamond treble, properly isolated

Diamond is exceptionally stiff and light, which pushes the tweeter’s breakup behaviour far above the audible band and keeps high frequencies clean at high levels. On the 804 D4 the Diamond dome sits in its own Solid Body housing on top of the cabinet, decoupled from the main enclosure so vibration from the bass and midrange drivers cannot reach it. The result is treble detail that stays composed when the music gets busy.

Continuum midrange with Biomimetic Suspension

The dedicated 130 mm midrange uses a Continuum cone with FST surround-less construction for fast, controlled vocal and instrumental reproduction. Behind it, Biomimetic Suspension replaces the conventional spider with a minimalist composite structure that reduces air pressure noise behind the cone. The midrange is also decoupled from the cabinet, so the driver that carries voices is isolated from the energy of the twin bass units below it.

Bass from twin Aerofoil drivers

Two 165 mm Aerofoil bass cones use a variable-thickness profile that is stiff where strength matters and light where speed matters, supported by a downward-firing Flowport and a Matrix-braced cabinet on an aluminium plinth. With 89 dB sensitivity and a recommended amplifier range of 50 to 200 watts into 8 ohms, the 804 D4 suits substantial stereo amplifiers – note the 3.0 ohm minimum impedance when matching an amplifier.

In the listening room

As a passive design, the 804 D4 needs a suitable external amplifier and good placement: stable floor contact on its plinth, clearance behind and to the sides, and symmetrical positioning around the main seat. Given that care, it serves equally as a stereo pair for music or as front channels in a high-end home cinema built from 800 Series models.

The weight of 36.85 kg per speaker tells its own story: this is dense, deliberate engineering for listeners who want 800 Series Diamond performance without the largest cabinets in the range.