B&W 805 Diamond Loudspeaker (TAS 210)

Bower & Wilkins introduced the Matrix 801 speaker in 1979 followed by a line of speakers based on the 801 in 1986. B&W has continued to update the 800 range every few years ever since. As such, it may be one of the longest-running speaker lines around. The most recent 800 Series Diamond revision was unveiled at CES 2010 with the most obvious change to the range being the inclusion of B&W's new diamond tweeter in the smaller 804 and 805 models and the absence of the 801 model. While some consumers will welcome the availability of the new diamond tweeter across the range, others will miss the option of buying an updated version of the 801 with its single 15-inch woofer instead of the double-woofer arrangement of the 800 and 802.

There must have been compelling reasons for B&W to offer the new diamond tweeter in the two lower-priced models in the range. I am glad it did because consumers can now take advantage of B&W's diamond tweeter technology at price points that were not previously possible—yet more evidence of the increasing performance levels now available for considerably lower prices than just five years ago. The 805 Diamond costs $5000 per pair and is available in cherrywood, rosenut, and piano-black gloss finishes. The matching stand runs $700 per pair and is well worth considering. The FS-805 stand is a good sonic match to the speaker it is designed to support. The Dynaudio Stand4 also worked well, but I found that the 805 Diamond sounded a bit more fleshed out in the midrange with its own beautifully made stand.

Briefly, some of the improvements in the new 800 Diamond Series include four magnets in the tweeter instead of one, a new tweeter surround, Mundorf capacitors in the crossover, and specially designed oxygen-free speaker terminals and hookup wire. Please see Robert Harley's full description of the new tweeter and other technical differences between the former and new 800 Series in his review of the 802 Diamond in Issue 208. Retained design elements are the familiar tapered tweeter tube on top of a curved cabinet, Kevlar midrange drivers, the dimpled “flowport,” and interlocking matrix internal bracing. Cosmetically, new polished aluminum rings surround the drivers and port, a magnetic grille attachment method now makes for a classier front baffle appearance, and the former flat black ash finish is replaced by a gloss finish. I can understand how some users may not care for the shiny elements of the new look, but I quite liked the piano gloss black with aluminum rings of the review samples. The color scheme faintly reminded me of a black Jaguar sedan from the 1970s with a fresh coat of wax and polished chrome trim.

The 805 Diamond is a small, stand-mounted, two-way, vented-box speaker that weighs a fairly stout 26 pounds. The cabinet seems to be well damped. My unscientific test of running fingers on the various cabinet surfaces while playing steady heavy-beat music revealed relatively soft sympathetic vibrations. The top-mounted tweeter pod is further isolated from the main mid/woofer cabinet through a mounting bracket that includes a synthetic gel. This “floating” tweeter position also apparently allows for greater unimpeded dispersion and reduced cabinet-induced diffraction from the tweeter’s wavelaunch. The first-order network—optimized for simplicity—crosses over at 4kHz. Sensitivity is listed as 88dB (2.83V, 1m), the nominal impedance is eight ohms, and the stated frequency response is 49Hz–28kHz (-3dB). The 120-watt Hegel H100 integrated amplifier (Issue 206) had absolutely no trouble driving the 805. While it was a bit trickier to place in my room than my reference Dynaudio C1, maybe owing to the 805's seemingly wide dispersion characteristics, I did not have to struggle with positioning to achieve fantastic sound in my setup. I ended up placing them with the 805 Diamond tweeters 31” from the sidewalls, 65” from the back wall, about 7.5' apart, and toed in so that they directly faced my listening seat. I gave the review samples over 200 hours of break-in. The fit-n-finish, packaging materials, and owner's manual are all first-rate at this price level.

As for sound, the 805 Diamond covers its range so well that I found myself wondering “How does B&W do it?” more than a few times—especially at this price. Its level of resolution and coherence, coupled with respectable dynamic punch, are simply beyond any speaker near its price in my experience. The 805's resolution is the kind that honors music itself, not the so-called hi-fi-hyped kind that usually results in a stilted sound that wears poorly over time. The 805 just seems to allow the unique moods of various music to come through without telegraphing an obvious artifice in the process. It is almost disarming in its refined “rightness,” or, to put it another way, its overall performance is quickly recognizable as “fundamentally correct.” If I had to sum up the 805's ability to dig deeply into recordings, I would say “detail without pain.” This should not imply a relaxed soft focus at all—although one does relax into the music. Rather, a wealth of musical information is laid out for you without the nearly-ubiquitous side effects of artificial zip and dryness that accompany too many speakers whose designs attempt to provide high resolution in less complete way. It is not just about the diamond tweeter, either. The resolution extends seamlessly from the upper frequencies into the lower ones. The Kevlar mid/bass unit, crossover, and cabinet are all obviously working together with the tweeter to pull off the 805's compelling resolution.