B&W sold, as flagship 800 D3 Diamond speaker makes its Munich HIGH END debut
The bulk of Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series Diamond range was released last November, but the range-topping reference 800 D3 (pictured above) was held back for release in this, B&W’s 50th anniversary year, along with the radical white gloss finish that will be made available across the whole 800 D3 range. Projected RRP for the 800 D3 is $44,900 the pair, and stock should arrive in Australian stores this September.
As with the rest of the range, the latest 800 is almost a complete redesign from the previous model, now fronted by a curve wrapping to a straight and rigid rear aluminium spine, and featuring the new ‘Continuum’ midrange cone replacing Kevlar, and the new variable thickness Aerofoil bass drivers. And of course that diamond tweeter, its dome so hard that it does not enter its ‘break-up’ mode until nearly 70kHz, so exhibiting piston-like behaviour not only within the audio band, but for at least an octave above it.
Arriving almost simultaneously was the news that B&W has been sold, along with Classé and Rotel USA, to EVA Automation, a Californian company barely more than a start-up, founded in 2014 to build multiroomAV products and controls, with the goal of “reimaging [sic?] the home entertainment experience.” The cofounders include chairman Gideon Yu, a former executive of Facebook and YouTube, and currently co-owner of the San Franciso 49ers, whose announcement notes that “we at EVA are excited to operate as one combined company under the Bowers & Wilkins name. Joe Atkins [CEO of Bowers & Wilkins] has graciously agreed to remain the CEO of our combined company, while I will be our Executive Chairman.”
EVA itself has investors from Formation 8, a technology investment firm based in Silicon Valley with a presence in Korea, Singapore and China. Formation 8 has a solid track record, previously investing in Oculus VR technology before Oculus was purchased by Facebook.
It’s not hard to see the direction this marriage of core expertises may point, as John Martin from Australian distributor Convoy International confirms, telling Sound+Image that the message in Munich from B&W execs B&W execs was “very much ‘business as usual’, particularly with regard to the core range products such as 800 Series, CM and 600 Series. Given the recent massive investment in expanding and updating the Worthing [UK] production facility to both meet enhanced quality levels and to cope with global demand, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Where I think we can expect changes looking ahead is in the realm of connected audio and user interfaces. B&W recognises that these areas will be increasingly important in the medium term.
“One quote forthcoming was ‘we have a successful 50-yearold company that we want to become a successful 75-yearold company’.”