Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 Signature Review

Now, Bowers & Wilkins is also tuning three models of the new 700 series with the “Signature” attributes. We listened to the compact 705 S3 Signature for new strengths and old virtues—and enjoyed a lot of character.

by Lothar Brandt 

The enthusiasm surged greatly and continues to make waves to this day. “I’ve never heard a compact speaker in this price range that has excited me so much,” rejoiced the writer of these lines in the conclusion of the test of the Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3. And now, the British traditional manufacturer has polished up this gem once again. With increasing frequency, the company founded in 1966 ennobles selected speakers to “Signature” models. With further refined finish and also sound tuning that is supposed to lead to even better performance. Often in the lower series with “top down” measures, where innovations or details from the higher price and quality classes then flow into the “smaller” ones.

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Now, from the 700 series, the 705 S3 Signature at a pair price of $4,200, which, together with the floorstanding 702 S3 Signature ($8,925) and—for the first time for a surround speaker—with the center HTM71 S3 Signature carries the distinctive signature of B&W tuning. And that’s barely a year after the floorstanding 801 D4 and the bookshelf 805 D4 from the top-positioned 800 series experienced the signature refinement. In the introduction to the test of the 801 D4 Signature, the author briefly recapitulated the history of the Signatures in the company opened by John Bowers (1923–1987) and Roy Wilkins.

Fascinating Finishes

The current Signature 700 models do not differ at all in size and weight from their “normal” sisters. But they stand out externally with a finish that seeks its equal in their price classes and—as far as the author can judge—is not found worldwide. The splendid Midnight Blue Metallic, in which the test model paraded, elicited even from the laboratory engineer Florian Goisl, who is not prone to emotional exuberance, a “beautiful”.

The Tuning Is Not Just Skin Deep

Further distinguishing features are the subtle golden rings around the drivers of the 700 Signatures. Whether these optical accents were necessary is debatable. Especially with the typically silvery “Continuum” membrane shining 6.5-inch woofer-midrange driver of the 705 S3, one can argue about it. Moreover, the cone, equipped by its builders with a significantly larger air gap and lower inductance, occupies almost the entire width of the elegantly curved front quite dominantly. For all cases, there are magnetically adhering, sound-permeable covers.

Further Developed Crossovers

Also inside, there are further developments to report, building on experiences with the 800s. These concern mainly the crossover. The English like to use the highly reputed but not cheap capacitors from the German manufacturer Mundorf. For the tweeter’s crossover, B&W uses, for example, “EVO Silver Gold” oil capacitors from the Cologne specialists, whose wiring with their “Angelique” solid-core copper wires is now very en vogue.

However, the British obtain the “Bypass” capacitors on the crossover from the Italian capacitor supplier Bevenbi. The small yellow blocks, installed electrically parallel to the actual capacitors on the crossover, are long since worthy of the Signature. They are supposed to limit certain, possibly high-frequency filtering electrical properties of the larger components in their effect. The purposeful calculation of the significantly lower capacitance (and thus also inductance) compared to the actual filters is certainly not trivial. Too much or too little can cause completely undesirable side effects like frequency dips. But with correct dimensioning, they can—of course, in addition to the overall tuning—lead to a beautifully airy, transparent brilliance.

Coherent Sound

Just like with the B&W 705 S3 Signature. The petite Brit proved to be a great master of her craft right away. Like her “normal” sister, she fortunately inherited almost unchanged all the outstanding sound genes. Initially connected to the magnificent Luxman L-509 Z integrated amplifier, the Signature also demonstrated all the virtues that already distinguished the 705 S3: impeccably neutral, wonderfully fresh and detailed, beautifully organized, with lots of verve and punchy bass. Above all, any kind of music naturally detaches from the speakers; you never have the feeling of listening to a “box”. So what does the tuning bring?

“Just for fun,” we connected the little Brit to the spontaneous combination of the Lehmannaudio Phonolith preamp and the top power amplifier Accustic Arts AMP IV. In long, never boring listening sessions, it crystallized that the Signature sounded even more coherent than its standard version. Whether small jazz combo with gentle vocals, bombastic progressive rock, delicate chamber music, or grand symphony: the Signature presented the music even more homogeneously, with even more internal cohesion.