Bowers & Wilkins 705 Signature
Back in June 1994, I reviewed the Bowers & Wilkins John Bowers Silver Signature standmounted loudspeaker. 1 This speaker cost a breathtaking $8000/pair at that time, and I subsequently bought the review samples and their matching slate stands. It was the best-sounding speaker I had used in my Santa Fe listening room: When the company’s then-owner, Robert Trunz, visited me a couple of years later, he told me that he hadn’t realized how good the Silver Signatures could sound. But after I moved to Brooklyn, in 2000, the Silver Signature never worked as well in my new listening room. I still own the speakers, but they currently live in our storage unit.
In February 2004, I reviewed the Series 1 B&W 705 loudspeaker.2 I was impressed by this affordable two-way standmount, writing, “The 705 might not have enough bass or go loud enough for those wanting affordable full-range performance, but within its limitations, the new B&W is an astonishingly good loudspeaker. It offers clean, grain-free, uncolored sound for just $1500/pair. You’d have to spend a lot more to get significantly more quality.”
That original 705 was replaced in 2017 by the 705 Series 2, which cost $2999/pair. To my regret, I missed out on reviewing that version.3 When I learned that Bowers & Wilkins was introducing an optimized version of the 705 S2, called the 705 Signature and priced a penny less than $4000/pair without the matching stands, I asked for review samples.
The 705 Signature
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