Bookshelf Speaker Reviews

PRICE
705 S3 Signature: $4500/pair
HTM71 S3 Signature: $3300
DB4S subwoofer: $2199

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Living room friendly, audiophile quality
Enveloping 3D soundstage
Tight and articulate
Center channel has tremendous clarity
Beautiful

Minus
Pricier than non-Signature versions

THE VERDICT
The Bowers & Wilkins 700 S3 Signature series offers slick looks and a superbly smooth sound.

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Here's the deal: I set up a 5.1 system aiming for both quality and aesthetic appeal without taking over the entire living room. The setup includes the Bowers & Wilkins 705 S3 Signature bookshelf speakers for the front left and right, the HTM71 S3 Signature—the first Signature center channel from Bowers & Wilkins—for the center, regular 705 S3 bookshelf speakers for the rear channels, and a DB4S subwoofer. The electronics come courtesy of Marantz, specifically the Cinema 10 and Amp 10 combo.

I've had a long-standing professional respect for Bowers & Wilkins that goes beyond just listening to its speakers in my own space. I've been to numerous press events where it laid out every component of its speakers, with engineers on hand to dive into the minutiae of the design.

It's one thing to hear a marketing spiel, but it's another to have the folks who actually craft these speakers explain their thought process and engineering choices. A few years ago, I even had the chance to visit the company's headquarters in Worthing, England, where I witnessed firsthand the meticulous care that goes into its speakers. The 700 Series S3 Signature is designed in England and manufactured in China.

Bowers & Wilkins didn't just tell me, "Our speakers are better than the competition." Instead, they demonstrated how each new generation of their own speakers surpasses the last. This commitment to continuous improvement is something I genuinely appreciate. Along the way I've enjoyed visits to Abbey Road Studios and the Boston Symphony to see Bowers & Wilkins speakers are used in professional applications.

For this system, the goal is not just to have a two-channel stereo for music. It's to put together a premium living room-friendly 5.1 system. The center channel is crucial here. It handles more than half of the audio in movies and TV shows, so the HTM71 S3 Signature plays a pivotal role in delivering clear, detailed dialogue. I agree with the decision to offer such a high performace center channel, but you do pay for the priviledge.

Setup and Installation
I installed this setup in my living room loft—a spacious area with 13-foot ceilings and about 1,100 square feet of open floor plan. My priorities were clarity, extended frequency response, and imaging that creates a 3D illusion, whether I'm listening to music, watching movies, or playing games.

For speaker placement, I positioned the front speakers with slight toe-in to nail the treble balance. The center channel sits directly below the TV, aimed at ear level for optimal dialogue clarity. The rear channels are behind the listening area for immersive surround sound. The subwoofer is near a corner to maximize low-frequency response, with an 80 Hz crossover for seamless integration.

I used Audyssey MultEQ XT for room correction, which helped tame bass peaks and refine the overall sound. This calibration helped ensure the system delivered a well-balanced frequency response and a cohesive soundstage, no matter what I threw at it.

Features and Build Quality
The Bowers & Wilkins 700 S3 Signature Series is essentially the premium version of the regular 700 S3 line. The Signature models stand out due to their custom finish and aesthetics—they look slick and can complement any living space. They've also got custom tunings and upgraded crossover components, adding a touch more fidelity and transparency to an already excellent speaker.

The treble response peaks around 10 kHz, typical of Bowers & Wilkins tuning. The best way to describe its effect is it adds an extra sense of airiness, without coming off as too bright.

While the sonic differences between the standard and Signature versions aren't night and day—in fact they are minor—the refinements are perceptible. But let's talk dollars and cents: the regular 705 S3 costs $3,400 per pair, while the 705 S3 Signature sets you back $4,500. Whether the extra cost is worth it depends on how much you value that added elegance and slight performance boost.

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Performance

Music Listening
I spent weeks listening to a wide array of music, from casual background tunes to focused critical listening sessions. Albums like Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk, Love's Secret Domain by Coil, Binary by Sounds from the Ground, The Temple of I and I by Thievery Corporation, All Colors by Bassnectar, and Metallic Spheres in Color by The Orb featuring David Gilmour.

These are just a few of my go-to albums for judging audio fidelity, but among the ones I revisit the most. They offer complex, holographic mixes that seem to float in the air, with deep bass and sophisticated production. The 700 S3 Signatures handled them with aplomb. The soundstage was spacious and immersive, with instrumental layers interacting effortlessly. The speakers delivered remarkable balance, making each listening experience rich and rewarding.

I tend to avoid dissecting individual tracks these days; I prefer to evaluate the overall listening experience over time. After dozens of favorite albums and demo tracks, I found that the 700 S3 Signature speakers consistently provided a non-fatiguing, highly detailed sound with excellent dialogue clarity and a cohesive sound field.

Movie Playback
When it came to movies, these speakers shined. Watching Deadpool 3, I was completely absorbed—so much so that I barely noticed the speakers at all. That's the hallmark of a great system. The sound was dynamic, transparent, and revealing, responding effortlessly to the action. Dialogue was crystal clear, and the overall sound had an impressive sense of scale that expanded the experience beyond the room's confines. It's everything you could ask for out of a 5.1 living room-friendly surround-sound system and in many ways I prefer its overall performance to systems where the same money was spread out over more speakers. There is a lot to be said for fewer but better channels.

Gaming
In gaming, the sound quality was almost surreal. I tested with games like Grand Theft Auto Online, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Gran Turismo 7. The speakers rendered every sound element precisely, from environmental effects to directional cues, creating a three-dimensional realism that enveloped me in the game's world. This level of detail is rare because it requires true high-fidelity gear to achieve.

As seen in the photos, I also played a Pin-Bot pinball simulation, which is not so much a test of fidelity as it is a nostalgia trip, I've been playing that game since the early 1990s and I find pinball simulations to be remarkably realistic. Even with such a non-demanding task the benefit of high fidelity remains—sampled sounds rang true, which increased the sense of realism.

Technical Considerations
Accurate measurements are crucial, but in my experience, they can be misleading if not done properly. I tend to focus on how the speakers perform in my room and how they integrate with the subwoofer.

The 705 S3 Signatures play down to 50 Hz anechoic, allowing them to blend seamlessly with the DB4S subwoofer at an 80 Hz crossover without losing any transition smoothness. Subwoofer integration is key in a sub/satellite system, and an 80 Hz crossover worked well here, providing full-range sound down to 20 Hz—the DB4S offers impressive extension considering its size.

Conclusion
So, are the Signature versions worth the premium over the non-Signature models? That's a tough one to answer for someone else. My gut feeling is that the refinements might not be noticeable with all material. It's like opting for the sporty version of a car—the differences emerge when you're pushing the performance limits, not during everyday driving.

That said, the Bowers & Wilkins 700 S3 Signature Series is a testament to meticulous engineering and thoughtful design. They bring a refined listening experience to the living room, seamlessly blending aesthetics with sonic performance. The key is the inclusion of a proper center channel in the series, and the HTM71 S3 fits the bill perfectly.

Whether you're watching a blockbuster movie, diving into an immersive video game, critically listening to your favorite album, or just playing Pin-Bot, the 700 S3 Signature speakers prove exceptional time and again. Their ability to reproduce audio with transparency, power, and nuance makes them a fantastic choice for anyone seeking a high-quality, audiophile-friendly setup that doesn't compromise on style or substance.

The added cost of the Signature versions might not be for everyone, but if you value both high fidelity and elegance, they deliver in spades.

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For more information and full specification, visit the official Bowers & Wilkins website by clicking here.