Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3 Loudspeakers: Review

With so many high-end loudspeakers available to consumers, it has become increasingly difficult to yank one out of the hat the truly offers something more. It is the feeling I get these days driving into Montreal looking for a good bagel or driving through New Jersey looking for an exceptional pizza; better than average options are everywhere but that does not make them great.

Fairmount makes an exceptional bagel that is worth driving seven hours for and it is something that I have done more than once because the bagels here are extremely ordinary.

The Star Tavern in Orange, New Jersey, makes the best bar pie this side of the Mississippi.

One can drive past 100 other pizzerias on the way back to the Jersey Shore but this one will forever earn my money. And I know pizza having grown up in the business and been taught by some of the best.

What does any of this have to do with the Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3 Loudspeakers?

Everything.

It is also human nature to dislike a brand if you hear enough negativity about its products; something that is amplified by the millions of opinions on social media in this bizarre, twisted matrix of information that we have created.

But like most things you read online — they are not facts. Just like the BBC’s reporting these days.

Experience trumps all.

It might surprise some to learn that I have not had that much experience listening to Bowers & Wilkins loudspeakers over the course of my audiophile journey and most of those listening sessions occurred when I was very young and not even sure what I was supposed to be listening for.

Over the course of many years, it became my “opinion” that Bowers & Wilkins made good, but not exceptional high-end loudspeakers. There were plenty of other options available from Spendor and Meadowlark Audio that occupied my listening room instead, and there was always something new from MartinLogan to keep me satisfied for a few years.

So it was with great interest that I took delivery of the Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3 and genuinely prayed for the best considering how much I thought I might dislike them.

Definitely call a friend to help with the installation of the base units and moving them around your room. Heavy in the best way possible.

Unlike the best pizza and bagels, the Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3 saved me a lot of gasoline and toll charges and that’s barely scratching the surface of their brilliance.

Hang on folks. It’s going to be a bumpy night and I’m all out of Halavah from Jerusalem.

700 S3 Series

The 703 S3 are part of the new 700 S3 Series from Bowers & Wilkins which includes eight new models in total designated as S3; which includes three floor standers, three stand-mount speakers and two center channel speakers. All of the models replace and improve upon both the previous generation 700 S2 (2019) and 700 S2 Signature (2020) lines. 

• 702 S3 – $7,000/pr – Floorstanding loudspeaker with Tweeter-on-Top
• 703 S3 – $6,000/pr – Floorstanding loudspeaker with Tweeter-on-Top
• 704 S3 – $4,000/pr – Floorstanding loudspeaker
• 705 S3 – $3,400/pr – Standmount with Tweeter-on-Top
• 706 S3 – $2,200/pr – Standmount loudspeaker
• 707 S3 – $1,800/pr – Bookshelf/standmount loudspeaker
• HTM71 S3 – $2,500/ea – Center-channel loudspeaker with Tweeter-on-Top
• HTM72 S3 – $1,500/ea – Center-channel loudspeaker

Removing each 703 S3 from its packaging required two people because of the weight of each loudspeaker and its substantial cabinet.

The new 700 series might be slimmer but at 44″H x 11.4″W x 14.6″D (which includes the plinth and tweeter) and 64 pounds apiece, the 703 S3 are an extremely imposing loudspeaker in any room and beautifully constructed.

The new Mocha finish of the review sample is one of the most attractive I have seen on any pair of loudspeakers in many years and certainly the one that I would select if buying these loudspeakers. The grain and seamless quality of the finish is what one should expect for $6,000 and Bowers & Wilkins have really gone the extra mile with these speakers.

Mocha joins the Gloss Black and Satin White finishes previously offered to complete the range of options for most markets.

The 703 S3 are a three-way vented box with a quoted frequency response of 46Hz – 28kHz ±3dB, with a sensitivity rating of 90dB (2.83Vrms @1m) and impedance of 8 ohms.

The impedance, however, drops to 3 ohms and the 30 to 200 watts/channel recommendation proved to be somewhat optimistic even in my 16′ x 13′ x 9′ listening room.

Cambridge Audio’s Edge A Integrated Amplifier ($6,499 at Crutchfield) was the only amplifier in my collection to drive the 703 S3 properly and it proved to be an excellent match from a tonal balance perspective. Based on how the Edge A performed, the Rotel Michi X5 or X3 would also be good potential matches.

Technology

The driver complement includes Bowers & Wilkins’ 1-inch decoupled Carbon Dome tweeter, 1 x 6-inch Continuum cone FST midrange driver, and 2 x 6.5-inch Aerofoil Profile bass drivers.

The tweeter-on-top form itself has been comprehensively re-engineered in the new range. Machined from a single, solid block of aluminum, the new 700 Series 3 tweeter-on-top enclosure has been significantly lengthened with the goal of reducing distortion.

This longer form is further enhanced by the introduction of improved two-point decoupling that better isolates the assembly from the loudspeaker cabinet.

The decoupling also means that the tweeter module shifts slightly which might frighten users into believing that they broke something taking the loudspeakers out of their packaging.

One drawback to this implementation of the tweeter-on-top configuration is that you have to place the loudspeakers on something elevated and soft so that you can install the base and install the feet without scratching the gorgeous cabinetry.

It would make more sense for Bowers & Wilkins to pre-install the base before its get packaged for shipping but that is not part of the deal.

Aside from the mechanical improvements, the tweeter-on-top diaphragm retains the Bowers & Wilkins Carbon Dome tweeter, with vented voice coils with new, upgraded magnets.

Even models that feature tweeters mounted in the baffle – 707 S3, 706 S3, 704 S3 and HTM72 S3 – benefit from all these changes, alongside a significantly elongated tube-loading system that, as with the tweeter-on-top, works to reduce distortion and ensure a cleaner sound.

In a first for the 700 Series, the new range introduces slimmer cabinets featuring a curved front baffle and drive units mounted in external ‘pods’ that form a direct visual and technical link to the 800 Series Diamond range.

The purpose of the slimmer cabinet is to minimize the impact of the loudspeaker baffle on sound quality by minimizing the level of diffraction in regard to the drivers and the cabinet.

The Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3 utilizes a new biomimetic suspension, which was first revealed last year in the new 800 Series Diamond range.

Replacing the conventional fabric spider found in the suspension of almost all loudspeakers built over recent decades, the biomimetic suspension was designed to dramatically reduce unwanted noise from the output of the spider as the midrange cone operates.

The upgraded speaker terminals feature more substantial contact connections and are better laid out for use with spade-terminated speaker cable; something that I confirmed with rather thick sets of loudspeaker cables from Clarus, Analysis Plus, and Kimber.

The Clarus cables proved to be the most neutral option connecting the loudspeakers to my Cambridge Audio Edge A Integrated Amplifier.

The biding posts connect to upgraded crossovers that continue to use Mundorf capacitors as before, but are now enhanced with multiple bypass capacitors and improved heat sinking for even cleaner performance.

On paper, the 703 S3 are very impressive but specifications and a fancy finish don’t amount to anything more than an average bar pie if the performance for $6,000 isn’t well above other speakers in the same price range.

Sound

Because of their size, I was slightly hesitant to pull the 703 S3 too far into my room because it would become too much of a target for Tyrion the West Highland Terrier.

The Q Acoustics 5040 that we just reviewed performed well on the concrete slabs purchased from Home Depot and I discovered that the 703 S3 did not require more than 30″ from the front wall to sound quite balanced in the room.

The concrete slabs did raise the speakers by almost 1.5 inches but my height (6’3″) and listening position make it easier to adjust to tweeters that are further from the floor.

Because of the positioning of the slabs, I settled on the 703 S3 being placed more than 84 inches apart and more than 48″ from the side walls with the loudspeakers pointed straight ahead.

Looking at the supplied specifications, it was somewhat reasonable to expect that the 703 S3 might overload my room with too much bass output, but that proved never to be the case.

When using my Magnepan LRS, the low end is augmented with a single REL T/5x Subwoofer and that combination has worked well over the past few years; bass notes are well defined, quick, and whilst they don’t overpower the room with extremely visceral low end impact, bass notes still supply a foundation to the rest of the music.

Listening to Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, and Tool, I discovered that the 703 S3 didn’t overpower the room at all; bass information was strong and well defined and did not bleed up into the upper bass or lower midrange.

Male vocals were particularly well rendered; Sam Cooke, Nick Cave, Robert Smith, Jonatan Alvarado, and Robbie Robertson were pushed forward of the loudspeakers but with layers of texture and very accurate timbre.

Alvarado will not be familiar to most, but his Voces de Bronce release (TIDAL, 16-bit/44.1kHz) from 2023 is a hauntingly beautiful recording that filled my listening space from one side of the room to the other.

The mic placement (although it could be the Dolby Atmos-encoding) does seem to push him back into the soundstage but that didn’t rob the music of its richness and power.

Nick Cave was pushed dead center and locked firmly in place with layers of growl and intensity. Piano notes had power, detail, and discernible decay that held just long enough in the air to sound authentic.

The 703 S3 proved to be rather capable with electronic music, classic rock, and techno — primarily because the bass range is so well balanced and articulate.

Did Bowers & Wilkins play it safe here or smart?

If I had a much larger listening space, the addition of a subwoofer might be logical but in the context of my 16′ x 13′ x 9′ room — it never overwhelmed the rest of the music and that surprised me from such a large loudspeaker.

Bass notes retained their definition and detail even when I raised the volume well above conversation levels and most listeners will be more than satisfied.

The bar pie abides.

Higher and Higher

Female vocals are a definite strength of the 703 S3; rich, detailed, and never etched even with some less than stellar recordings.

The treble range, however, is not perfect and there is no question that there is a small dip that takes some of the bite out of the overall presentation, but it is not one that persists for most of the top end.

On the plus side, there are no obvious peaks that create a hardness when listening to cymbals or hi-hat but the treble range is not entirely neutral in its overall presentation.

A few of my recent Blue Note Tone Poet acquisitions including some great releases from Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, and Andrew Hill presented the 703 S3 with a bit of a challenge and exposed some warts on the top end.

My Thorens TD-160 Super was recently upgraded with a Goldring Eroica HX that offers a more energetic and transparent presentation from top to bottom.

The Eroica HX does offer a very transparent sounding presentation that is rich with detail, but it’s also not the most colorful reproduction of what is in the grooves — your final result with definitely be influenced by the phono stage and the system on the other end.

Dexter Gordon’s One Flight Up (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) and Andrew Hill’s Passing Ships (Blue Note Tone Poet Series) offered me the opportunity to see how the 703 S3 handled horns and piano.

Horns came across with ample energy, presence, and just enough detail to not overwhelm; although there were a few instances when I felt the 703 S3 was being too polite and I inserted a different phono pre-amplifier into the chain to see if the culprit was the loudspeaker or the cartridge/phono pre-amp.

Is it fair to call the 703 S3 too polite in the treble range?

Those who prefer a very energetic top end that is ripe with endless detail might find the 703 S3 somewhat restrained in that regard, but I would suggest that the loudspeaker is a more preferable long-term listen because of it.

Piano notes had excellent weight and timbre; Herbie Hancock, Bud Powell, and Mingus kept me up well past my bedtime (11 pm…I’m getting old) and what impressed me the most about the 703 S3’s was how well they handled the changing tempos and scale of the instrument.

Very few loudspeakers reproduce the scale and timbre of the piano in a manner that feels utterly convincing and getting it right is harder than one might think; the 703 S3 achieve this like few loudspeakers I have heard in its price range.

Pacing is excellent through the 703 S3 and whilst they might not deliver the speed and snap of the Magnepan LRS or a pair of electrostatic loudspeakers, they don’t struggle keeping up with demanding material.

Exit Stage Left?

During my recent review of the Q Acoustics 5040 Loudspeakers, I was struck by how just how spacious these narrow floor standing loudspeakers could sound with a lot of recordings. Because I generally prefer a near field listening experience, soundstage width is rarely one of my top criteria for any pair of loudspeakers.

The 703 S3 thrust music in front and to the sides of each loudspeaker and I am increasingly convinced that if my room allowed for it — these elegant towers could envelop one in their spaciousness.

Imaging was rather precise with performers and instruments locked rather firmly in their respective spots within the soundstage and the overall stereo separation was excellent.

Final Thoughts

$6,000 loudspeakers are a massive stretch financially for the vast majority of listeners and there is no question that one would need a rather substantial investment in amplification and source components to justify a pair of loudspeakers like the Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3.

These are loudspeakers that love power and low end control from whichever amplifier is on the other end; products like the Cambridge Audio Edge A were designed for loudspeakers like these and it should surprise not a soul that they worked extremely well together.

From a tonal perspective, one will be fine with neutral to warmer sounding amplifiers with the 703 S3 but I would certainly not go for anything that is on the cooler side; especially if your sources also lean that way as well.

The 703 S3 completely changed my perception of Bowers & Wilkins’ products and these must be considered a mandatory listen if your budget ranges from $6,000 to $10,000 USD.

Should I ever have a larger listening space that would allow these extraordinary loudspeakers to completely let their hair down — these might be what I ultimately enjoy whilst eating my bar pie and giving Tyrion the evil eye as he edges ever closer.

Where to buy: $5,999/pair at Crutchfield (black, white or mocha)