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Dr. Gary Geaves, Head of Research
One of the important acoustic changes in
this new 600 Series is in crossover design.
Why is this area of acoustic design so
crucial?
Sufficient coverage of the full audible spectrum
requires at least two drive units, covering the low,
mid and high frequency bands. It is necessary to
filter out the high and low frequencies respectively,
in order that the two drivers combine in the correct
manner. This filter is known as the crossover, and
it is just as critical to the overall sound as any other
element in the system. Experience has shown that
the simpler we can make the crossover filter, the
better the sound. And the better the drivers, the
simpler the crossover required. In this new 600
Series we have really done a lot of work in this area
which has resulted in just one capacitor for the high
frequency part of the crossover - as uncomplicated
a format as it gets.
B&W also talks about the selection of these
crossover components as being in itself
crucial.
Yes. With a loudspeaker design where the drive
units are very high resolution, it is often the case
that filter components which appear to have
identical stated specifications can sound drastically
different. We’re researching this to find out why
but we can definitely hear huge differences that we
currently don’t really know how to measure. The
ear is a remarkably sensitive device!
How do you choose these components
then?
The final selection of components and therefore
the overall ‘tuning’ of the loudspeaker must, of
necessity, be done by subjective analysis i.e.
listening to music. And not just in one room with
one type of equipment - in as many rooms as
possible with all manner of different partnering
equipment. This aspect of acoustics is actually
as much of a skill as the more obviously scientific
areas like material science and it’s why B&W has
always dedicated a large portion of a loudspeaker’s
development time to listening. It’s also the area
of development where we’ll involve our friends at,
say, Abbey Road Studios to get as broad a set of
opinion as we can.
Mike Gough, Senior Product Manager
When you are faced with creating a new
600 Series, how does your approach differ
from that for a reference level range?
In one respect, surprisingly little. After all, our
customers’ passion for music is governed by their
hearts not wallets. And from an execution point
of view we’re tied by the same laws of physics at
every level. Of course, the challenges are different
but we expend just as much energy solving them.
Can you explain how the challenges differ?
Normally, new technologies are developed for
high-end products. There the challenge is all about
pushing absolute boundaries and there’s usually a
good deal of heartache in the perfecting process.
It may be learning about new materials or getting
to grips with a new manufacturing process. It’s
very time consuming and can be very expensive
to perfect. Once that part of the process is over,
however, you don’t have to go through it again
when you want to apply it to another product.
The challenge with value products is how to apply
what may be an expensive feature more cost
effectively. Interestingly, they’re not all expensive to
manufacture. Take Flowport
™
, for example. It costs
no more to mould a dimpled port than it does a
plain one, so that feature made its way into most of
our products across the board very quickly.
Give me an example of how you cost
engineered an expensive technology.
I’ll give you two that are related. For many years,
because of the cost of manufacture, Kevlar® cones
were restricted to 800 Series products and the first
two 600 Series did not feature them except for the
midrange driver of the largest floorstander. We then
considerably slicked up our production methods
and not only made the cones more affordable but
more consistent in performance. This time round,
we have used our FST
™
midrange driver for the first
time in 600 Series. This is a really great driver - lots
of detail and resolution - and has helped make
the reputation of 800 Series products. This time
though, we already had the optimum production
methods in place, so nothing to gain there. What
we did was use a much simpler mounting method
than the single point tension method of the 800
Series. You can do that sort of stuff at the high
end but that you can get a big chunk of the benefit
at 600 Series level is a pretty good deal for the
customer.
A lot of what makes a great speaker is
down to the final voicing. Do the 600 Series
engineers go about this in a different way
from the 800 Series engineers?
If I say at the outset that it’s the same team across
the board, you’ll realise that the answer is no. One
of the advantages of this is that you get the same
dedication to performance targets. Once you have
worked on high end products, you can’t lower your
standards. I’ve stopped counting the number of
times I have sat in on listening sessions and been
amazed at the level of performance those guys can
wring out of speakers.
Behind the scenes. The creation of the 600 Series has
engaged just about everyone at Bowers & Wilkins in some
way. Here’s a look at some of the detail and thinking from
two of the people involved.