Bowers & Wilkins 704 2 1/2 Way Vented-Box System

Floor-standing speakers, with their extra bass power, are generally more suited to larger rooms, although this does not preclude their use in smaller ones. The 704 is the smaller of the two floor-standers in the Series and is a 2-way system. Bass frequencies are produced by both cone drivers operating in parallel. To maintain a better vertical dispersion of sound, the lower driver is progressively attenuated above 150Hz to leave the upper Kevlar® cone driver operating alone through the midrange.

Mounting the tweeter in its own housing on top of the cabinet maintains a more even dispersion for better stability of the three-dimensional sound image, even when sitting away from the centre line between the speakers. The ability to time align the tweeter with the bass/midrange driver improves system integration.

Like the larger 703 and smaller 705, the 704 is designed to give the best impression of depth in the sound stage when positioned clear of surrounding walls and is balanced to suit. However, for those users who may have to position the speakers closer to the walls, the unnatural increase in bass level that follows can be offset by plugging the ports with foam plugs supplied with the speakers.