Bowers & Wilkins 704 S3 Floor Standing Speaker - Each

The Slimmest 700 Series Tower, With the 800 Series Playbook Inside

The Bowers & Wilkins 704 S3 is the slimmest floorstanding speaker in the 700 Series. It is a three-way tower with a 1-inch Carbon Dome tweeter, a 5-inch Continuum cone midrange and two 5-inch Aerofoil Profile bass drivers. It is sold each, so a stereo pair is two.

B&W built it for rooms where a full-width tower would take over. The cabinet is 6.5 inches wide and 38 inches tall on its plinth, and it weighs 45 pounds. Sensitivity is 88 dB into a nominal 8 ohms, and B&W recommends 30 to 150 watts of amplifier power.

The S3 generation brought the curved baffle, the driver pods and the decoupled midrange down from the 800 Series Diamond. On the 704 S3 the tweeter sits in the baffle rather than on top of the cabinet. That is what keeps the height and the footprint this modest.

Where the Three-Way Layout Earns Its Keep

A Midrange Driver With One Job

The 5-inch Continuum cone handles only the midrange. It sits in its own pod, decoupled from the cabinet, and uses B&W's FST surround and Biomimetic Suspension in place of a fabric spider. Voices and instruments are handled by a driver that never has to move air for the bass.

The Carbon Dome tweeter is decoupled too. B&W says the dome pushes its first breakup to 47 kHz, well beyond hearing, so the treble stays even across the audible band. Two Aerofoil Profile bass cones, thicker where the stress is, take over below the midrange.

The Numbers, and What They Ask of Your Amplifier

B&W quotes a frequency range of 43 Hz to 33 kHz, and a response of 48 Hz to 28 kHz within 3 dB. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms with a 3.1-ohm minimum. A solid amplifier matters more than a huge one. Keep total speaker cable impedance under 0.1 ohms.

The Flowport ships with a two-piece foam plug for tuning the bass to the room. The plinth is not optional: B&W says it must always be fitted, with the supplied spikes for carpet or rubber feet for a hard floor.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Mark Craven, writing in Hi-Fi News on April 6, 2023: "The 704 S3 introduces numerous upgrades, many informed by the design and engineering of B&W's 800 D4 models, resulting in a speaker that delivers exceptional performance."

Alan Taffel, The Absolute Sound, November 1, 2022: "The 704 S3 is the entry-level floorstander in Bowers & Wilkins’s 700 Series, offering a refined and robust build that delivers acoustically and aesthetically."

Who Is This Floorstanding Speaker Best For?

• You want a tower, but the room is not large — at 6.5 inches wide the 704 S3 stands where many bookshelf speakers on stands would, and it gives you the bass a standmount cannot
• Midrange clarity is what you listen for — a dedicated, decoupled Continuum midrange is the 800 Series idea, here in the slimmest cabinet B&W builds it into
• Your amplifier is good rather than enormous — 88 dB sensitivity and a 30 to 150 watt window mean a quality integrated amplifier is all it needs
• You may bi-wire or bi-amplify later — two linked pairs of terminals on each cabinet let you start with one cable and split the links whenever you are ready
• You want cinema-depth bass from the towers alone — the 704 S3 is rated to 48 Hz within 3 dB, which covers music comfortably. For the lowest octave in a home theater, add one of our subwoofers and let the towers do what they do best

How Does It Connect to Your System?

Fit the plinth and feet first. Then stand the pair 5 to 10 feet apart and at least 20 inches from the back and side walls. Each cabinet has two linked pairs of binding posts for banana plugs, spades or bare wire. For a normal hookup leave the links in and connect one pair to your amplifier, red to red and black to black.

Remove the links to bi-wire or bi-amplify. Either way, screw the caps down fully so nothing rattles. Give the drivers about 15 hours of play before you judge the bass.

Two cables, two speakers, and you are listening.

Pairs Well With

What finishes the system around a pair of 704 S3:

• Integrated amplifiers — 30 to 150 watts into 8 ohms is the window B&W gives
• Stereo amplifiers — a separate power amp if you plan to bi-amplify
• Speaker cables — low inductance, under 0.1 ohms total, in matched lengths
• Speaker isolation feet — an alternative to spikes on a wood or tile floor

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the price for one speaker or a pair?

One. The 704 S3 is sold each, so order two for a stereo pair, or one to match an existing speaker.

What comes in the box?

The speaker, its plinth and fixing hardware, spike feet and rubber feet, a two-piece foam port plug and a grille.

What amplifier do I need?

B&W recommends 30 to 150 watts into 8 ohms. Sensitivity is 88 dB and the impedance dips to 3.1 ohms, so choose an amplifier that stays composed into a 4-ohm load.

Can I bi-wire or bi-amplify?

Yes. Remove the links between the two pairs of terminals and run a separate cable, or a separate amplifier channel, to each pair.

Do I have to use the spikes?

Use the plinth always, but choose your feet. Spikes for carpet, the supplied rubber feet for wood or tile. Adjust them until the cabinet stands without rocking.

How far from the wall should it stand?

Start at 20 inches or more from the back and side walls. Moving closer adds bass, and the foam plug trims it again if the room is boomy.

See It in Action

Infinite Baffle compares the 704 S3 with its standmount sibling and walks through what the tower adds:

Audiolab Stereo & Video unboxes the 704 S3 and shows the cabinet, plinth and finish up close:

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