Loudspeakers

It was only a decade ago that greys and whites were all the rage in interior design, which consequently led to a surge in minimalist, monochrome speaker finishes. However, just as avocado bathroom suites are apparently mounting a comeback, so too are loudspeakers in dark wood colourways. And Bowers & Wilkins knows this, choosing to dress its new 707 S3 Prestige standmount model in a luxurious-looking Santos Gloss.

Okay, starting off a loudspeaker review by discussing its colour is unusual, but it is an important part of the story here. B&W’s Prestige models, like its 700 and 800 series Signature Editions [HFN Feb ’24 & Sep ’23], come in exclusive finishes. The Prestige speakers place less focus on engineering changes ‘under the hood’, however. That should probably be obvious from this model’s not disagreeable price of £1550 – a mere £150 uplift over the standard 707 S3. But before you wonder if that extra outlay only gets you the Santos Gloss finish, versus the Satin White, Mocha and Gloss Black of the original, the Prestige Edition offers two other refinements to finesse sound quality.

Grille factor

Both of these are borrowed from the manufacturer’s 705 S3 Signature standmount [HFN Aug ’24], one being the ‘low-loss’, brass-cored speaker terminals, the other being the upgraded, re-profiled mesh grille for the 707 S3 Prestige’s dome tweeter. Otherwise, this speaker is the same as its sibling, from its identical dimensions and drive units down to the rated 84dB sensitivity and 8ohm nominal impedance [see PM's Lab Report].

The 700 S3 series is B&W’s mid-range offering and features two home cinema-specific centre channel speakers and six stereo speakers as standard. The 707 S3 is the most affordable, positioned below the 706 and 705 standmounts and the 704, 703 [HFN Mar ’23] and 702 floorstanders. Yet the introduction of the new Prestige, plus the Signature speakers that arrived in 2024 – there’s also a 702 S3 Signature floorstander [HFN Jun ’24] – results in no fewer than 11 models ranging in price points from £1400 to £7300.

Shelf life

All have a similar styling, although the 707 S3 Prestige is appreciably more compact than the other two standmounts, the cabinets measuring a tidy 300x165x247mm (hwd). This puts them into ideal-for-small-rooms territory, and the provision of two-part foam bungs to insert into the rear-facing reflex port means they might even find use on a bookshelf – B&W supplies small, self-adhesive rubber feet for such a set-up. Best practice, of course, is still to give these small enclosures sufficient breathing room (the owner’s manual recommends 50cm clearance from rear and side walls) and to mount them on stands. The brand’s FS-700 S3 stands (65cm/26in tall and offered in silver or black) are obvious partners but are not inexpensive at £799 a pair.

A classic two-way speaker, the 707 S3 Prestige crosses over its tweeter and bass/mid drivers at a high 3.5kHz. The high-frequency unit, described as a Decoupled Carbon Dome, features a 30µm thickness aluminium dome with a carbon coating and outer carbon ring to improve rigidity and push its break-up mode to a claimed 47kHz [proven on test, see PM's Lab Report]. This being the baby speaker in the series, Prestige Edition notwithstanding, the tweeter is mounted in the cabinet and not in one of B&W’s ‘Tweeter-on-Top’ housings.

Above: The 707 S3 Prestige’s dome tweeter sits behind an upgraded, re-profiled mesh grille

Sat below it, almost filling the width of the cabinet with its trim ring and surround, is the 707 S3 Prestige’s 130mm Continuum coned bass/mid driver. This woven composite material has been a B&W staple since it debuted in the 800 Series Diamond range of 2015 [HFN Dec ’15] and is said to significantly reduce edge wave diffraction – compared to the brand’s previous Kevlar drivers – for a more ‘uncoloured’ sound.

Bass output is augmented via one of B&W’s now-familiar Flowports, where a golf ball-style dimpled surface works to limit turbulent air flow. This is built into the rear of the cabinet (the series’ largest 702 S3 floorstander features a down-firing port), above a ‘Prestige Edition’-engraved terminal plate with twin sets of speaker binding posts plus removable jumper bars.

As for the 707 S3 Prestige’s overall appearance, B&W is surely onto a winner. That 12-layer high-gloss lacquer finish gives the speaker an opulent feel that’s rare at the price while a gentle curve to the front baffle also boosts the style factor.

Rock ready
Used with B&W’s FS-700 stands and paired with a Hegel H150 integrated amplifier [HFN Jan ’26], it was quickly clear that the 707 S3 Prestige has a delightfully up-and-at-’em side to its performance. A potent, punchy bass response and some vivid, well-etched detail further up the audio band give it this lively flavour and make for a speaker that seems to lap up pop, rock and electronica, in particular. The size of the cabinet is a limiting factor on ultimate bass extension, of course, and neither is this well-priced standmount immune from exaggerating or underplaying the occasional tone – it cannot quite match the composed, balanced nature of B&W’s larger 700 and 800 models.

Moreover, its low sensitivity meant I was winding up the Hegel amp higher than in the past, even though the performance doesn’t fall apart or struggle for dynamic impact once into its stride. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine any buyer being disappointed by this small speaker’s loudness capability, when used in a small-to-medium space on the end of a price-commensurate amp.

Pump action

Cueing up the title track from Black Stone Cherry’s new Celebrate EP [Mascot Records; Qobuz 48kHz/24-bit] found this speaker in its comfort zone, dispensing the Kentuckian hard rock outfit’s crunching guitar riffs and thumping drums with relish. This is the sort of music meant to get your blood pumping, and the 707 S3 Prestige ensured it lost none of its rawness while keeping a tight grip on proceedings – a pleasing mix of control and enthusiasm. The trick was repeated with the speedy, punk-ish ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ by The Offspring [Americana, Columbia COL 491656 2], where everything seemed to charge from the speakers at 100mph while still remaining clear and organised.

With the deepest of lows off the menu, the 707 S3 Prestige couldn’t fully convey the majesty of Boris Blank’s ‘Resonance’. This electronica instrumental, from the 2024 album of the same name [IAN Records; 48kHz/24-bit], is built upon a foundation of big, resonant bass swells and thuds that are rather Hans Zimmer-like, and there’s no denying that a bigger speaker would render this element with more force and output. However, B&W’s latest standmount still made Blank’s composition sound suitably grand, as the synthetic bass undulated beneath crystalline percussion details and effects that swept from speaker to speaker.

Above: Pictured on its matching FS-700 S3 stand, the 707 S3 Prestige Edition is distinguished by its Santos Gloss finish – specially created using 12 layers of paint and lacquer

‘American Girls’, from Harry Styles’ Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally [Columbia; 96kHz/24-bit], is more conventional, with a tight, focused bassline in unison with a powerhouse drum track. The 707 S3 Prestige delivered this with plenty of weight and attack, contributing to an all-round energetic performance that dovetailed perfectly with Styles’ particular brand of synth pop.

Bright spark

Also on show was the speaker’s crisp treble, which some listeners might consider ‘bright’. Me? I appreciate this part of the 707 S3 Prestige package, as the explicit portrayal of hi-hats, cymbals and more gives its soundstage an unconstrained feel. Nevertheless, certain keyboard parts in the track were presented with a slightly grainy quality, and this was also noticed with the long, whistling keyboards at the beginning of Dire Straits’ ‘Telegraph Road’ [Love Over Gold, Vertigo 800 088-2] – although the tone of Mark Knopfler’s Telecaster seemed spot on.

The 707 S3 Prestige can therefore elicit the odd raised eyebrow during listening sessions, but this is all part and parcel of a speaker designed to extract a lot from a modest cabinet and a two-way driver configuration, and all for a modest price. Moreover, when this speaker’s good, it’ll induce smiles and tapping feet all around.

For the sequel movie Predator 2 [Varèse Sarabande VSD-5302], returning composer Alan Silvestri mixes up orchestral strings and brass with African and Caribbean percussion during ‘Main Title’. The scale of the 707 S3 Prestige’s performance caught me by surprise as it spread the various drums out to the edges of a wide stage, while bringing good central definition to an eerie instrument that sounds a bit like a bassoon – but almost certainly isn’t. At around 30 seconds in, a surge of timpani and horns arrived with jump-from-your-seat dynamics. This was thrilling stuff.

Above: Large ‘Flowport’ loads the 130mm Continuum bass/mid cone. Below, the nickel-plated bi-wire/bi-amp terminals, and associated links, are also a feature of B&W’s 700 Signature speakers

Just as delicious was hearing the 707 S3 Prestige playing more intimate material where its clear, focused nature comes to the fore. ‘Build Myself A Home’ from the Hans Theessink/Terry Evans/Ry Cooder blues collab album Delta Time [Blue Groove BG 2220] was filled with small details, and all surrounded by ‘air’ – picks on strings, palms tapping on guitar bodies, the throaty enunciation of the vocalists.

And while this little speaker doesn’t have the mellowest, sweetest demeanour, a run-through of Shelby Lynne’s set of Dusty Springfield covers Just A Little Lovin’ [Lost Highway; 96kHz/24-bit] proved it could do justice to ‘audiophile-grade’ recordings. ‘Willie And Lauramae Jones’ flowed from the 707 S3 Prestige with its delicacy, space and richness intact, begging me to hit the ‘repeat’ button.

Hi-Fi News Verdict

Any performance differences between this new 707 S3 Prestige Edition and its standard sibling will likely be minor enough to make the Santos Gloss finish the determining factor when weighing up the two – and it may prove hard to resist. Cabinet colour aside, this is a cracking little loudspeaker from B&W ready to bring its detail-packed, energetic and involving sound to modest rooms and set-ups.

Sound Quality: 86%