B&W JOHN BOWERS SILVER SIGNATURE

Second-hand. In excellent conditions. No visible signs of wear. Includes dedicated stands, external crossovers (in good condition, with some cosmetic wear as shown in the photos), and user manual. Original packaging not included.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary in 1991, British manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins created a truly unconventional loudspeaker. The John Bowers Silver Signature, named in tribute to the company’s founder who passed away in 1987, is a compact two-way speaker system with a remarkable personality. At first glance, it may resemble a taller, more refined version of the Matrix 805, but the similarities stop at the aesthetics and the internal Matrix cabinet structure, designed with honeycomb reinforcements to minimize resonance.

Beneath the surface, every element reflects an exclusive design philosophy: all metal components—from driver voice coils to connectors, and from capacitors to crossover inductors—are made of silver, chosen not only for its aesthetic appeal but also for its superior conductivity. The anodized aluminum tweeter is mounted in a silver bullet-shaped housing placed on top of the woofer cabinet, slightly off-center from the vertical axis to reduce diffraction effects. Its shape recalls a vintage horn, with a retro charm reminiscent of Raymond Loewy’s industrial design.

The woofer, with a nominal diameter of 7", is built on a die-cast chassis and features an almost cylindrical woven Kevlar cone, capped by a rigid, bullet-shaped dust cap. The 5"-deep reflex port is front-facing beneath the woofer and is designed for a fourth-order quasi-Butterworth bass response. It is finished with a flared silver ring to reduce air turbulence and is internally lined with foam.

The crossover is housed in a separate enclosure to isolate it from vibrations and magnetic fields. It connects to the amplifier via a fixed 24" silver-conductor cable with a Teflon dielectric, and to the speakers using a supplied 10-foot four-conductor silver cable, also Teflon-insulated. The crossover components are mounted on an MDF base and include a third-order filter for the tweeter and a low-pass configuration using a transformer-core inductor for the woofer. All passive components use high-grade materials with solid silver windings and foils.

Aesthetically, the speaker is just as refined: the bird’s-eye maple finish, yellow Kevlar woofer cone, silver bullet tweeter, and polished reflex port trim all contribute to a stunningly elegant look. Overall, the B&W Silver Signature is an extraordinary loudspeaker, capable of delivering a level of performance rarely matched by similarly sized products. Its transparency, tonal balance, and meticulous engineering make it a true reference model.

Technical Specifications:

• Type: Two-way standmount speaker; reflex loading; Matrix cabinet construction; separate crossover; full silver wiring
• Drivers: 25 mm metal dome tweeter; 170 mm woven Kevlar cone woofer
• Crossover frequency: 4.2 kHz
• Crossover slopes: 2nd-order low-pass (12 dB/octave); 3rd-order high-pass (18 dB/octave)
• Frequency response: 100 Hz – 15 kHz ±1.5 dB (1/3-octave weighted); 35 Hz – 22 kHz (-3 dB in typical room)
• Channel matching: Typically within 0.25 dB
• Sensitivity: 88 dB (2.83 V/1 m)
• Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (minimum 5.6 ohms)
• Recommended amplifier power: 30 – 120 W
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 450 x 254 x 300 mm
• Weight: 10.5 kg each
• Stand dimensions (H x W x D): 600 x 300 x 300 mm
• Stand weight: 10.75 kg each
• Crossover dimensions (H x W x D): 90 x 210 x 250 mm
• Crossover weight: 1.9 kg each