Bowers & Wilkins CT8 LR Custom Theatre Speaker
Stationed to the left and right of the screen are two upright speakers. The Bowers & Wilkins CT8 LR features a spherical midrange/tweeter head that can be tilted towards the listener to retain a focused delivery, plus twin 10” bass units, as in the surround speaker.
Tweeter
For the Custom Theatre range Bowers & Wilkins have taken our development of the Nautilus™-derived tube- loaded tweeter a stage further. Following the same principle as their adaptation of the midrange tube, they’ve replaced the single, long tube with a whirl of tightly-packed, smaller channels contained in a shallow cup, each of which absorbs a portion of the unwanted sound energy from the back of the diaphragm. Even at frequencies well beyond human hearing, this tweeter sings like a bird.
About Bowers & Wilkins
1960s: Humble beginnings
The sleepy coastal town of Worthing in South England might not look like a hotbed of 1960s freewheeling experimentation, but for audio fans it’s a place that’s synonymous with innovation. Thanks to the first Bowers & Wilkins speakers built here in the early years of the company, music lovers could experience albums such as Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds in new, mind-expanding depth and clarity.
1970s: A decade of milestones
The decade that saw a series of musical upheavals from disco to punk rock also brought several major milestones for Bowers & Wilkins. The company introduced curved cabinet forms and new cone materials such as Aramid fibre. And it all culminated in the launch of the 801, soon to become the reference speaker of choice for many of the world’s leading recording studios.
1980s: The application of science
Extensive investment in research led to the establishment of the company’s dedicated R&D facility in Steyning. The era of MTV pop superstardom and bombastic stadium rock also saw Bowers & Wilkins buck the trend and introduce something small and unobtrusive: the “compact monitor”, or CM1.
1990s: Rewriting the rulebook
The 1990s saw the pioneering work of the Steyning research team realised in spectacular fashion with the launch of Nautilus™, a speaker that upended preconceived notions of speaker design. It also saw major product launches at both ends of the spectrum, with the unveiling of the highly regarded entry-level 600 Series and the flagship Nautilus 800 Series.
2000s: Hi-fi goes digital
The decade that brought us iPods and smartphones saw us embrace the new world of digital with the launch of the Zeppelin. We also expanded into the car audio market with our partnership with Jaguar, and launched a revolutionary new speaker technology in the form of diamond tweeter domes.
The 2010s: Innovation overdrive
Monumental technological change seemed to be everywhere in the 2010s, and Bowers & Wilkins was no exception.