Bowers & Wilkins has announced the arrival of CI 800. The flagship custom installation series delivers audiophile quality to people who demand high-resolution audio, but don’t want to see any loudspeakers.

CI 800 is the result of an extensive project by Bowers & Wilkins engineers at the renowned Steyning research facility in West Sussex, UK. Their considerable challenge was to deliver the exemplary quality levels associated with the reference quality 800 Series Diamond – the speaker of choice of major recording facilities such as London’s Abbey Road Studios – in loudspeakers designed to fit into walls and ceilings.

The CI 800 range comprises three speakers, with one in-ceiling and two in-wall models. All speakers in the range feature core Bowers & Wilkins technologies, many of which appear in an installation loudspeaker for the first time.

Foremost among these technologies is the introduction of the Bowers & Wilkins carbon braced tweeter. Previously only found on the high-performance PM1 loudspeaker, the carbon braced tweeter uses a ring of ultrathin wound carbon fibre to brace the tweeter dome, and as a result raise the breakup of the aluminium dome to around 40KHz, which has a dramatic effect on the audible frequencies below 20kHz.

In addition, the tweeters in all CI 800 models are Nautilus Tube Loaded designs, and are fully de-coupled from the rest of the speaker assembly, as in the 800 Series Diamond. This ensures that any vibrations from the LF units do not create unwanted colouration to the tweeter performance.

The midrange drivers are made from Kevlar, dyed a discreet blue rather than Bowers & Wilkins traditional yellow, and use the Anti-Resonance Plug from PM1. The result is pristine midrange performance, with natural sound reproduction, just the way the artist intended you to hear it.

The dedicated midrange drivers also feature Bowers & Wilkins FST technology, which maximises the effects of Kevlar, further enhancing midrange performance.

The dedicated bass units use carbon-reinforced Rohacell cones, as found on the 800 Series Diamond, while Bowers & Wilkins Flowport technology dramatically reduces unwanted ‘chuffing’ effects at the low end.

The CWM8.3 is a three-way, in-wall loudspeaker. It features a 25mm carbon braced, aluminium dome tweeter, a 130mm Kevlar FST drive unit and two 180mm carbon fibre reinforced Rohacell low frequency drivers. The central baffle is rotatable, so the CWM8.3 can be used in either vertical or horizontal alignment.

The second in-wall model in the new CI 800 range is the CWM8.5. This two-way loudspeaker features a carbon braced tweeter and a single 180mm bass/mid Kevlar driver, with anti-resonance plug. It also features a single Flowport.

The CI 800 Series features a single in-ceiling model, the CCM8.5. This two-way model features a 180mm bass/mid driver, again in blue Kevlar. The 25mm carbon braced tweeter features an innovative ‘wing’ design which allows for the time alignment required to produce the best possible performance from an in-ceiling speaker. All the drive units are located in a continuously rotatable mini baffle, which allows for the custom installation version of ‘toeing in’ the loudspeaker.