The Iconic Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Speaker is Back at $100k/pair!

30th Anniversary Edition Nautilus Speaker

Bowers& Wilkins is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the launch of its iconic Nautilusloudspeaker, which officially debuted back in 1993. To commemorate thismilestone, the company has created a stunning new Abalone Pearl finish for thespeaker. Not only is the pearl traditionally associated with 30thanniversaries, it’s also the color of the internal shell of the ocean-dwelling cephalopod that inspired the name of thisdistinctive, spiral-shaped speaker. Bowers & Wilkins describes the Nautilus,which is still being produced and sold 30 years after its introduction, as a“unique combination of unbridled ambition and revolutionary design.” And youreally have to give credit where it’s due — how many designs still look freshafter three decades? How many speakers continue to sell 30+ years after theirintroduction?

Thevisually striking Nautilus loudspeaker is the result of a research anddevelopment project started by company founder John Bowers shortly before hepassed away in 1987. Lead engineer Laurence Dickie (now of Vivid Audio), who hadinvented the famous “Matrix”enclosure to reduce cabinet-born sound colorations earlier in the ‘80s, led theeffort to deliver on Bowers’s vision. The team was given no time constraints, and “few limitations related topracticality or cost,” according to the company. The brief was simple: build aloudspeaker that doesn’t sound like a loudspeaker. Dickie and his team wouldspend five years studying the negative effects that loudspeaker enclosures canhave on sound, and exploring possible ways to eliminate these effects viadesign innovation. Like a cross between a radical concept car and aruthlessly-engineered Formula 1 race car, the Nautilus was born out of theseefforts.

Firstappearing in prototype form in 1991, the Nautilus design wasn’t just groundbreakingfor its wild aesthetics. It also introduced important new loudspeakerengineering principals, including the concept of the exponentially taperedtube. The speaker’s drivers are loaded by reverse-tapered horns, also known as exponentially taperedor exponentially diminishing tubes, to absorb the rear radiation coming off theback of the drivers. One of many breakthroughs that would influence futureBowers & Wilkins designs for decades, the Nautilus tube earned a Queen’s Award forInnovation, a prestigious award recognizing UK businesses that demonstratestrong, commercially successful and innovative products or services. TheNautilus cabinet design is equally significant. The speaker’s seamless body ismolded into its unmistakable shape from glass-fiber-reinforced ABS plastic,10mm thick. The result is an enclosure with near-zero cabinet coloration and aspeaker with a near perfect response, according to Bowers & Wilkins. Likethe classic 801 before it, the Nautilus represented a major achievement for thecompany, and a key moment in its trajectory.

Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus in Midnight Blue Metallic @ Audio Advice Live 2023

Atits core, the Nautilus is a 4-way tube-loaded loudspeaker system with a 12-inchaluminum conewoofer, a 4-inch aluminum/polymer sandwich cone lower-midrange driver, a 2-inchaluminum dome upper-midrange driver, and a 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter. Thanksto its unique active crossover, the Nautilus requires four channels ofamplification per speaker, each with identical gain and phase. Bowers &Wilkins tells us that “crucial drive unit components are made using a mix ofhand-assembly techniques and semi-automatic production. For example, voicecoils are wet-wound with high-temperature resin, then baked in a special ovento ensure enhanced performance and durability.” The Nautilus has remained inproduction continuously as a flagship product for the brand, using the samepainstaking hand-made process, even while the company’s more recent designstake advantage of newer industry standards of automated precision, somepioneered by Bowers & Wilkins. The Nautilus enclosure alone takes a week tobuild, then multiple more weeks to finish via an elaborate sanding, painting,and polishing process. The pearlescent finish is achieved from the carefulapplication of 12 lacquer coats containing aluminum and mica particles,combined with a unique baking and curing system. Because of thelabor-intensive techniques involved, there is a two-year waiting list for theNautilus, despite its lofty price of $100,000 per pair. Standard colors includeMidnight Blue Metallic, Silver, and Black. Bowers & Wilkins also offers acustom-finish service that will match the product’s color to any reference thecustomer chooses, at an extra cost. Presumably, that includes the new AbalonePearl finish developed for the speaker’s 30th anniversary.

WhileBowers & Wilkins is committed to advancing the future of high-performanceaudio across all of our product portfolio, Nautilus remains of the highestimportance to all of us. It readily communicates everything that is exceptionalabout Bowers & Wilkins and our no-holds-barred approach to creating theworld’s best-sounding, most beautifully designed audio products.

—Dave Sheen, Brand President of Bowers & Wilkins

Moreinformation: Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.

Jacob is a music-lover and audiophile who enjoys convincing his friends to buy audio gear that they can't afford. He's also a freelance writer and editor based in Los Angeles.

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