Bowers & Wilkins has a habit of quietly refining its bestsellers, and the newest example is also its smallest: the Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 Prestige Edition, a dressed-up version of the compact 707 S3 bookshelf speaker from the 700 S3 series. We spent time with a pair in a McIntosh-driven system to find out whether the finish is the only thing that changed.https://youtu.be/Sy05K31XVww?si=GHMwVHJ_GcZHd4Of
Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 Prestige Edition: same speaker, richer finish
The basic design of the 707 S3 Prestige Edition is unchanged from the standard 707 S3: small dimensions, two drivers with B&W’s distinctive metal rings, a curved front baffle to minimize unwanted diffraction, and a rear-firing Flowport bass reflex port designed to reduce turbulence.
What’s new is the finish, a redish-pinkish rosewood decor under a deep lacquer that shows off the wood grain. Two smaller technical changes carry over from the flagship 705 S3 Signature: a modified tweeter grille structure and geometry intended to improve high-frequency dispersion, and noticeably nicer, more robust speaker terminals on the rear panel, with the four polished terminal posts on the distinctive plaque borrowed from the same 705 S3 Signature.
Unchanged drivers, unchanged numbers
Underneath the new finish, the underlying technology is said to remain untouched. Midrange and bass are still handled by a 13cm Continuum cone driver with its distinctive suspension, while the treble comes from a 2.5cm carbon dome tweeter isolated from the cabinet to limit vibration transfer. The formal specifications follow suit: a frequency range of 50Hz-28kHz (+/-3dB), a nominal impedance of 8 ohms (dropping to half that value), and a sensitivity of 84dB / 2.83V/m.
Dimensions are also identical to the standard model at 16.5cm wide, 24.7cm deep (28.4cm including the terminals), and 30cm tall, though weight has crept up by a few hundred grams to 6.2kg, likely due to the new terminals. The roughly €200 price increase over the standard 707 S3, in other words, buys almost exclusively a more attractive finish and a subtly reworked tweeter.
Listening test: a small speaker with real confidence
We listened to the Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 Prestige Edition at the local importer’s showroom on a McIntosh system built around the C55 preamplifier, DS200 streamer, and MC1.25KW monoblock power amplifiers, connected with InAkustik AIR-technology cabling and LS-204 XL Micro Air speaker cables. The standard 707 S3 and several models from B&W’s 800 D4 series served as comparison points. The speakers were set up 296cm apart, 120cm from the side walls, 210cm from the rear wall, and 312cm from the listening position, a placement that keeps the rear wall from over-emphasizing the bass and instead opens up a noticeably wider sense of space.
On Holly Cole’s “Train Song,” the bass came through slightly emphasized, in line with how female vocal jazz is typically mixed. What stood out was how lively the 707 S3 Prestige Edition sounded for its size and price: the low octaves felt exceptionally solid thanks to the oversized amplification driving them, and the drivers handled the notes with surprising ease.
Volume was decent for a small standmount, if understandably limited, and B&W’s promised 50Hz extension felt believable. More than raw bass extension, though, it was clarity and an easy, unforced quality that set the Prestige Edition apart from the standard version, to the point that it’s hard to believe nothing was changed on the crossover.
Vocals on Damien Rice’s “9 Crimes” carried an effortless “mini-monitor” character typical of compact designs like this one: a touch lighter and easier on the ear, with good intelligibility and a slightly brightened vocal range. These aren’t studio monitors in the strict sense, and they retain a certain forgiving, tolerant quality rather than laying everything bare, but for the price that’s a genuine strength. They simply play without aggression and without imposing much character of their own, even if that means they fall a little short of maximum richness.
Treble and dynamics: fresher, more mature, still composed under pressure
The sparkling top end of the Tingvall Trio’s “Beat” came through well, perhaps slightly exaggerated in energy but never overpowering. Against the standard 707 S3, the sound was fresher and less sharp, with very good resolution: plenty of ringing and shimmer, articulate at every point, and in a direct comparison the Prestige Edition’s treble sounded noticeably more mature than its sibling’s.
Meute’s brass-and-percussion single “You & Me” is a stress test for any small speaker, and the 707 S3 Prestige Edition responded with discipline rather than outright abandon. Even pushed harder, there was no blurring and no sense of clipping, though there is naturally a ceiling to how much pressure a cabinet this size can generate. In a fairly large room, the pair still commanded the space with dignity and, thanks to tight control, genuinely managed to “swing.”
Rebecca Odell’s “Half as Good as You” sounded wonderfully clear, again in that mini-monitor spirit: not the most microscopic resolution around, but everything on offer was reproduced distinctly and with real perspective, making these small speakers pleasant, low-fatigue companions. A slightly forward high end lent a subjective sense of clarity, favoring articulation over body and richness without ever sounding dry or joyless.
Soundstage: where the Prestige Edition truly separates itself
The clearest upgrade over the standard 707 S3 showed up in spatial rendering. On Yosi Horikawa’s “Bubbles,” the 707 S3 Prestige Edition conjured a luxuriously large soundstage positioned well behind the cabinets, with scale and organization that produced a genuine “wow” moment: the stage nearly touched the side walls of the room without the speakers themselves seeming to constrain it. That is the classic magic of a good mini-monitor, but here it felt exceptional, and if it comes down to nothing more than the reworked tweeter dispersion grille, that alone is reason enough to choose the Prestige Edition over the standard model.
Faye Webster’s “Thinking About You” reinforced the impression: clear yet unobtrusive, more pleasant and somehow more refined than on the standard 707 S3. It isn’t a night-and-day difference, but it’s easily audible. The speakers deliver the signal right on target, staying clear and enjoyable even pushed louder.
Measurements
Frequency response was measured at a distance of 1m on the axis between tweeter and midrange driver, in a closed, semi-reverberant room of roughly 35 square meters treated with Vicoustic acoustic panels. Measurements above 200Hz can be considered fully accurate; between 10-200Hz, room acoustics play a visible role. Testing used Clio Pocket software with a calibrated microphone, with the speakers positioned as shown in the accompanying photographs and measured on the reference axis at an average 80dB / 1m. Because the software captures frequency response with residual energy over time rather than a true anechoic response, the results reflect how the speakers behaved in this specific room rather than a theoretical ideal.
Against the standard 707 S3, the overall measured character is similar, but the 707 S3 Prestige Edition shows noticeably less overall variation. A dip around 2kHz remains, along with a clear emphasis on tweeter output, yet the overall balance reads as more compact and even. In free space the bass starts to roll off somewhere above 60Hz, so positioned closer to a wall the speakers should reach the promised 50Hz. The impedance curve is essentially unchanged from the standard model, staying above 5 ohms with a resonance frequency around 50Hz and no artifacts that would trouble an amplifier, particularly if paired with oversized electronics as recommended. Behavior throughout stays within normal limits without surprises.
Room fit and pricing
B&W’s own guidance, backed up by what we heard, points the 707 S3 Prestige Edition at smaller rooms of up to roughly 20 square meters; in medium or large rooms, its compact bass output becomes the limiting factor. That tracks with a pair of standmounts this size, and it’s the context in which the Prestige Edition’s easy, spacious sound works best.
The Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 Prestige Edition is priced at roughly $2,000 / £1,550 / €1,750 per pair, a premium of around €200 over the standard 707 S3, and is available now through Bowers & Wilkins and authorised retailers. We covered the launch of the 707 S3 Prestige Edition when B&W first announced it.
Key specifications
- Type: 2-way bookshelf speaker, Continuum cone bass/midrange, carbon dome tweeter
- Frequency range: 50Hz-28kHz (+/-3dB)
- Impedance: 8 ohms (nominal, minimum 4 ohms)
- Sensitivity: 84dB / 2.83V/m
- Dimensions: 16.5 x 30 x 24.7cm (W x H x D), 28.4cm deep including terminals
- Weight: 6.2kg
- Finish: Rosewood décor lacquer (Prestige Edition exclusive)
- Price: approx. $2,000 / £1,550 / €1,750 per pair
Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 Prestige Edition
$2,000 / £1,550 / €1,750 per pairSmall speakers have a way of drawing you in when they're built as a genuine hi-fi proposition rather than a budget compromise, and the Bowers & Wilkins 707 S3 Prestige Edition is a good example of that. Set alongside the standard 707 S3, the price premium isn't dramatic in absolute terms, and for it you get a noticeably nicer rosewood lacquer finish and far more substantial speaker terminals. That's not the whole story, though: even though B&W describes the changes as largely cosmetic, the sound comes across as a touch more refined, with a soundstage that scales up in a way the standard model doesn't quite match. Track after track, the Prestige Edition stayed easy to listen to, clear without turning clinical, and confident without ever pretending to be something it isn't: a compact standmount with inherent limits to its bass depth and outright scale. In a small to medium room, paired with amplification that can properly drive it, that trade-off barely registers, and what's left is a genuinely engaging, spacious-sounding mini-monitor with a finish worthy of the "Prestige" name. Anyone shopping the standard 707 S3 who can stretch to the Prestige Edition, or who simply wants the nicer finish and terminals, should feel confident making the jump. This is a small speaker with real presence: an easy recommendation for listeners who want a compact solution but refuse to compromise on soundstage and finish quality.
Pros
- Beautiful, richer rosewood finish
- Slightly lighter, more open sound than the standard 707 S3
- A respectable small speaker that surprises with its confidence and soundstage
Cons
- Bass depth is still limited by the compact dimensions
