Bowers & Wilkins
Worthing, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom · founded 1966
Founded in 1966 after former opera singer Miss Knight left co-founder John Bowers £10,000 in her will to pursue loudspeaker design. B&W's 800 Series Diamond studio monitors are the reference speakers at Abbey Road Studios. NOTE: the ownership premise in the task brief is now outdated — B&W is NO LONGER owned by Sound United/Masimo. Masimo sold its consumer-audio arm (Sound United, incl. B&W, Denon, Marantz, Polk) to HARMAN International for $350M; the deal CLOSED on 23 September 2025. HARMAN is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, so B&W's ultimate parent is now Samsung. Sound United now operates as a standalone SBU within HARMAN's Lifestyle Division. Full ownership chain: independent (1966) → EVA Automation (2016) → Sound United (2020) → Masimo (2022) → HARMAN/Samsung (Sept 2025).
Bowers & Wilkins (commonly “B&W”) is a British premium audio manufacturer founded in 1966 in Worthing, West Sussex. Long revered for high-end and reference loudspeakers (the 800 Series Diamond, used at Abbey Road Studios), it now also makes premium wireless headphones and true-wireless in-ears. Its personal-audio range is anchored by the Px7 S3 and flagship Px8 over-ear ANC headphones and the Pi6/Pi8 true-wireless IEMs, positioned at the upper end of the mainstream premium market on the strength of B&W’s acoustic engineering heritage.
Featured in
At a glance
- Type
- Manufacturer
- Founder
- John Bowers and Roy Wilkins
- Founded
- 1966
- Headquarters
- Worthing, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom
- Price range
- Premium
- Makes / sells
- over-ear-headphones, in-ear-monitors, true-wireless-earbuds, loudspeakers, wireless-speakers
- Known for
- premium wireless ANC headphones, true-wireless IEMs, high-end loudspeaker heritage, acoustic engineering / driver design, aptX Lossless
- Website
- www.bowerswilkins.com
Notable products
- Px8 — Flagship over-ear wireless ANC headphone with 40mm carbon-cone drivers; launched 2022, ~$699 MSRP.
- Px7 S3 — Third-gen mid-tier premium over-ear wireless ANC headphone; ~$479 MSRP, refreshed with new finishes in 2025.
- Pi8 — Reference true-wireless IEM with 12mm carbon-cone driver, aptX Lossless and case retransmission; launched Aug 2024, ~$499.
- Pi6 — Premium true-wireless IEM with 12mm bio-cellulose driver; launched Aug 2024, ~$249, replacing the Pi7 S2.
Sources: Bowers & Wilkins — Wikipedia · Bowers & Wilkins: How it began (official blog) · HARMAN Completes Sound United Acquisition (HARMAN press release) · Harman now owns Bowers & Wilkins, Marantz and Denon as Masimo deal completes — What Hi-Fi? · Samsung's HARMAN Acquires Sound United from Masimo for $350M — ecoustics · Bowers & Wilkins launches Pi6, Pi8 true wireless IEMs — Darko.Audio