Bowers & Wilkins and Abbey Road Studios have announced the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition loudspeaker, a product the companies state, marks a celebration of their 45-year relationship and follows another collaboration by the duo in late 2024 with Volvo’s upcoming EX90 SUV.
Since opening its doors in 1931, Abbey Road Studios has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of popular music. Its unique spaces have inspired generations of artists, while its engineering team have reinvented the way music is created and heard, from the invention of stereo and Artificial Double Tracking (ADT), to countless technical innovations which have helped define modern music recording.
“Abbey Road’s relationship with Bowers & Wilkins is a decades-long celebration of sound and technology,” says Jeremy Huffelmann, general manager for Abbey Road Studios. ” I’m delighted we have collaborated to create the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition together, honoring our shared history with an outstanding representation of the values, heritage and credibility of both our brands.”
A Look Back at Bowers & Wilkins’ History with Abbey Road Studios
Founded in Worthing, U.K. back in 1966, Bowers & Wilkins points out that from the start, founder John Bowers had a singular belief when it came to loudspeaker design: A high-fidelity loudspeaker should be to the ear what a flawless pane of glass is to the eye—allowing the clear passage of a sensory image, uncorrupted and faithful in every nuance to the original. Bowers & Wilkins notes that it calls this ‘”True Sound.”
It was this philosophy Bowers brought with him to Abbey Road Studios back in the 1980s when he demonstrated the first iteration of the 801, with Bowers describing it as “a new generation of loudspeakers designed for both the professional and the exceptionally critical listener.”
According to Bowers & Wilkins the 801 was designed to be the ultimate loudspeaker for enthusiasts, and it was specifically developed to be accurate enough for use in professional studios, which the engineers at Abbey Road agreed with, adopting it as their monitor of choice, becoming the first recording studio in the world to use the 801 full time.
This marked the start of Bowers & Wilkins’ 45-year relationship with Abbey Road Studios. Since 1980, six successive generations of Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series loudspeakers have been used by the studio engineering team in Abbey Road’s control rooms.
Bowers & Wilkins Will Produce Just 140 Pairs of 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition Speakers
Bowers & Wilkins says the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition loudspeaker is built off the internals of the flagship 801 D4 Signature and reframed in homage to the recording studio.
The 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition incorporates a vintage walnut cabinet inspired by the studios’ interiors and the countless musical instruments that have enriched recordings at Abbey Road over the decades. Complementing this wooden finish is a bespoke red Leather by Connolly trim that references both the aesthetic of the control room in Studio Two and the red leather chairs used by generations of performers throughout Abbey Road.
The design also includes a unique identifying plate on its rear panel, designed to mark its status as one of just 140 pairs of loudspeakers being produced. Buyers will also receive a unique, specially commissioned book that details the history of the two brands and their collaboration, featuring never-previously published photography.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this story to the market. We’re immensely proud of our partnership with our friends at Abbey Road and we think the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition is the perfect way to celebrate that,” adds Giles Pocock, vice-president of brand marketing for Bowers & Wilkins.
Bowers & Wilkins says the 801 Abbey Road Limited Edition is now available to order for $70,000. The product joins the ranks of other limited edition, high-profile audio products made in collaboration with world-renowned names and brands such as McLaren Automotive and former soccer star David Beckham.
