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Bowers & Wilkins, or B&W, is a British company that produces audio equipment, most notably loudspeakers. B&W was founded in 1966 by John Bowers at Worthing, West Sussex, England. Currently, B&W, while still based in Worthing, is part of the B&W Group Ltd., which also includes audio equipment manufacturers Rotel and Classé. B&W previously offered a range of electronics, like amplifiers, under the Aura brand, but it was discontinued in 1997. Other sub-brands were 'John Bowers' for the Active One loudspeaker and preamp and 'Rock Solid' for a lifestyle speaker range. The B&W 'Blue Room' brand for 'Pod' speakers disappeared as these are currently produced and sold by Scandyna.〔(Scandyna - The future shape of sound - Speakers, iPod docking stations and amplifiers. - The history )〕 From 1988 to 1996 B&W ran their own record label. ==Technology, Research and Development== Research and development has been a core activity within B&W, stimulated and exercised by its founder John Bowers.〔(John Bowers in Memoriam )〕 From the start of the company, earnings were invested in new product development. In 1982 the company opened a dedicated, purpose-built research centre titled 'SRE' or 'Steyning Research Establishment' in Steyning, about 10 miles from Worthing. The buildings were fit for audio-related work since they were previously used by SME, the English tonearm designer who felt the downturn in tonearm sales due to the introduction of the new digital media CD. SRE housed a prototype shop and listening rooms, ranging from semi-anechoic to typical small living rooms. Also available was advanced equipment like a laser interferometer and PDP-11/35 computer. The staff of the research facility counts around 20. Engineers of note who have worked there in R&D include Ray Greenwood, Dr. Steve Roe, Dr. John Dibb, Dr. Glyn Adams, Dr. Peter Fryer and Laurence Dickie. The design of B&W loudspeaker cabinets has been done by industrial designer Kenneth Grange since 1975. Morten Villiers Warren became manager of design in the late 90's when designing the new 800 series of speakers. Noteworthy loudspeaker innovations by B&W: *The patented use of Kevlar fibers, impregnated with a stiffening resin, resulting in B&W's distinctive yellow speaker cones started in 1974. This composite material proved to provide controlled rigidity and internal damping, minimizing distortion, as Dr. Peter Fryer determined by using laser interferometry on speaker cones. *Phase linear transmission was realized in the DM6 from 1976. In the DM6, the speakers are mounted in different vertical planes. *In 1977 the DM7 introduced a tweeter separate from the main speaker cabinet. This has been a feature of many B&W speaker designs since. *B&W's Laurence Dickie invented the 'Matrix' enclosure which reduces cabinet sound colouration. This bracing topology resembles a wine-case, providing multiple thin panel-braces, spaced throughout the enclosure, improving rigidity. This was in response to Celestion's SL6000 loudspeaker that was made with Aerolam cabinet walls. Dickie's response was to use the same concept but make it all the way through the cabinet rather than just the walls. Matrix has been used with great success by B&W ever since. *The 'Nautilus' speaker resulted from research commenced by John Bowers into 'perfect dipoles'. Before John passed away, he handed this research to the young Laurence Dickie who discovered the principle of the exponential tapered tube. The Nautilus project was one of the most extensive research and development projects undertaken. Instead of open-backed drivers, it uses drivers loaded by reverse-tapered horns, or exponentially diminishing tubes, to absorb the rear radiation. The construction is based on fibre-reinforced plastic enclosures. The result of the distinct speaker shape was a near perfect response and near-zero enclosure colouration. *The 'Flowport' is an improvement that reduces friction in the air moving through the bass reflex vent. This is realised by covering the surface of the vent with dimples, just like a golf ball. * The diamond tweeter was developed to create the optimal ratio of tweeter dome mass and material stiffness. The tweeter is grown into shape by chemical vapor deposition. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bowers & Wilkins」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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