• Repair, Refurbishment  and modifications,
   finishing and refining
   of the great  B&W Bowers & Wilkins DM70....

  ....we master these matters

  The B&W DM 70’s are a musically cohesive masterpiece.                           The Gramophone

• And they are worth any effort to keep them running at its best. And to
  our opinion it is also an optical masterpiece, which deserves to be
  conserved as a fine piece of modern design.

• The B+W DM 70 was my first hi-fi loudspeaker. I bought and imported
  it second hand from a London hi-fi dealer in 1974. From that time on
  I was immediately convinced 1.) of the ESL electrostatic loudspeaker in common,  2.) of the Bowers & Wilkins DM70 especially and last but not least 3.) of the ESL hybrids principle of sound reproduction.

• Since that time I learned a lot about the special advantages and the special problems of the B&W DM70. Finally I knew all parts by heart and I was able to make my work on these loudspeakers with closed eyes. All in all I can look back on  having a 33 years experience with that special type of electrostatic loudspeaker model.   

? DM-70 wanted ? 

Every once and a while we do have some speakers for sale.
Naturally fully refurbished by us, means like new or even better.

 Like this beautiful pair  below  for example.

If you are searching for a special finish or OEM version  of the B&W DM70, like e.g. the  special DM-70 SONY version or a white model,
give us a call and we will make a reservation for the next available item

!Simply lift off the ESL panels and send your jewels in and, if you send the electronics unit as well, 

!Please do not follow the safety advice
like a DM70 possessor did on the photo below!
!!There are very much easier ways to
disconnect the unit from mains supply  !!

Testimonial
September 2008, James F., Ashford, Kent, UK

"Reiner, I managed to have a good night listening last night,
wow, really very impressed I wish I had got you to do the 
work a long time ago. The only problem now is that I have 
to go through my complete music collection as I need to hear
everything again. 
They really do sound incredible, the levels, the detail, 
the depth, and sound stage are just awesome.
I was impressed before with 
the speakers and never wanted to change them, now there is 
nothing that will make me sell them.
I cannot say thanks enough Reiner for your work. I am even
leaving work on time which makes my wife happy.
James"

The above mentioned refurbished B&W DM70 has been refurbished by using the Shackman PP foil instead of PET with very new Shackman VLC coating. Furthermore  new internal cabling and copperless HV contacts have been used. The latter avoids contact corrosion.

.

Testimonial
October 2008, Peter K., Germany

Nun funktioniert alles wieder! Klingen wunderbar.
Die Investition hat sich für mich wirklich gelohnt!
Sehr gute Arbeit! Von mir aus nochmals herzlichen Dank.

The very sensitive HVconnection

Hello Reiner,

Testimonial

I was really astounded when I heard my repaired loadspeakers B&W DM70.

They sound like the real thing.

After more then 5 years they were not working but still 
staying in the living room; even my wife is happy with the fact that 
we keep them and take the decision to repair them.

We thank you very much for your service at home; for the safe transport 
by yourself between Belgium and your site in Germany.

Excellent follow-up of the reparation itself :

- repair done within 2 weeks !!

- clear quotation and invoice by e-mail

We are convinced that we have again jewels in our living room and from 
now on we will protect them like real jewels.

Ludo and Lutgarde

Testimonial

after a long time my speakers are now  in perfect working condition once 
again.  Thank you very much they will  give us much enjoyment in the 
coming years.

Thange

A panel to be refurbished as well as the one below

Testimonial

Herr Roemer
Nothing comes cheap and they play magnicifently again,
but now even better. Great and thanks, beste grusse 
Rien Geurts

Using double sided sticky tape, the result after some decades.
Believe it or not - it was still playing... without "light show".
Probably there are thousands of the  DM70 in this condition
running world  wide. Wonders could be given to their possessors' ears.

!Let us keep these jewels alive!

!Simply lift off the ESL panels and send them in!

Spare foam surrounds

We also fix and repair broken foam surrounds of the DM70. As the chassis has an irregular diameter the spare foam is very difficult to get. We do  do have the right ones.

We also repair destroyed/burnt  Bowers& Wilkins DM70 bass driver voice coils.

And we have complete spare drivers which fully fit the original ones in physical size - but  electrically and  acoustically even better.
Please ask for a quote for these extraordinary  spare bass drivers. It is a former 1st  class British driver manufacturer, producing for the greatest ones and for B&W as  well. 

DM70 Bass driver with "cloth" surround after servicing

Exactly fitting spare "foam" surrounds

B&W DM70 Original  DW13/70/BX bass driver

B&W DM70 Bass driver of "Continental" version before refoaming.
Pay attention to the chassis' curvature fitting the curved front panel.
The manufacturers switched from corrugated paper to Polypropylene

Modifications on the B+W DM70? Why that??

There are not that much weak points in the Bowers and Wilkins DM70s 
which are  crying for immediate change.

 No "usual" modifications would promise any improvement in a good 
working DM-70. 
Except perhaps some better interior speaker cable from the Input 
unit to the crossover.
But in case that the bass has been damaged and replaced by a 
non  original one,  there may occur level discontinuities between bass driver and 
ESL MHT panel.

A tweak to that would be a level attenuator for the MHT panel 
and/or/or an 
adjustable bias voltage in the very small range of about 100V to 200V. 
That may allow an output variation of +/- 1,25dB

What  we really and very simply modify are three imminent weak points
 of the B+Ws  technical production  solutions (other  ESL brands as well).

1. The coating material and its resulting long time surface resistivity
2.The adhesive type (no "punctual"  heat curing) and its mechanical attachment. 
3. The physical contact area of  HV voltage bias supply to the diaphragm.

These three reromanus modifications, or better actualizations with respect to former technological knowledge,  are true permanent assurances for an actual  longevity of the DM70 electrostatic panels.

The "Know-How-To"

Conclusion: Trust in our experience. You will be satisfied.

Repair of B&W Bowers & Wilkins DM70....

....we master these matters

!!Get a DIY repair kit somewhere and try your luck ...
or simply give the panels  to our jig!

Prefixing before stretching process 

Panel stretching with "Linear technology" devices.

Stretching process.
The panel under the foil tent,  ready to be lifted.   

The panel lifting device and the foil seen from below  towards the foil sky above

Masking for coating procedure

Or  see have look at a video, where you can see the stretching process.

Youtube Video

Simply lift off the DM70 ESL tweeter panels and send them in to our stretching jig

Prices depend on overall status of the panels. No costs for checking. Best lasting results guarantied. It will pay.

Some Version History of the B&W DM70

At least 2 different crossover Low pass versions

With two different response curves. Top >1972, bottom 1970-1972

3 different Panel HV shortcut protection versions

4 different EHT power units versions. other connectors and sockets, more and more fuses

This is serial No. mid 100 in our workshops for refurbishment . The very earliest version of the DM70, enclosure still in mint shape, like brand new from factory, excellent B&W craftsmanship

The original "1. Edition" 1970 manual with a remarkable essay of  Mr. Bowers on ESL loudspeakers can be downloaded here. (Courtesy J. Fox, U.K.)

The 1974 edition of the Bowers and Wilkins DM70 user manual can be downloaded  here.

 Shackman Catalog Site   Contact        Back to top  

You can also join the SHACKMAN  Discussion Grouproup

Actual SHACKMAN auctions  Online

Shackman Catalog Site   Contact                          Back to top