Bowers & Wilkins have been using Kevlar as the membrane material for the midrange drivers in their speakers for more than 40 years. During this time, this technology has been continuously developed and improved. Nevertheless, the engineers at B&W have always worked with other materials in order to further increase the performance of their own products. In 2007 they made an interesting development, which they explored further over the next eight years. During this time, over 70 different prototypes were created with this new material. The result of this development are the new Continuum membranes, which are used for the first time in the 800 Diamond D3 series. Like the Kevlar membranes, the new Continuum chassis are based on the same knowledge about the controlled breaking of the membrane in the border area. In theory, an infinitely strong material is the best choice for a speaker cone. The movements of the magnetic drive would then be converted into air vibrations evenly over the entire membrane surface. In practice, however, there is no such material, and every loudspeaker diaphragm tends to deform and literally "break open" when it reaches its own resonance frequency. Tonal discoloration and distortion are the result. With the membranes made of Kevlar fabric, B&W has been going a different way for decades. Instead of fighting against the inevitable breakup, the fabric and shape of the membrane were developed in such a way that the resonance vibrations are created in a controlled manner and influence the sound as little as possible. B&W has now improved this principle again with the Continuum drivers. Here, too, a stable, coated fabric is processed, with which the break-up can be reduced overall and even better controlled. The result is an unmatched low-color sound. Martial Rousseau, Head of Research and Development at B&W, compares the step from Kevlar to Continuum cones with the step from aluminum to diamond tweeters ten years ago. In order to control this advanced technology and ensure consistently high quality in series production, there was only one decision for Bowers & Wilkins. Like the Kevlar chassis, the Continuum drivers are now also manufactured from delivered components in the company's own factory in Worthing, Germany. In this way, B&W can fall back on the experience of its employees, some of them decades of experience, and manufacture loudspeaker chassis that meet the requirements of the new 800 Diamond series.